Tag Archives: Dawn Upshaw

Episode 219. Chants d’Auvergne

October 18, 2023African American Singers, Art Song, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAnna Caterina Antonacci, Anna Moffo, Antonio de Almeida, Arleen Augér, Avron Twerdowsky, Barbra Streisand, Bernard Boucheix, Claus Ogerman, Dalton Baldwin, David Weber, Dawn Upshaw, Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht, Elie Cohen, Elly Ameling, François-Xavier Roth, Frederica von Stade, George Reeves, Gerard Souzay, Harold Bennett, Harry Shulman, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Jean-Pierre Jacquillat, Jeffrey Tate, Jill Gomez, John Wustman, Joseph Canteloube, Joseph-Marie Canteloube, Kiri Te Kanawa, Kurt Masur, Leonard Bernstein, Leopold Stokowski, Lucie Daullène, Madeleine Grey, Marie-Joseph Canteloube de Malaret, Marni Nixon, Marvis Martin, Netania Davrath, Nicole Theven, Olivier Besnard, Pierre de la Roche, Regine Crespin, Susan Reed, Vernon Handley, Victoria de los Angeles, Yan Pascal Torteliercountermelody

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Another episode featuring orchestral songs, these arrangements by the French composer Joseph Canteloube AKA Marie-Joseph Canteloube de Malaret (1879 – 1957), of elaborately orchestrated folk songs from the Auvergne region of France. From the 1960s an beyond these songs have become favorites of sopranos seeking engaging works for voice and orchestra. Canteloube made orchestral arrangements of five different series (or books) of songs published between 1924 and 1955. The songs themselves are, in turn, playful, plangent, tragic, saucy, rustic, and even surprisingly emancipated. In 1930 French soprano Madeleine Grey was the first artist to record the songs. Subsequently the Ukrainian-born Israeli soprano Netania Davrath became the first to take on the entire cycle. Cognoscenti still find her versions to be the most “authentic,” although that is a loaded term when one considers how elaborate these arrangements are. Other singers that helped put these songs on the map, as it were, include Anna Moffo, Victoria de los Angeles, Kiri Te Kanawa, and Frederica von Stade. All these singers are heard in this episode, which also includes memorable contributions from singers as varied as Dawn Upshaw, Barbra Streisand, Jill Gomez, Marvis Martin, Gérard Souzay, Marni Nixon, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Elly Ameling, Régine Crespin, Arleen Augér, Susan Reed, and others. You may also be quite surprised (I know I was!) to hear the singer that Canteloube most preferred in this repertoire, in a recording accompanied by the composer himself.

Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel’s lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody’s core is the celebration of great singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. By clicking on the following link (https://linktr.ee/CountermelodyPodcast) you can find the dedicated Countermelody website which contains additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. The link will also take you to Countermelody’s Patreon page, where you can pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available exclusively to Patreon supporters are currently available and further bonus content including interviews and livestreams is planned for the upcoming season.

Episode 209. Nordic Tracks I: Orchestral Songs

August 8, 2023Art Song, Finnish Opera, Great Baritones, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersAage Berntsen, Aksel Schiotz, Allan Pettersson, Andrew Davis, Anne Sofie von Otter, Anssi Karttunen, Antal Dorati, Arca [Alejandra Ghersi], Artharva Veda, Arthur Hjalmar-Borgstrom, Assmund Olavsson Vinje, Aulikki Rautawaara, Aulis Lassinen, Bertil Bokstedt, Birgit Nilsson, Björk, Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Bo Bergman, Carl Nielsen, Christoph Eschenbach, Dawn Upshaw, Dorothy Dorow, Edgar Lee Masters, Elisabeth Soderstrom, Eric Sædén, Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Ernest Thiel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Fartein Valen, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Gitta-Maria Sjöberg, Håkan Hagegård, Hans Bethge, Hans Christian Andersen, Hugo Alfvén, Hugo Hasslo, Jean Sibelius, Jean Siblius, Jenny Blicher-Clausen, Jorma Hynninen, Jussi Jalas, Kaija Saariaho, Karin Boye, Karita Mattila, Kent Nagano, Kirsten Flagstad, Kirsten Schultz, Kjell Ingebretsen, Laci Boldemann, Lassi Nummi, Leif Segerstam, María Sabina, Militiades Caridis, Okko Kamu, Poul Schierbeck, Rued Langgaard, Soile Isokoski, Stig Westerberg, Svend Christian Felumb, Thomas Jensen, Ture Rangström, Viktor Orri Árnason, Viktor Rydberg, Walter Süsskind, Wilhelm Stenhammarcountermelody

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Inspired by my holiday in Denmark last week, today I inaugurate a new series on Countermelody called “Nordic Tracks,” featured music from Scandinavia and the Nordic countries. There has always been a wealth of vocal music from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland, and in this episode I focus exclusively on orchestral songs, a genre which I also featured in a special episode last fall. Of course there are the usual standbys by Grieg and Sibelius and Nielsen, but also featured is the work of less-celebrated composers, beginning with the romantics and post-romantics (Wilhelm Stenhammar, Ture Rangström) and through to the present day (Aulis Sallinen, the late Kaija Saariaho). The singers are some of the greatest ever to raise their voices in song, including Kirsten Flagstad, Soile Isokoski, Birgit Nilsson, Hugo Hasslo, Elisabeth Söderström, Eric Sædén, Karita Mattila, Anne Sofie von Otter, and many others. It’s highly likely that you will encounter singers (Gitta-Maria Sjöberg, Kirsten Schultz) and composers (Fartein Valen, Laci Boldemann, Poul Schierbeck) that you may have never heard before (I know I did!) Oh, yes, and it’s all topped off with a bit of Björk!

Episode 206. Jerry Hadley

July 18, 2023Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Crossover, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Tenors, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlexander Borodin, Anthony Halstead, Arthur Rimbaud, Benjamin Britten, Candide, Carlo Rizzi, Charles Gounod, Charles Mackerras, Cosi fan tutte, Dawn Upshaw, Die tote Stadt, Die Zauberflöte, Edna Ferber, Elmer Rice, Emanuel Schikaneder, Eric Dalheim, Erich Korngold, Franz Lehár, Frederick Weatherly, Fritz Löhner-Beda, Gaetano Donizetti, George Forrest, Georges Bizet, Giuseppe Verdi, Gualtiero Negrini, Henry Lewis, James Levine, Jay Gorney, Jerome Kern, Jerry Hadley, John Mauceri, John McGlinn, Kismet, Kurt Weill, Langston Hughes, Leonard Bernstein, Les Illuminations, Lorenzo da Ponte, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paul Gemignani, Paul Knepler, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Richard Bonynge, Richard Wilbur, Robert Shaw, Robert Wright, Ruth Ann Swenson, Scott Bergeson, Seiji Ozawa, Sherman Edwards, Show Boat, Street Scene, William Boughton, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yevgeny Onegin, Yip Harburgcountermelody

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Jerry Hadley (16 June 1952 – 18 July 2007) is regarded by many as the most gifted American lyric tenor of the late 20th century. Last month he would have celebrated his 71st birthday. And today is the sixteenth anniversary of his untimely death. I knew Jerry well in the early 2000s when he was dating one of my best friends. Our friendship developed separately from that: in those years in which he was working at rebuilding his voice and career we worked together on a cross-section of his old and new repertoire. At the time of his death, he was no longer romantically involved with my friend, so he and I had drifted apart. Nevertheless, it hit me very, very hard, and I mourn his loss to this day. On that front, I have quite a few things to say about singers and mental illness, and the ruthlessness, implacability, and heartlessness of a profession which so often chews up the most vulnerable of us and spits them back out. When Jerry was at his best, his art sustained him, but the challenges ultimately became too much for him to face. But this episode is primarily a celebration: my primary objective is to present my friend at his exceptional best, in performances, both live and studio, which celebrate his voice, artistry, and spirit, performances which provided his public with some of the finest tenor singing they would ever hear, in that, or any other, era.

WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS A DISCUSSION OF SUICIDE AND SUICIDAL IDEATION.

Episode 154. Adele Addison @ 97

July 22, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Crossover, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersA.E. Housman, Aaron Copland, Adele Addison, Albert da Costa, Andre Previn, Arthur Rimbaud, Benjamin Lees, Brooks Smith, Canterbury Tales, Celius Dougherty, Charles Munch, Claude Debussy, Dawn Upshaw, DuBose Heyward, Earl Kim, Emily Dickinson, Francis Poulenc, Frederic Waldman, Geoffrey Chaucer, George Frideric Handel, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Johann Sebastian Bach, Leonard Bernstein, Lester Trimble, Lukas Foss, Milton Katims, Paul Verlaine, Porgy and Bess, Povla Frijsh, Robert Conant, Robert McFerrin, Robert Shaw, Samuel Beckett, St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion, Walt Whitman, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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This Sunday, 24 July 2022, the great African American lyric soprano Adele Addison observes her 97th birthday. This Countermelody tribute presents this great artist in live and studio recordings during the glory years of her career, including performances conducted by three of her most important conductor collaborators, Robert Shaw, Charles Munch, and Leonard Bernstein. Addison might be best remembered today as providing the ghost voice for Dorothy Dandridge in Otto Preminger’s controversial 1959 film of Porgy and Bess, but her greatest artistic achievement undoubtedly centers on her concert and recital work. Among countless world premieres in which she participated, the most significant was probably the Gloria of Francis Poulenc, first heard in Boston in January 1961. Other contemporary composers represented in this episode are Aaron Copland, Lester Trimble, Lukas Foss, and Benjamin Lees; Addison’s exceptional performances of Handel, Bach, Mozart, and Debussy are also featured. Vocal guest stars include Robert McFerrin, with whom she duets in an excerpt from Porgy; the eminent recitalist Povla Frijsh, who was her voice teacher and coach; and Dawn Upshaw, probably her most renowned student. Please join me in celebrating the long life and legacy of this exceptional artist and teacher.

Episode 38. Something in the Air

June 7, 2020African American Singers, Pop Icons, Protest SongsAry Barroso, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Caiphus Semenya, Curtis Mayfield, David Crosby, Dawn Upshaw, Duke Ellington, Flaherty and Ahrens Ragtime, Frederica von Stade, Harry Belafonte, Jefferson Airplane, Joan Baez, John Adams, Joséphine Baker, Kurt Weill, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Letta Mbulu, Lynn Ahrens, Mahalia Jackson, Marc Blitzstein, Marin Mazzie, Marvin Gaye, Mercedes Sosa, Milton Nascimento, Miriam Makeba, Nanci Griffith, Nina Simone, Paul Kantner, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Rosemary Clooney, Salif Keita, Sam Cooke, Silvio Rodríguez, Stephen Flaherty, Stephen Foster, Thunderclap Newman, Tracy Chapman, Víctor Jara, Violeta Parra, Youssou N’Dourcountermelody

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This week I continue our exploration of the movement for social justice as expressed in song. This constitutes not just the fight in the United States for racial and class equity but also the worldwide struggle against imperialism, focusing in particular on African and South American singing freedom fighters, including Miriam Makeba, Salif Keita, Youssou N’Dour, Letta Mbulu, Mercedes Sosa, Milton Nascimento, and Víctor Jara. Other artists heard include Marvin Gaye, Leontyne Price, Nanci Griffith, Frederica von Stade, Nina Simone, David Crosby, Pete Seeger, Marin Mazzie, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Jefferson Airplane, Sam Cooke, Joséphine Baker, Joan Baez, Tracy Chapman, Thunderclap Newman (whose song lends the episode its title), Harry Belafonte, Dawn Upshaw, Phil Ochs, Rosemary Clooney, Curtis Mayfield, and Mahalia Jackson, as well as number of present-day troubadors. Composers represented include Kurt Weill, Duke Ellington, John Adams, Silvio Rodríguez, Leonard Bernstein, Marc Blitzstein, Stephen Foster, Violeta Parra, Flaherty and Ahrens, Ary Barroso, and Caiphus Semenya. I address the spectrum of emotions that persons of conscience are experiencing right now, including despair, rage, anger, struggle, ending with faith, hope, and resolve. Don’t miss this episode!

Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great classical and opera singers of the past and present with the help of guests from the classical music field: singers, conductors, composers, coaches, agents, and voice teachers. Daniel’s lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody’s core is the interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/countermelody to pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford.