Tag Archives: Emanuel von Geibel

Episode 443. Meet Klesie Kelly

March 6, 2026African American Singers, Art Song, Black History Month 2026, Broadway, Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Tenors, Honor Your Mentors, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Singers of ColorBenedict Randhartinger, Charles K. Harris, Christian Heinrich Postel, Dieter Klöcker, Du Bose Heyward, Emanuel von Geibel, Franz Klein, Franz Lachner, Franzjosef Maier, Friedreich Melzer, Georg Böhm, George Frideric Handel, George Gershwin, Gerald Wilhelm, Hanna Schwarz, Heinrich Heine, Hermann Baumann, Ian Partridge, Ira Gershwin, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Swift, Karl Hartmann, Klesie Kelly, Louis Spohr, Martin Stephani, Porgy and Bess, Rudolf Pohl, Santha Sarig, Werner Genuit, Werner Kämmerling, William Shorescountermelody

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As a pendant to, and continuation of, my Black History Month 2026 series on Countermelody, I am pleased and honored to present to you the exquisite African American lyric soprano Klesie Kelly, who, as with numerous other singers that we have explored together this month, has made her life, career, and home abroad, in this case, Germany, where she came to pursue post-university studies in Detmold and from there simply put down roots. Though unlike me, Kelly was not born in Milwaukee, she did spend some of her formative years there, including pursuing her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin Madison. In her years in Germany, Kelly was not only an active and deeply respected both on the operatic stage and the concert platform (where her performances of Bach were particularly lauded), but she also dedicated herself to the education of many of the finest singers to have come through the Musikhochschule in Köln. I have managed to unearth a number of invaluable sound documents of Klesie Kelly, including a number of recordings of Lieder and duets with instrumental obbligato accompaniment, and peerless performances of Bach cantatas, as well as a 1970 concert performance of Porgy and Bess in the Netherlands, and an ultrarare recording made during her undergraduate years in Wisconsin. Excerpts from all of these are heard on the episode, which salutes (and delivers flowers to) one of the most respected German-American musical figures of her generation.

Countermelody is the 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 author 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 or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 433. Lois Marshall Revisited

January 31, 2026Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Canadian Singers, Comic Relief, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Richard Strauss, Twentieth Century MusicA Shropshire Lad, A.E. Housman, Anne Wilkinson, Anthony Bernarad, Arthur Gold, Cantiones Mysticae, Chansons de Bilitis, Claude Debussy, Eduard Mörike, Edward Kudlak, Elmer Iseler, Emanuel von Geibel, Ernest MacMillan, Ezio Flagello, Folksong, Francis Poulenc, Gabora String Quartet, George Frideric Handel, Godfrey Ridout, Greta Kraus, Harry Freedman, Healey Willan, Hector Berlioz, Heinrich Schütz, Henry Purcell, Henryk Frydmann, Hugo Wolf, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, James Joyce, Jean Coulthard, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Alexander, John Donne, John Dryden, John Ireland, Karl Joseph Simrock, Kleine geistiche Konzerte, La Damnation de Faust, Leopold Stokowski, Lois Marshall, Luís de Camões, Manuel de Falla, Maureen Forrester, Maurice Ravel, Michael Carpenter, Mörike-Lieder, Moses Mendes, Newburgh Hamilton, Ophelia-Lieder, Oskar Morawetz, Pierre Louÿs, Richard Strauss, Robert Burns, Robert Fizdale, Robert Schumann, Robert Verebes, Roger Quilter, Ruben Gurevich, Samuel Barber, Seiji Ozawa, Shéhérazade, Siete canciones populares españolas, Solomon, Spanische Liebeslieder, Srul Anthony Glick, St. Matthew Passion, Stuart Hamilton, Taras Gabora, The Fairy Queen, Thomas Beecham, Tristan Klingsor, Weldon Kilburn, William Shakespeare, Yehudi Wynercountermelody

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Yesterday, January 29th, was the 101st anniversary of the birth of the Canadian soprano (later mezzo) Lois Marshall. Marshall was in so many ways a unique and treasurable artist. Afflicted with polio as a young child, she spent much of her early life hospitalized. It was there that she discovered the expressive power of her singing voice. Following her training at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Marshall won two prestigious vocal competitions, including the Naumburg, she was taken on by such early mentors as Arturo Toscanini and Thomas Beecham and others. Audiences were captivated by both the spontaneity and directness of her artistry. Though she made occasional appearances in opera (and in particular televised opera, where her mobility issues could be more easily managed), she was primarily known as a concert singer. Recommended by the young Glenn Gould, she quickly became a favorite with Russian audiences and created the Canadian premieres of works by Poulenc and Britten, among others. This, the fourth Countermelody episode devoted to this artist, features her in a wide range of material, including in particular work by contemporary Canadian composers including Harry Somers, Oskar Morawetz, Srul Anthony Glick, Godfrey Ridout, Harry Freedman, and Jean Coulthard. The episode also emphasizes the purity and expressiveness of her singing in Baroque music, including Handel, Bach, Purcell, and Schütz as well as her unique way on the concert platform with both art song and folk song arrangements. Collaborating artists include Leopold Stokowski, Maureen Forrester, Glenn Gould, Seiji Ozawa, John Alexander, and Thomas Beecham. Once heard, Lois Marshall will never be forgotten.

Episode 428. Alfreda Hodgson Sings Brahms

January 12, 2026Art Song, Forgotten Divas, Great Tenors, Holiday Music, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century OperaAlan Rowlands, Alfreda Hodgson, Altrhapsodie, August Heinrich von Fallersleben, Bernard Haitink, Edward Downes, Edward Elgar, Emanuel von Geibel, Eric Crozier, Friedrich Rückert, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Johannes Brahms, John Ireland, Keith Swallow, Lennox Berkeley, Lope Felix de Vega Carpio, Ludmila Navrath, Martin Luther, Otto Friedrich Gruppe, Paul Heyse, Ruth (Berkeley), Siegfried Kapper, Vier ernste Gesängecountermelody

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The English contralto Alfreda Hodgson (07 June 1940 – 16 April 1992) has been featured numerous times on Countermelody and when I recently acquired a copy of her 1980 solo recital recording originally released on Pearl Records, I decided that the time was right to do a full episode on this rich-voiced, profoundly musical singer. Though she was equally superb in Bach, Mahler, Handel, and Elgar, I have chosen to focus on her performances of the music of Johannes Brahms, including superb recordings of the Alto Rhapsody, the Songs for Alto and Viola, the Vier ernste Gesänge, and a posthumously-assembled collection of his Lieder published under the title Mädchenlieder. Artists accompanying Hodgson include Bernard Haitink, Edward Downes, violist Ludmila Navrath, and her long-standing pianist, the late Keith Swallow. I begin the episode with brief examples of Hodgson singing (in English) the music of her countrymen Lennox Berkeley, Edward Elgar, and John Ireland in the company of Peter Pears, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Steuart Bedford, and Alan Rowlands.