Tag Archives: Ferdinand Lemaire

Episode 306. Oralia Domínguez Revisited

November 12, 2024Art Song, Bel canto, Canadian Singers, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Gustav Mahler, In Memoriam, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Richard Wagner, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoAchim von Arnim, Adriana Lecouvreur, Aida, Alberto Zedda, Antonietta Stella, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Antonio Somma, Antonio Vivaldi, Barry McDaniel, Bruno Maderna, Camille Saint-Saens, Cesare Sterbini, Clara Petrella, Claudio Monteverdi, Clemens Brentano, Das Rheingold, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Don Carlo, Eugène Scribe, Ferdinand Lemaire, Fernando Obradors, Fernando Previtali, Francesco Cilea, Franco Capuana, Friedrich Schiller, Giacomo Cassetti, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Herbert von Karajan, Igor Markevitch, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Il Trovatore, Irène Aïtoff, Jean Fournet, Jon Vickers, L’Orfeo, Leonard Bernstein, Lili Boulanger, Luigi Ottolini, Nello Santi, Nicola Rescigno, Norman Scott, Oliviero de Fabritiis, Oralia Dominguez, Pierre Beaumarchais, Ramón Gaya, Renato Cellini, Richard Kraus, Richard Wagner, Salvador Moreno, Samson et Dalia, Un ballo in mascheracountermelody

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Today (for what I hope are obvious reasons) begins a short Countermelody series on a few of the greatest singers that Mexico, our neighbor to the south, has gifted to the world. Contralto Oralia Domínguez (25 October 1925 – 25 November 2013) is famed for her collaborations with such musical giants as Maria Callas and Herbert von Karajan, but on her own terms, she ranks alongside those monumental true contraltos like Marian Anderson and Kathleen Ferrier. Though there is no question that she was under-recorded, she left a handful of classic commercial recordings, and a plethora of recorded live performances which an artist both technically grounded and fearless in expression, one whose legato singing exuded repose just as her phenomenal coloratura singing generates genuine excitement. I cannot say enough about this artist, who has rapidly become one of my very favorites! This episode, an expansion of a bonus episode I published a few years ago, features Domínguez in extended operatic scenes by Cilea, Saint-Saëns, and Monteverdi and in religious works by Verdi and Lili Boulanger as well as Spanish and Mexican songs, capped with some stunning vocalism in baroque works by Handel and Vivaldi. Vocal guest stars include the late great Antonietta Stella, Jon Vickers, Barry McDaniel, Luigi Ottolini, and the blazing hot verismo soprano Clara Petrella; conductors include Jean Fournet, Igor Markevitch, Alberto Zedda, Oliviero de Fabritiis, Herbert von Karajan, Fernando Previtali, Nicola Rescigno, Renato Cellini, and Leonard Bernstein. In other words, the “big guns,” an indication of the enormity of the magisterial talent of Oralia Domínguez.

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.

Episode 222. Shirley Verrett, Falcon Sfogatissima

November 9, 2023African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Protest Songs, Richard Wagner, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoAchille de Lauzières, Aida, Alceste, Anton Guadagno, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Antonio Somma, Arrigo Boito, Bernard Haitink, Camille du Locle, Camille Saint-Saens, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Claudio Abbado, Don Carlo, Edward Downes, Eugène Scribe, Euripedes, Euripides, Eve Queler, Ferdinand Lemaire, Fidelio, Francesco Maria Piave, François-Benoît Hoffmann, François-Louis Gand le Bland du Roullet, Friedrich Schiller, George Frideric Handel, Georges Pretre, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Grace Bumbry, Iphigénie en Tauride, James McCracken, Jan Behr, Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, Johannes Brahms, Joseph Méry, Joseph Sonnleithner, Kenneth Montgomery, Leonard De Paur, Luciano Pavarotti, Ludovico Ariosti, Ludwig van Beethoven, Luigi Cherubini, Luigi Illica, Macbeth, Marius Nygaard, Medée, Messa da Requiem, Michael Schønwandt, Norma, Otello, Pete Seeger, Ranieri de’ Calzabigi, Richard Wagner, Robert Massard, Samson et Dalila, Sarah Caldwell, Seiji Ozawa, Sherrill Milnes, Shirley Verrett, Stefan Soltesz, Tristan und Isolde, Un ballo in maschera, Veriano Luchetti, Victorien Sardou, Vier ernste Gesänge, Vincenzo Bellini, Warren Wilson, William Shakespeare, Zubin Mehtacountermelody

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It is hard to believe that it’s already been 13 years since the death of Shirley Verrett on November 5, 2010. It has also already been four years since I did a pair of episodes on this extraordinary and beloved artist, and this anniversary gives me the perfect excuse to revisit the work of this mezzo-soprano turned soprano who more than any other singer in my experiences (even soon-to-be birthday girl Maria Callas) was capable of singing nearly anything. This type of singer is sometimes referred to as a soprano sfogato (or a falcon, after the 19th century French mezzo-cum-soprano Cornélie Falcon. Since Verrett, like Falcon, sang both mezzo and soprano, I instead coin the term falcon sfogatissima to describe her vocal magic. This episode is chock full of examples of Verrett’s impassioned yet technically-grounded vocalism, from art songs by Brahms and Pasatieri to operatic roles by Handel, Gluck, Cherubini, Bellini, Puccini, and Verdi (including both soprano and mezzo roles in Aida and the Messa da Requiem and soprano roles in Ballo in Maschera, Macbeth, Don Carlo, and Otello). I close the episodes with Verrett’s astonishing but limited forays into the German operatic repertoire. Her collaborators on this episode include conductors Seiji Ozawa, Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink, Zubin Mehta, Eve Queler, Georges Prêtre, Sarah Caldwell, and the late Kenneth Montgomery; and fellow operatic greats Sherrill Milnes, Luciano Pavarotti, James McCracken, Robert Massard (last week’s featured artist), and her frenemy the late Grace Bumbry.

Episode 170. Oralia Domínguez

November 11, 2022Art Song, Bel canto, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Mirella Freni, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAida, Albert de Klerk, Alberto Zedda, Alceste, Alcina, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Antonio Vivaldi, Arrigo Boito, Camille Saint-Saens, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Claudio Monteverdi, Das Lied von der Erde, Edmundo Baez, Eugène Scribe, Euripides, Falstaff, Federico García Lorca, Felix de Nobel, Ferdinand Lemaire, Ferenc Fricsay, Gaetano Donizetti, George Frideric Handel, George van Renesse, Georges Bizet, Geraint Evans, Gioacchino Rossini, Giovanni Francesco Busenello, Giuseppe Verdi, Guido Picco, Gustav Mahler, Hans Bethge, Henri Meilhac, Irène Aïtoff, Jean Fournet, Jean Martinon, Joan Sutherland, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, József Simándy, Juditha triumphans, Jules Massenet, L’incoronazione di Poppea, La favorita, La favorite, La Gioconda, Lamberto Gardelli, Li-Tai-Po, Ludovic Halévy, Ludovico Ariosti, Maria Callas, Martina Arroyo, Mirella Freni, Monica Sinclair, Nelly Wagenaar, Nicola Rescigno, Oliviero de Fabritiis, Oralia Dominguez, Paul Kletzki, Petite messe solennelle, Prosper Mérimée, Ranieri de’ Calzabigi, Raymond Leppard, Richard Kraus, Salvador Moreno, Samson et Dalila, Silvestre Revueltas, Victor Hugo, Vittorio Gui, Werther, William Shakespearecountermelody

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Earlier this year, in an episode entitled “Women of Color Sing Mahler,” I provided many of my listeners to their first exposure to the Mexican contralto Oralia Domínguez (25 October 1925 – 25 November 2013). Domínguez is famed for her collaborations with such musical giants as Maria Callas and Herbert von Karajan, but on her own terms, she ranks alongside those monumental true contraltos like Marian Anderson and Kathleen Ferrier. Though there is no question that she was underrecorded, she left a handful of classic commercial recordings, and a plethora of recorded live performances which an artist both technically grounded and fearless in expression, one whose legato singing exuded repose just as her phenomenal coloratura singing generates genuine excitement. I cannot say enough about this artist, who has rapidly become one of my very favorites! The episode features Domínguez in a wide range of material, from Monteverdi, Handel, and Vivaldi to the meat and potatoes roles in the standard operatic repertoire (Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Ponchielli, Saint-Saëns, Massenet) as well as less familiar fare by Michael Tippett and Mexican composers Silvestre Revueltas and Salvador Moreno. Along the way our Earth Goddess is joined by fellow singers Joan Sutherland, Martina Arroyo, Mirella Freni, József Simándy, Monica Sinclair, and, of course, Maria Callas. A bonus episode published concurrently on Patreon presents Domínguez in extended operatic scenes and further rare song material.