Tag Archives: Gerhard Hüsch

Episode 466. Baritones Both Butch and Bonnie

May 25, 2026African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Black History Month, Black History Month 2026, Broadway, Canadian Singers, Great Baritones, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Pop Icons, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Schubert, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersAdam Wiernik, Alexander Borodin, Alfred Drake, Alfred Grünwald, Allan Evans, Antonin Kubalek, Antonina Afanassieva, Antônio Maria, Apollo Granforte, Arne Dorumsgaard, Arthur Schwartz, Bernard Diamant, Bernard Ładysz, Bernd Weikl, Carlo Sabajno, Charles Mackerras, Christian Morgenstern, David Lutz, Doda Conrad, Edvard Grieg, Erik Bergman, Erik Sædén, Eva Knardahl, Franz Rupp, Franz Schubert, Frederick Fuller, Frederick Prausnitz, Fritz Löhner-Beda, Georg Kouroupos, George Forrest, George Frideric Handel, Gerhard Hüsch, Gustaf Fröding, Harald Andersén, Harve Presnell, Heinrich Heine, Heinrich Schlusnus, Henri René, Henrik Ibsen, Howard Dietz, Imre Földes, Irwin Gage, Jerzy Vidal, Johann Chrysostomus Senn, Johann Mayrhofer, Johann Rochlitz, John Bröcheler, John Milton, John Newmark, Kalervo Hortamo, Karl Gottfried von Leitner, Kismet, Knut Skram, Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov, Kurt Eichhorn, Lieder um den Tod, Lili Kraus, Luigi Dallapiccola, Luiz Bonfá, Manha de Carneval, Manuel de Falla, Marcel Camus, Margaret Kilpinen, Martti Talvela, Matti Lehtinen, Max van Egmond, Newburgh Hamilton, Norman Shetler, Otto Julius Bierbaum, Paul Abraham, Pentti Koskimies, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Ray Charles, Revenge with Music, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Robert Cornman, Robert Holl, Robert Schumann, Robert Wright, Salvatore Quasimodo, Samson, Seppo Nummi, Siegfried Lorenz, Siete canciones populares españolas, Spyros Sakkas, Stig Westerberg, Tan Crone, Tannhäuser, Thomas Stewart, Veikko Koskenniemi, Victor Braun, Viktoria und ihr Husar, Wiktor Maksymkin, Wilhelm Stenhammar, Yrjö Kilpinen, Yuri Mazurokcountermelody

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Today’s episode features baritones of all stripes (with the occasional bass-baritone) in a program focusing primarily on song in its various manifestations. Whether that be Broadway and pop tunes (sung by Alfred Drake, Allan Evans, and Harve Presnell); Schubert (performed by Doda Conrad, Bernard Diamant, Max van Egmond, Robert Holl, and Siegfried Lorenz); other German Lieder (with Victor Braun and Heinrich Schlusnus); Russian and Nordic song (sung by Matti Lehtinen, Yuri Mazurok, Erik Sædén, Martti Talvela, Knut Skram, and Gerhard Hüsch); or folk song (as recorded by Arne Dørumsgaard, John Bröcheler, and Spyros Sakkas), there’s something here for everyone. And to avoid accusations of prejudice against arias, I round off the episode with three arias: one from opera (Tannhäuser, sung – in Italian! – by Apollo Granforte), one oratorio (Handel’s Samson, with Thomas Stewart), and one operetta (from Viktoria und ihr Husar, performed by Bernd Weikl).

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 249. Gavin Carr Introduces Heinrich Rehkemper (Listeners’ Favorites)

March 11, 2024Art Song, Bel canto, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Gustav Mahler, Interview, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Opera in Translation, Richard Wagner, Schubert, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartEduard Mörike, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Rückert, Fritz Zweig, Gavin Carr, George Frideric Handel, Gerhard Hüsch, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Heinrich Heine, Heinrich Rehkemper, Heinrich Schlusnus, Jascha Horenstein, Julius Prüwer, Karl Schmitt-Walter, Manfred Gurlitt, Messiah (Handel), Michael Raucheisen, Robert Schumann, Waldemar Liachowsky, Wilhelm Müller, Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender, William Boughton, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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This month’s series of Listeners’ Favorites continues with the baritone Heinrich Rehkemper (1894-1949), presented to you today by my dear friend, the esteemed conductor Gavin Carr, who is the very person that first introduced him to me many years ago now. Rehkemper is one of a number of exceptional German baritones of that era who represent a very different kind of singing than we are accustomed to today: full-throated voices with an even scale from top to bottom managed with no technical gimmickry or phoniness. Rehkemper brought these traits to whatever music he was singing, whether opera, oratorio, or Lied. He left a small but important cache of discs, including many Lieder recordings, particularly of Franz Schubert. He also made the first complete recording in 1928 of Gustav Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder under the baton of none other than the great Mahler conductor Jascha Horenstein. I place Rehkemper in the context of the other significant German baritones of his era, Heinrich Schlusnus, Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender, Karl Schmitt-Walter, and Gerhard Hüsch, playing examples of each singing the aria of Di Luna from Verdi’s Der Troubadour, each sung in German translation. But it is first and foremost the unique legacy of Rehkemper’s art song recordings that concerns me here, and I discuss what makes his work so important, and what today’s singers can learn through close study of his recordings. My dear friends, just because the name of today’s baritone might not be familiar to you, Gavin and I both implore you not to hesitate in partaking of the vocal and musical riches to be discovered in 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 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 101. Heinrich Rehkemper

August 8, 2021Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Gustav Mahler, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Richard Wagner, SchubertEduard Mörike, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Rother, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Rückert, Fritz Zweig, Gerhard Hüsch, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Heinrich Heine, Heinrich Rehkemper, Heinrich Schlusnus, Jascha Horenstein, Julius Prüwer, Karl Schmitt-Walter, Manfred Gurlitt, Michael Raucheisen, Opera in Translation, Robert Schumann, Waldemar Liachowsky, Wilhelm Müller, Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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I continue my salute to Great Baritones with an examination of the recorded legacy of one of my favorite German baritones, the nearly-forgotten Heinrich Rehkemper (1894-1949) who left a small but important cache of discs, many of them devoted to the Lieder of Franz Schubert. He also made the first complete recording of Gustav Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder. I place Rehkemper in the context of the other significant German baritones of his era, Heinrich Schlusnus, Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender, Karl Schmitt-Walter, and Gerhard Hüschand examine the specter of Nazism that hangs over all German artists from this period. But it is first and foremost the unique legacy of Rehkemper’s art song recordings that concerns me here, and I discuss what makes his work so important, and what today’s singers can learn through close study of his recordings.

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.” Occasional guests from the “business” (singers, conductors, composers, coaches, and teachers) lend their distinctive insights. At Countermelody’s core is the interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. 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 including artist photos and episode setlists. And please head to my Patreon page at www.patreon.com/countermelody to pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available only to Patreon supporters are currently available.