Tag Archives: Giambattista Varesco

Episode 445. Simply Radiant: Edith Mathis In Memoriam

March 14, 2026Art Song, Comic Relief, Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, In Memoriam, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlexander Zemlinsky, Ariettes oubliées, Armin Rüeger, Barthold Heinrich Brockes, Carl Loewe, Carl Maria von Weber, Claude Debussy, Cord Garben, Der Freischütz, Edith Mathis, Eugen Müller-Dombois, Frank Martin, Friedrich Kind, Friedrich Laun, George Frideric Handel, Gérard Wyss, Gerd Albrecht, Gerhard Naumann, Giambattista Varesco, Gottfried Keller, Hans Franzen, Hans Münch, Heinrich Heine, Helen Donath, Helmut Hucke, Hermann Suter, Hermann Winkler, Honoré de Balzac, Hugo Wolf, Ich bin in mir vergnügt, Il re pastore, Italienisches Liederbuch, Jacob Will, Jean Fournet, Johann August Apel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johannes Brahms, Karl Engel, Kleider machen Leute, Le Laudi di San Francesco d’Assisi, Leo Feld, Leopold Hager, Leopold Ludwig, Maria Tryptichon, Mass in c minor, Massimilla Doni, Myrthen (Schumann), Neun deutsche Arien, Norman Shetler, Othmar Schoeck, Paul Heyse, Paul Verline, Peter Keller, Peter Schneider, Peter Schreier, Pierre Boulez, Pietro Metastasio, Ralf Weikert, Robert Schumann, Rudolf A. Hartmann, Stefania Kaluza, Szenen aus Goethes Faust, Walter Thoene, Wicus Slabbert, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Gönnenwein, Wolfgang Schneiderhancountermelody

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Today a belated memorial tribute to the beloved Swiss soprano Edith Mathis, who died in Salzburg thirteen months ago, two days before her 87th birthday. One of the most highly regarded lyric sopranos of the 1960s and 1970s, Mathis began her career in the late fifties, retiring more than 40 years later in 2001. In between she, armed with a radiant, technically secure voice allied with an understated yet powerful musicianship, set the standard for performance of Baroque music, Mozart, and Lieder, in particular. She was the quintessential German soubrette, and as such the best of her generation in roles such as Ännchen in Der Freischütz and Marzelline in Fidelio. Because of her lack of pretention and mannerism, she might sometimes be somewhat undervalued, but her artistic achievement, especially considered as a whole, is equal to any comparable singer of the last century. I have scoured my extensive Mathis collection, as well as the corners of the internet, to bring you as full a musical portrait of Edith Mathis as possible, covering nearly the entirety of her career, and including works by several of her Swiss compatriot composers.

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 413. Get to Know Geraint Evans

November 20, 2025Art Song, Bel canto, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartA Midsummer Night’s Dream (Britten), Achim von Arnim, Alban Berg, Alexander Pushkin, Angelo Anelli, Anthony Conran, Antonio Salvi, Arrigo Boito, Benjamin Britten, Berenice (Handel), Boris Godunov, Bryan Balkwill, Clemens Brentano, David Atherton, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, Don Pasquale, Elegy for a Prince, Emanuel Schikaneder, Eric Blackall, Falstaff, Fidelio, Gaetano Donizetti, Georg Büchner, Geraint Evans, Giambattista Varesco, Giovanni Ruffini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gruffudd ab yr Ynad Coch, Gustav Mahler, John Pritchard, Joseph von Sonnleithner, Kenneth MacDonald, L’oca del cairo, Le nozze di Figaro, Lorenzo da Ponte, Ludwig van Beethoven, Modest Mussorgsky, Pagliacci, Peter Pears, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Semele (Handel), Vida Harford, William Congreve, William Mathias, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wozzeck, Wyn Morriscountermelody

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This past September 19th, we observed the anniversary of the death in 1992 of the great Welsh bass-baritone Geraint Evans at the age of 70. A vivid actor and a skilled singer, he both began and ended his career at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, but was a treasured guest at opera houses all over the globe. In 1966, London/Decca records released a recording designed to give full display to his musical, stylistic, and dramatic versatility. In its US issue it was entitled, appropriately enough, Three Centuries of Baritone Art, and in it many of his greatest roles are highlighted, as well as a number of parts, unusual or uncharacteristic for him, which he never performed onstage. Needless to say, his Mozart roles are in the forefront, as is his exceptional characterization of Verdi’s Falstaff, to which he brought a light buffo touch while still retaining a full vocal palette bolstered by a vivid characterization. On this episode, I supplement this album with a delightful recording of Evans singing from Mahler’s Knaben Wunderhorn, a wrenching one of his legendary Wozzeck, and a monumental one of Elegy for a Prince, a work for voice and orchestra by William Mathias, written for and dedicated to Evans, who sang the premiere in 1972 and subsequently recorded it in 1977.

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 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 407. Get to Know Eric Tappy

October 30, 2025Art Song, Bel canto, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Ileana Cotrubas, In Memoriam, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Schubert, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless Wonders, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlessandro Striggio, Antoine Danchet, Armin Jordan, Arthur Honegger, Arthur Rimbaud, Charles Gounod, Christiane Jacottet, Clairières dans le ciel, Claude Debussy, Claudio Monteverdi, Colin Davis, Constantin Regamey, Die Jahreszeiten, Die schöne Müllerin, Die Zauberflöte, Edda Moser, Emanuel Schikaneder, Eric Tappy, Francis Jammes, Francis of Assisi, Franz Schubert, Giambattista Varesco, Gino Quilico, Gottfried van Swieten, Hans Münch, Hans Vonk, Harry Kliphuis, Hector Berlioz, Helge von Bömches, Hermann Suter, Hugues Cuenod, Idomeneo, Ileana Cotrubas, James Levine, James Thomson, Jean Françaix, Jean-Jacques Rapin, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Pritchard, Joseph Haydn, Jules Barbier, Karl Terkal, L’Enfance du Christ, L’Orfeo, Le Laudi di San Francesco d’Assisi, Le medecin malgré lui, Le Roi David, Lili Boulanger, Marcal Cervera, Maurice Maeterlinck, Melchior Gletle, Michel Carré, Michel Corboz, Molière, Nino Sanzogno, Pelleas et Melisande, Rachel Yakar, René Morax, Ruben Lifschitz, Rudolf Escher, Wilhelm Müller, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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Swiss tenor Eric Tappy (19 May 1931 – 11 June 2024) excelled in so many different musical styles, eras, and genres, that when one considers his artistic achievement systematically, as a whole, one is positively stunned at all that he achieved, and that within a relatively short international career that extended barely 20 years. In addition, at the beginning of his career, his voice was that of a light lyric tenor, but gradually he came to sing heavier roles such as Idomeneo and Tito. The episode considers his biography and the trajectory of that career, touching upon his opera and concert work which ranged from early Baroque through contemporary. For the first ten years of his adult life, he worked as a teacher, gradually gaining enough exposure that he was able to fully devote himself to his singing career after he won several international singing competitions. Tappy is heard in the episode in concert work of Bach, Berlioz, Haydn, and contemporary Dutch composer Rudolf Escher; art songs by both Franz Schubert and Lili Boulanger; and operas by Monteverdi, Gounod, Mozart, and Debussy (his Pelléas was as legendary as his Monteverdi and Mozart impersonations). In addition, Tappy is heard in live and radio recordings of work by his fellow Swiss compatriots Arthur Honegger, Frank Martin, Constantin Régamey, and Hermann Suter. Guest singers include Countermelody favorites Ileana Cotrubaș, Rachel Yakar, Hugues Cuénod, Edda Moser, and Gino Quilico; musical collaborators include Ernest Ansermet, Michel Corboz, Nino Sanzogno, John Pritchard, Armin Jordan, Hans Münch (brother of Charles), Colin Davis, Hans Vonk, and Jean Françaix, among others. Prepare to be surprised and delighted by this great singer, who ended his active singing career at the age of only 50 but who continued as a formative and beloved teacher well into his old age.