Tag Archives: Gioachino Rossini

Episode 415. Our Feathered Friends (Stage Edition)

November 29, 2025African American Singers, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Broadway, Crossover, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Ileana Cotrubas, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Rescue Mission, Singers of Color, Sylvia Sass, Twentieth Century Opera, VerismoAcis and Galatea, Alex Rybeck, Alexander Pushkin, Aristophanes, Bruno Bartoletti, Charles Gounod, Darius Lyons, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Die Vögel, Edward Agate, Edward Bond, Emma Calvé, Endrik Wottrich, Enrique Granados, Ervin Lukács, ETA Hoffmann, Félicien David, Fernando Periquet, Flore Wend, Frédéric Mistral, Fritz Wunderlich, Gabriel de Lurieu, George Frideric Handel, Gioachino Rossini, Giovanni Boccaccio, Giovanni Gherardini, Granados, Hans Christian Andersen, Harolyn Blackwell, Hellen Kwon, Hippolyte et Aricie, Hugh Wheeler, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Igor Markevitch, Igor Stravinsky, Ileana Cotrubas, Jacqueline Delman, Jacques Offenbach, James King, Janine Micheau, Jean Giono, Jean-Baptiste, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Jill Gomez, John Gay, Joseph Gabriel, Joseph Stein, Jules Barbier, Kurt Eichhorn, La gazza ladra, La Perle du Brésil, Laurent Halet, Le Coq d’Or, Le Rossignol, Leïla ben Sedira, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Les noces de Jeannette, Liz Callaway, Loren Driscoll, Lothar Zagroszek, Louis-Charles Caigniez, Marcel Pagnol, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Maurice Frigara, Michel Carré, Mireille, Nadia Boulanger, Neville Marriner, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Ninon Vallin, Otto Nicolai, Pagliacci, Paul Gemignani, Racine, Reri Grist, Richard Strauss, Ritt Henn, Robert Heger, Ron Tierno, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Salomon Hermann Mosenthal, Simon-Joseph Pellegrin, Stepan Mitusov, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd, Sylvain Saint-Étienne, Sylvia Sass, The Baker’s Wife, The Golden Cockerel, The Nightingale, Théodore Baudouin d’Aubigny, Tony Aubin, Victor Massé, Vilem Tausky, Walter Braunfels, William Shakespeare, Соловейcountermelody

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As I sat yesterday pondering all my friends, family, and compatriots celebrating Thanksgiving, my thoughts turned to the turkey, the traditional sacrificial creature for this event. And whatever the avian counterpart of a rabbit hole is, that’s where my thoughts turned as I realized that a tribute to our feathered friends in general would make a nice, lightweight, potpourri episode as we once again hurtle into the final preparations for the holiday season. As my list of possible repertoire exploded, I decided to limit myself only to stage works in which a bird is somehow involved: as a character, as a symbol, as a metaphor, perhaps even as all three simultaneously. So, with composers ranging from Rameau to Sondheim, including such forgotten figures as Walter Braunfels, Victor Massé, and Félicien David, I have put together a wonderful program that focuses particularly but not exclusively on the florid French repertoire, performed by such favorites as Reri Grist, James King, Ileana Cotrubas, Fritz Wunderlich, Sylvia Sass, and Mattiwilda Dobbs, bolstered by such relative newcomers to Countermelody as Léïla Ben Sédira, Ninon Vallin, Janine Micheau, Harolyn Blackwell, Emma Calvé, Endrik Wottrich, Liz Callaway, and Flore Wend. In addition, I am particularly thrilled to present a sublime singer whom I’d not yet encountered before yesterday: the British-Swedish songbird Jacqueline Delman, singing Granados!

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 405. Rescue Mission (Belated Birthday Edition)

October 24, 2025African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Richard Strauss, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Sylvia Sass, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century OperaAdam Mickiewicz, Adolphe Jaime, Aida, Alec Wilder, Alexander Pushkin, Allen Rogers, Andrzej Hiolski, Ángel de Saavedra, Angelo Anelli, Antonino Votto, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Apollon Maykov, April Cantelo, Auguste Mariette, Borislav Ivanov, Carol Neblett, Charles Baudelaire, Charles Wadsworth, Claude Debussy, Dalton Baldwin, Dave Wolpe, David Rendall, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, Elly Ameling, Emanuel Schikaneder, Ernest Lush, Ethel Ennis, Étienne Tréfeu, Francesco Maria Piave, François Coppée, Franz Schreker, Fryderyk Chopin, Fulvio Vernizzi, Gabriele Ferro, Geneviève de Brabant, Gerard Souzay, Gioachino Rossini, Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, Giuseppe Verdi, Gladys Shelley, Gloria Davy, Guido Menasci, Hector Crémieux, Heinrich Schütz, Helmuth Rilling, Hermann Schroeder, Ilse Wolf, Jacques Offenbach, Jennie Tourel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes-Passion, John Pritchard, Karl Friedrich Henckell, Klaus Martin Ziegler, L’italiana in Algeri, La forza del destino, Lorenzo da Ponte, Malcolm Williamson, Marcel Cariven, Margaret Marshall, Maureen Lehane, Milton Kaye, Morty Palitz, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Peter Maag, Pietro Mascagni, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Massard, Rosanna Carteri, Sarah Reese, Sergiusz Nadgryzowski, Shannon Bolin, Stuart Burrows, Sylvia Sass, Temistocle Solera, Veronica Tyler, William Engvick, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Zanettocountermelody

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Today’s episode is the latest installment in my series entitled “Rescue Mission,” which reintroduces great singers who have already been featured on the podcast. This is the Belated Birthday edition of that series, which reintroduces us to a wide range of Countermelody favorites, including jazz singer Ethel Ennis; baritones Robert Massard, Gérard Souzay, and Andrzej Hiolski; sopranos Sylvia Sass (pictured), Veronica Tyler, April Cantelo, Elly Ameling, Gloria Davy, Margaret Marshall, Rosanna Carteri, Sarah Reese, Ilse Wolf, and Carol Neblett; mezzo-sopranos Jennie Tourel, Maureen Lehane, and Shannon Bolin; and tenors David Rendall and Stuart Burrows. The repertoire is as varied and rare as are the artists featured, including songs by Rimsky-Korsakov, Chopin, Malcolm Williamson, and Alec Wilder; opera arias by Schreker, Mozart, Mascagni, and Verdi; and selections by Bach and Schütz. I love doing this kind of episode, because it allows me to cast my net wide and share with you the kinds of singers and repertoire that are bringing me comfort and joy in these trying times.

Episode 402. Ina Souez Revisited

October 13, 2025Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAdriana Lecouvreur, Amy Cheney Beach, Antonio Guarnieri, Arturo Colauti, Benedetto Marcello, Carl Schuricht, Carmen, Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Eduardo di Capua, Ernest Legouvé, Eugène Scribe, Felice Romani, Francesco Cilea, Fritz Busch, Georges Bizet, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Carpani, Giuseppe Verdi, Harold Fraser-Simpson, Harry Graham, Heddle Nash, Heinrich Heine, Henri Meilhac, Ina Souez, Johannes Brahms, John Barbirolli, John Brownlee, Koloman von Pátaky, Lore Fischer, Loyd Simpson, Ludovic Halévy, Ludwig van Beethoven, Luigi Arditi, Luigi Denza, Luise Helletsgruber, Maurice Maeterlinck, Messa da Requiem (Verdi), Norma, Ottorino Respighi, Prosper Mérimée, Robert Browning, The Maid of the Mountains, Thomas Haynes Bayly, Tobia Nicotra, Vincenzo Bellini, Vittoria Aganoor Pompilj, Webster Booth, Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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The extraordinary Ina Souez (1903 – 1992), was one of the few Native American singers to achieve worldwide fame on the operatic stage. Though her career was truncated by the collapse of her European career because of the impending World War, Souez’s place in the history of recorded sound is assured by virtue of her participation in the series of Mozart operas as produced by HMV in the mid-1930s as souvenirs of the first seasons of the Glyndebourne Festival. Indeed, one could argue that her Fiordiligi remains the standard by which all other interpreters are judged. Souez, the 33rd anniversary of whose death is observed in December, was one of the few Native American singers to achieve worldwide fame on the operatic stage. This episode focuses on an ultra-rare 1957 self-titled album of songs and arias that marked a comeback of sorts for Souez, who upon escaping Europe as a star found herself a virtual non-entity when she returned to her native country. I also play excerpts from the classic mid-1930’s recordings of Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte from Glyndebourne which have forever cemented the reputation of Souez in the hearts and minds of lovers of great singing. In addition, we hear 1935 recordings of Micaela’s aria as well as the “Casta diva” from Norma and a pair of light classical 78s in which Souez’s voice rings out with youthful vigor and enthusiasm. Other singers heard on these recordings include soprano Luise Helletsgruber; tenors Heddle Nash, Webster Booth, and Koloman von Pátaky; contralto Lore Fischer; and baritones John Brownlee and Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender. Conductors include John Barbirolli, Carl Schuricht, and, of course, the great Fritz Busch.

Episode 394. Valletti Revisited (French Edition)

September 15, 2025Art Song, Bel canto, French Opera, Great Tenors, In Memoriam, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAbbé Prevost, Alphonse Daudet, André Theuriet, Armand Silvestre, Bruno Rigacci, Cesare Valletti, Charles Baudelaire, Claude Debussy, Édouard Blau, Francesco Cilea, Gabriel Faure, Georges Hartmann, Gioachino Rossini, Hector Berlioz, Henri Cazalis, Henri Duparc, Henri Meilhac, Jean Lahor, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Joseph Szulc, Jules Massenet, L’Arlesiana, La Betulia liberata, La Donna del Lago, Leconte de Lisle, Leo Taubman, Les nuits d’été, Manon, Mario Rossi, Paul Bourget, Paul Milliet, Paul Verlaine, Philippe Gille, Pierre Monteux, Pietro Metastasio, René Leibowitz, Reynaldo Hahn, Robert de Bonnières, Romain Bussine, Rosalind Elias, Théophile Gautier, Tullio Serafin, Victor Hugo, Victoria de los Angeles, Walter Scott, Werther, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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More than two years and nearly two hundred episodes ago, I published an episode on the great Italian tenore di grazia Cesare Valletti. Today I revisit his recorded legacy, focusing on his prowess in the French repertoire, both in opera and, rather uncharacteristically for an Italian tenor of the era, mélodie. Not only do I present the complete 1965 LP entitled Cesare Valletti Sings French Art Songs, which was his final release on the RCA Victor label, but I supplement that with two fantabulous death scenes from two of Jules Massenet’s most popular operas, Manon (a live 1954 recording pairing Valletti with Victoria de los Angeles at her most memorable), and Werther (a 1962 studio recording of excerpts from the opera featuring Rosalind Elias, the dearly beloved mezzo-soprano of blessed memory.) Valletti once again reveals himself an artist of refined taste, as well as (in the operatic excerpts) a surprisingly powerful and forthright vocal present and (in the song repertoire) an interpreter with superb French diction and exquisite insight into the half-lit atmosphere of the genre.

Episode 386. David Rendall in Memoriam

August 18, 2025Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Crossover, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe VerdiAlexander Borodin, Alexandre Dumas fils, Andrea Leone Tottola, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Arrigo Boito, Arthur Rimbaud, Benjamin Britten, Carlo Franci, Caterino Mazzolà, Charles Gounod, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Cosi fan tutte, Das Lied von der Erde, David Rendall, Der Rosenkavalier, Diana Montague, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die schöne Müllerin, Don Giovanni, Edo de Waart, Erich Leinsdorf, Faust, Francesco Maria Piave, Franco Alfano, Franz Schubert, George Forrest, Giacomo Puccini, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Hans Bethge, Hans Drewanz, Hector Berlioz, Heinz Wallberg, Henri Murger, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Iphigénie en Tauride, Ivor Bolton, James Levine, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Lennon, John Owen Edwards, Jules Barbier, Kālidāsa, Kiri Te Kanawa, Kismet, La Boheme, La Clemenza di Tito, La Donna del Lago, La leggenda di Sakùntala, La Traviata, Lawrence Foster, Les Illuminations, Li Bai, Lorenzo da Ponte, Luigi Illica, Mark Elder, Max Epstein, Michael Gielen, Michel Carré, Nicolas-François Guillard, Owain Arwel Hughes, Pagliacci, Pietro Metastasio, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Robert Wright, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Silvio Varviso, Simon Boccanegra, Valerie Masterson, Walter Scott, Wilhelm Müller, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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On 21 July, the opera world lost one of its finest tenors, David Rendall, at the age of 76. Rendall began his career in the mid-seventies as a lyric tenore di grazia specializing in bel canto and in the music of Mozart. His voice expanded and deepened over the years to encompass French roles (Des Grieux, Faust, Werther), 19th century Italian repertoire from Rodolfo to Otello, and finally Wagner roles from Lohengrin to Tristan. This episode explores his origins from his earliest recordings made before he ever considered a career in music, to live operatic recordings made between 1975 and 2006. Rendall’s family was a deeply musical one: his wife, Diana Montague, is a legendary mezzo-soprano, and their son Huw Montague Rendall is one of the brightest lights in the present-day operatic firmament. The episode includes Rendall singing song cycles by Britten and Schubert, and operatic rarities by Rossini and Alfano. In all of the music offered, David Rendall’s impeccable technique, patrician musicianship, and deep expressive connection to the music are heard to full effect. His memory will surely be a blessing to all who knew, heard, loved, and admired him. Many thanks to Huw for his advice in the preparation of this episode.

Episode 378. Rescue Mission III (Friends Edition)

July 21, 2025African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Broadway, Canadian Singers, Crossover, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Great Baritones, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Opera in Translation, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Rescue Mission, Schubert, Singers of Color, Spirituals, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, VerismoAlessandro Cerè, Annabelle Bernard, Anne Wiggins Brown, April Cantelo, Barbara Wimunc, Béatrice Uria-Monzon, Carlo Gozzi, Carlo Zangarini, Carol Neblett, Cesar Franck, Charles Wadsworth, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Colin Davis, David Belasco, Denise Duval, Die schöne Müllerin, Du Bose Heyward, Ed Spanjaard, Édouard Blau, Eleanor Steber, Émile Belcourt, Émile Deschamps, Emmanuel Bondeville, Ernest Ragogini, Eugen Jochum, Eugène Scribe, Franco Corelli, Franz Schubert, Frederick Marshall, George Gershwin, George Shirley, Gérard de Nerval, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Giacomo Puccini, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Adami, Gloria Davy, Guelfo Civinini, Hector Berlioz, Heinrich Hollreiser, Helen Watts, Humbert Ferrand, Ira Gershwin, James Demster, Jan Behr, Jerry Hadley, Johan Hye-Knudsen, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Fletcher, John Williams, Jorma Hynninen, La Fanciulla del West, Leonard Bernstein, Les francs-juges (Berlioz), Lois Marshall, Mario Rossi, Mass in b minor, Massimo de Bernart, Maureen Lehane, Maurice Jacquemot, Michel Plasson, Ottorino Respighi, Paul Collin, Peter Pears, Porgy and Bess, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Rébecca (Franck), Rédemption (Franck), Renato Simoni, Robert Merfeld, Sandra Warfield, Sarah Caldwell, Sarah Reese, Semirâma, Stephen Sondheim, Tancredi, Turandot, Valerie Masterson, Veronica Tyler, Voltaire, West Side Story, Wilhelm Müller, William Parker, Yevdokya Rostopchinacountermelody

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Even after I publish a Countermelody episode on a favorite singer, I continue to collect material on them, which I then occasionally fold into a potpourri episode of vocal and musical delights. I have dubbed such episodes part of my “Rescue Mission” series and I’m tempted to call today’s episode I’m tempted to call “Friend Edition” (even though there are several good friends I’ve made in recent years who are not represented today). Be that as it may, I do love putting out such episodes, especially as it gives new listeners some idea of the range and depth of the podcast, and the joys of dipping into Countermelody’s back catalogue. For today’s episode I spread the net particularly wide, and in some cases went way back into my archives so present you with some rarities which I have programmed in such a way to take us from the despair and confusion that many of us are feeling right now into a place of both resolution and resolve to keep holding on and fighting for what is right. Today’s setlist includes many Countermelody favorites: tenors George Shirley, Peter Pears, and Jerry Hadley; baritones William Parker and Jorma Hynninen, mezzo-soprano Maureen Lehane; and sopranos Eleanor Steber, Carol Neblett, Sarah Reese, Anne Wiggins Brown, Veronica Tyler, Annabelle Bernard, Denise Duval, Lois Marshall, Gloria Davy, and April Cantelo; with appearances by other great singers who have not yet been featured in full episodes, including Franco Corelli, Sandra Warfield, Helen Watts, Émile Belcourt, Valerie Masterson, and, in memoriam, Béatrice Uria-Monzon. We hear music from César Franck, Ottorino Respighi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Giacomo Puccini, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Franz Schubert, George Gershwin, Gioachino Rossini, Leonard Bernstein, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Emmanuel Bondeville, and Giacomo Meyerbeer. As always, queer artists and artists of color are prominently featured, as one of my objectives in producing this podcast is to foreground such historical artists as essential to our growth and self-awareness. If you’re just getting to know the podcast, this is as good a place to start as anywhere!

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 or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 355. John Wustman (Honor Your Mentors I)

May 2, 2025Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Canadian Singers, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Twentieth Century MusicAdam Haas, Arseny Golenishchev-Kutuzov, Brigitte Fassbaender, Carl Loewe, Carlo Pepoli, Chanda VanderHart, Chansons de Bilitis, Chants d’Auvergne, Claude Debussy, Claus Ogerman, Donald Bell, Eduard Mörike, Elvia Puccinelli, Felice Romani, Francesco Maria Piave, Francesco Petrarca, Francis Poulenc, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Gabriel Faure, Gabriele M. Muncker, Gaetano Donizetti, Georg Friedrich Daumer, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Guillaume Apollinaire, Hugo Wolf, Irina Arkhipova, Joan Caplan, Johann Gottfried von Herder, Johann von Mayrhofer, Johannes Brahms, John Wustman, Joseph Canteloube, Joseph von Eichendorff, Kathleen Kelly, Luciano Pavarotti, Lucrezia Borgia, Mildred Miller, Modest Mussorgsky, Paul Verlaine, Pierre Louÿs, Rabindranath Tagore, Regine Crespin, Rigoletto, Robert Schumann, Robert Shaw, Serate musicali, Soirées musicales, Songs and Dances of Death, Susan Dunn, Thomas Potter, Tre Sonetti di Petrarca, Victor Hugocountermelody

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I have been reminded over and over again in recent weeks of the preciousness of life as numerous dear friends and family members face loss of loved ones and their own life-altering health crises. This got me to thinking about how much my mentors have shaped my life. So with this latest episode I inaugurate a new Countermelody series entitled “Honor Your Mentors.”

I have already posted numerous times on the podcast about my beloved teacher John Wustman. This coming July my friend and colleague Chanda VanderHart’s monumental book Accompaniment in America: Contextualizing Collaborative Piano, co-authored with Kathleen Kelly and Elvia Puccinelli, will be published by Routledge. Chanda has put together an astonishing digital archive featuring a wealth of material related to the book: https://accompanimentinamerica.website/index.html Included in this material is an interview I did with Chanda about Mr. Wustman. Chanda has given me permission to include that interview on my podcast. This is supplemented by a sampling of (mostly) studio recordings of John featuring, among others, Régine Crespin, Carlo Bergonzi, Brigitte Fassbaender, Luciano Pavarotti, and Irina Arkhipova: truly an astonishing feast for the ears!

Additionally, I was enormously saddened last week to read of the death of Joan Caplan, my first serious voice teacher in New York, and a phenomenal singer in her own right. Joan also remained a close friend through the years. In recent years she had been living at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey. I was able to visit her there last summer and had intended to go see her again later this month. Alas, that can no longer happen, but I will also be featuring Joan in an upcoming episode in the “Honor Your Mentors” series. In her memory today, I present her in a scintillating recording of Orsini’s Brindisi from Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia.

Finally, though I’m sure no one needs to be reminded of this, please, my dears, tell all those you love how much they mean to you; don’t wait until their funerals to give them their flowers!

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 or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 351. Schubert in Not-German

April 18, 2025Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Broadway, Comic Relief, Crossover, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Queer Pride, Richard Wagner, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Singers of ColorAntoine Bélanger, Aune Antti, Bo Setterlind, Boris Gmyrya, Camille Maurane, Chip Zien, Cy Walter, Daniel Barenboim, Die schöne Müllerin, Franz Schubert, Friedrich zu Stolberg-Stolberg, Germaine Martinelli, Gioachino Rossini, Greta Keller, Gustave Samazeuilh, Håkan Hagegård, Harry Plunket Greene, Heinrich Heine, Ivan Kozlovsky, Jacopo Ferretti, James Kushner, Jean Doyen, Johann von Salis-Seewis, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, La belle meunière, La Cenerentola, Lev Ostrin, Lily Bienvenu, Ludwig Rellstab, March of the Falsettos, Matthäus von Collin, Michael Rupert, Michael Starobin, Naum Walter, Pentti Koskimies, Peter Seiffert, Peter Strummer, Pierre Maillard-Verger, Piotr Nikitin, Richard Wagner, Robert Dean, Robert Holl, Stephen Bogardus, Thomas Schuback, Wilhelm Müller, William Finn, Winterreisecountermelody

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I have been fascinated for years by operas performed in the vernacular, a phenomenon which was common in Germany until quite recently. Even more interesting in many ways is the performance of art song in the language of the audience. Some time ago I produced an episode featuring the Lieder of Franz Schubert performed in both French and Russian translation. As a supplement to that episode, I present here two of the featured artists from that episode, the French baryton martin Camille Maurane (1911 – 2010) and the Russian lyric tenor Ivan Kozlovsky (1900 – 1993), quintessential representatives of their respective vocal categories, both of whom happened to live well into their nineties. They are featured singing the songs of Schubert in their native languages in recordings made between 1946 and 1962. Certain songs are sung by both artists, allowing one to make direct comparisons between their very different vocal styles. In addition I feature excerpts from Schubert’s two supreme masterpieces, Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, the latter excerpts sung in Finnish, Swedish, and English, with an additional shocking surprise before the end. The episode begins with brief memorial tributes to three significant musicians who have died recently: composer William Finn, basso buffo Peter Strummer, and Heldentenor Peter Seiffert.

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 or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 341. Robert Massard Revisited

March 14, 2025Bel canto, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Rescue Mission, VerismoA. Royer, Agnès Adam, Alain Vanzo, Alexandre Dumas, Andrea Chénier, Antonio Somma, Armand Bernard, Arrigo Boito, Bruno Amaducci, Camille du Locle, Camille Rouquetty, Carlo Cambiaggio, Carlo Pepoli, Cavalleria Rusticana, Cesare Sterbini, Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson, Don Carlos, Don Procopio, Édouard Duprez, Erasmo Ghiglia, Eugène Scribe, Falstaff, Faust, Francesco Maria Piave, Friedrich Schiller, G. Vaëz, Gabriel Bacquier, Gaetano Donizetti, Georges Bizet, Georges Pretre, Georges Sébastian, Giacomo Puccini, Gianfranco Rivoli, Gioachino Rossini, Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, Giovanni Verga, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Guido Menasci, Henri Meilhac, Henri Murger, Henry Brougham Farnie, I Puritani, Il barbiere di Siviglia, J.L. Caussou, J.Y. Lamare, Jacques Scellier, Jacques-François Ancelot, Jésus Etchéverry, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Joseph Méry, Joseph Xavier Saintine, Jules Barbier, La Boheme, Le Comte Ory, Ludovic Halévy, Luigi Illica, Maria Callas, Michel Carré, Michel Forel, Otello, Paul Ferrier, Paul Milliet, Peter Glossop, Philippe Gille, Pierre Beaumarchais, Pietro Mascagni, Prosper Mérimée, Renée Doria, Reynald Giovaninetti, Rip (Planquette), Robert Massard, Robert Planquette, Roberto Benzi, Umberto Giordano, Victor Hugo, Vincenzo Bellini, Vittorio Gui, Walter Scott, William Shakespearecountermelody

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A year and a half ago, I posted an episode on Robert Massard, the finest French baritone of his era, and one of the finest French baritones of all time. Today, in honor of his upcoming hundredth birthday later this year, I present him in a different repertoire (and therefore a different light). As was very much the custom of the day in French opera houses, Massard sang many of his non-French roles in translation. This was also very much the standard in German-language opera houses in the 50s and 60s. Massard’s recorded legacy includes Italian operas sung in the original language as well as in French translation. No matter what language he was singing in, Massard was a master of bel canto as well as buffo patter. This episode includes arias and duets from Il barbiere di Siviglia, I Puritani, Lucie de Lammermoor, Le Comte Ory, La Traviata, Don Carlos, Un bal masque, La bohème, Cavalleria rusticana, and Andrea Chénier, as well as extended scenes from both Rigoletto (in and out of French!) and Falstaff. I also include a clip of Massard’s contemporary and compatriot Gabriel Bacquier singing an excerpt of one of his greatest Verdi parts, Iago in Otello. Massard’s vocal colleagues in these excerpts include Alain Vanzo, Peter Glossop, and Renée Doria.

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 or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 336. Scotto Sings Rossini (Happy Birthday, Renata!)

February 24, 2025Bel canto, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Listeners' Favorites, Needle Drop, Renata ScottoAntonio Beltrami, Antonio Tonini, Bianca Maria Casoni, Gaetano Rossi, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Nait, Il cambiale di matrimionio, Ivan Davis, John Wustman, Pietro Metastasio, Renata Scotto, Renato Fasano, Ryan Edwards, Soirées musicales, Thomas Fultoncountermelody

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Today would have been the 91st birthday of our beloved Renata Scotto. On an episode last year celebrating the 100th birthday of Maria Callas, I remarked that Renatina possessed in profusion two qualities that Maria lacked: cuteness and charm. Both of those qualities are heard in these performances of Rossini songs, which range from 1964 to 1984 and include Scotto in both live and studio recordings. For the last forty years of his life, Gioachino Rossini, who had written scores of operas by the time he was 37, wrote no more works for the stage. But in those later years he did compose two collections of parlor pieces, one of which, the Soirées musicales, or Serate musicali, published in 1835, are heard on this episode. Ten of the twelve songs are heard here performed by Scotto. The episode is supplemented by one larger-scale late Rossini work, an 1832 cantata entitled Giovanna d’Arco which structurally amounts to an enormous operatic scena, performed by Scotto (and my beloved teacher John Wustman) to perfection in a rare live recording from Carnegie Hall in 1969. In addition, we hear a pristine 1959 excerpt from one of Scotto’s earliest recordings, La cambiale di matrimonio.

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 or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 287. Meet Hugo Hasslo

September 7, 2024Art Song, Bel canto, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Orchestral SongsAlexander Pushkin, Birgit Nordin, Bo Bergman, Camille du Locle, Cesare Sterbini, David Wikander, Die Zauberflöte, Don Carlos, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Edmon Badon, Eugen Onegin, Ferenc Koltay, Friedrich Schiller, Gaetano Donizetti, Giacomo Puccini, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Adami, Gunnar Wennerberg, Henry Lindroth, Herbert Sandberg, Hugo Hasslo, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Il tabarro, Jacques Offenbach, Joseph Méry, Joseph-Philippe Simon, Jules Barbier, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Lockroy, Maria di Rohan, Michel Carré, Nils Grevillius, Pierre Beaumarchais, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Rigoletto, Salvadore Cammarano, Sena Jurinac, Sixten Ehrling, Stig Westerberg, Victor Hugo, Wilhelm Schikaneder, Wilhelm Schüchter, Wilhelm Stenhammar, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yevgeny Onegincountermelody

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Unless by some miracle you know him already, the Swedish baritone Hugo Hasslo (1911 – 1994), is almost certainly the greatest baritone you never heard of. I discovered him entirely by accident years ago when Tower Records was going out of business and I, like a jackal picking the carcass of an unfortunate water buffalo, grabbed up scads of opera and vocal CDs that other customers / scavengers had passed over. The second that I heard Hasslo’s voice, I knew I had discovered vocal gold. Initially it was the voice that impressed me the most: clarion yet dark-timbred, solid from bass-baritonal low range to an almost Heldentenor-like top (I was later to discover that Hasslo had dabbled in tenor repertoire, going so far as to sing Cavaradossi on stage!) But it was when I discovered a live 1959 recording of Hasslo singing the title role of Rigoletto with his home company, the Royal Swedish Opera, that I encountered his true greatness: here was a Rigoletto that combined the sheer animal power of a Bastianini with the dramatic insight of a Gobbi with an unmatched humanity and compassion for the character. And to think that, with few exceptions, his career, like that of a handful of other Swedish baritones from that era, was based almost entirely in Sweden, and at the Royal Opera, where he sang from 1940 to 1964. Here is a baritone considered by many cognoscenti to be perhaps the finest Swedish baritone that ever lived, a compleat artist, represented however by only a smattering of studio, live, and television recordings, which it is my honor to share with you. Welcome to the Hugo Hasslo Fan Club!

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 283. Betty Allen

August 25, 2024African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Black History Month 2024, Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Contraltos, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Opera in Translation, Singers of Color, Spirituals, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century OperaAdele Addison, Adolf Holst, Aida, Alexander Nevsky, Allen Ohmes, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Auguste Bey, Benjamin Matthews, Betty Allen, Carlo Pepoli, Carmen Balthrop, Charles Jennens, Charles Wendt, Christian Friedrich Henrici, David Garvey, Didier Gold, Ella Eure-Eaton, Eugene Ormandy, Four Saints in Three Acts, George Frideric Handel, Gertrude Stein, Giacomo Puccini, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Verdi, Gunther Schuller, Gwendolyn Bradley, Hildegard Hillebrecht, Horst Stein, I Puritani, Il tabarro, Israel in Egypt, Joel Thome, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Corigliano, John DeMain, John Ferrell, John Troutbeck, Joseph de Vaughn, Karl Forster, Karl Wagenfeld, Karl Weigl, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Matthäus-Passion, Nicolai Gedda, Nino Sanzogno, Paul Boepple, Picander, Praises and Prayers (Thomson), Richard Bonynge, Robert Mandell, Scott Joplin, Serge Prokofiev, St. Augustine, St. Matthew Passion, Treemonisha, Vincenzo Bellini, Virgil Thomson, Vladimir Lugovsky, William Penn, William Preucilcountermelody

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Betty Allen has been featured on countless omnibus Countermelody episodes, but it’s time for her to get her own episode! Born in Ohio on 17 March, 1927, she died at the age of 82 on 22 June 2009. Not only did Betty Allen possess a voice of significant power and amplitude, she was a superb musician who channeled her soul into her singing, using her superb technique to convey depth of meaning in all the music she sang. She also had a wide repertoire, excelling in opera, concert, and recital. Though her recorded legacy is relatively small, it is superb and significant. Today’s episode samples a cross-section of her recordings, both live and studio, and includes collaborations with Leonard Bernstein, Nicolai Gedda, Eugene Ormandy, Carmen Balthrop, Horst Stein, Leontyne Price, Virgil Thomson, John DeMain, Hildegard Hillebrecht, Richard Bonynge, and Adele Addison. She was a powerful force for good in the musical world, as an educator and advocate as well, succeeding Dorothy Maynor in leading the Harlem School of the Arts, where she served as both executive director and president. Many currently active singers have been touched by the stringent generosity of this fine artist, and it is my honor to pay tribute to her today.

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 270. Eleanor Steber Revisited

July 5, 2024Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Crossover, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Queer Pride, Rescue Mission, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAl Goodman, Al Vann, Alexandre Dumas fils, Alfred Bachelet, Allen Rogers, Augustus Toplady, Barron Smith, Bernard Zaslav, Brian Sullivan, Buddy DeSylva, Carlo Gozzi, Carlo Zangarini, Cesare Sterbini, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Claude Debussy, David Belasco, David Broekman, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Dimitri Mitropoulos, DuBose Heyward, Édouard Guinand, Edwin Biltcliffe, Eleanor Steber, Eugène Adénis-Colombeau, Francesco Maria Piave, Francis Scott Key, Frank Loesser, Frederick Flaxington Harker, Fritz Stiedry, George Gershwin, Giacomo Puccini, Gian Carlo Menotti, Giangiacom Guelfi, Gioachino Rossini, Giovanni Battista Guarini, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Verdi, Guelfo Civinini, Hector Berlioz, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Hugo Wolf, Igor Kipnis, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Ira Gershwin, James Melton, Jean-Philippe Rameau, John Stafford Smith, Juan López de Úbeda, Jussi Bjorling, L’enfant prodigue, La Fanciulla del West, La Traviata, Les nuits d’été, Lilla Kalman, Lohengrin, Maytime (Romberg). Harold Barlow, Nelson Eddy, Oklahoma!, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paul Heyse, Pembroke Davenport, Pierre Beaumarchais, Porgy and Bess, Renato Simoni, Richard Rodgers, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Rida Johnson Young, Robert K. Evans, Robert Katscher, Rosalind Elias, Rupert Brooke, Samuel Barber, Sigmund Romberg, Sonya Monsoff, Spanisches Liederbuch, Sterling Hunkins, Théophile Gautier, Thomas Hastings, Turandot, Vanessa (Barber), Where’s Charley?, Wilfrid Pelletier, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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I sat in my apartment in Berlin on the Fourth of July wondering how, after the events of this past Monday, I can possibly pay tribute to our nation as it “celebrated” its birthday. Then it hit me: since I would never in a million years produce an episode of patriotic musical material, why not pay tribute to a great American singer instead? I had already been planning an upcoming bonus episode on ELEANOR STEBER, the singer I consider to be one of the greatest (if not the greatest) soprano that our country has ever produced! Nearly two years ago, with the help of my dear friend Michelle Oesterle, who was Eleanor’s step-daughter, I produced an episode dedicated to her; today’s episode will not delve so much into the (still-controversial) person that Eleanor was, but rather offer a cross-section, over the course of more than 40 years, of the wide variety of styles and repertoire in which Steber excelled. Who else could traverse a range of repertoire from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Mozart, Rameau to Wagner, Berlioz to Romberg with such ease and joyful authority? Not only do I explore her longevity, I explore her unparalleled prowess as a vocal technician; as well as her well-documented bad treatment by the Metropolitan Opera and its then-general manager, Rudolf Bing. I also look at the recordings that Steber and her then-husband, Michelle’s father, produced on their own ST/AND label in the early sixties, and then hear Steber sing some quintessentially American music from classic musicals. Along the way, I consider some serious topics, including betrayal, alcoholism, and the power of embedded memory. Finally, I consider the possibility that Eleanor Steber’s celebrated portrayal of Minnie in La fanciulla del West might just offer a possible solution for the divisiveness and political turmoil in which our country currently finds itself. Featured guest singers on the episode include Nelson Eddy, Brian Sullivan, Rosalind Elias, and Jussi Björling; musical collaborators include Dimitri Mitropoulos, Igor Kipnis, Allen Rogers, Fritz Stiedry, and her frequent concert and radio collaborators Howard Barlow and Edwin Biltcliffe.

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 263. Contralto Central

May 24, 2024African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Black History Month, Black History Month 2024, Broadway, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Gustav Mahler, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Richard Wagner, Singers of Color, SpiritualsAafje Heynis, Adriana Lecouvreur, Alec Redshaw, Alec Wilder, Alexander Pushkin, Alphons Diepenbrock, Andrès Wheatley, Armando La Rosa Parodi, Arnold Sundgaard, Boris Khaikin, Carmen, Caroline Kaart, Cassandra Wilson, Cesare Sterbini, Charles Baudelaire, Charles Gounod, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Clara Butt, Cloë Elmo, Cor Lemaire, Das Rheingold, Édouard Blau, Edward Elgar, Émile Augier, Émile Deschamps, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Eugène Scribe, Eugenia Mantelli, Ewa Podleś, Felix de Nobel, Florence Kopleff, Florica Cristofereanu, Folk Songs, Francesco Cilea, Franz Schubert, Frederick Stone, Friedrich Rückert, Gaetano Donizetti, Georges Bizet, Georges Hartmann, Germaine Cernay, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Gioachino Rossini, Gustav Mahler, Gustave Cloëz, Hall Johnson, Helen Watts, Henri Meilhac, Herbert Hughes, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Jasmin White, Jimmy Webb, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Fletcher, Jules Massenet, Kathleen Ferrier, Kerstin Thorborg, Kindertotenlieder, Kosti Vehanen, La favorita, Langston Hughes, Le Prophete, Ludovic Halévy, Margaret Bonds, Marguerite D’Alvarez, Marian Anderson, Matthias Claudius, Mikhail Glinka, Milton Kaye, Nina Simone, Norma Procter, Orphée et Euridice, Paul Milliet, Peter Warlock, Philippe Riga, Pierre Beaumarchais, Prosper Mérimée, Richard Gannett, Richard Wagner, Robert Burns, Robert Shaw, Rosario Bourdon, Ruslan and Lyudmila, Sandy Dennis, Sapho (Gounod), Sea Pictures, Shannon Bolin, Sigrid Onégin, Spirituals, Thurston Dart, Václav Neumann, Valentina Levko, Valerian Shirkov, Vera Little, Věra Soukupová, Voltaire, Werthercountermelody

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Finally, the first in my long-promised series on the contralto voice! The contralto is a rara avis in the today’s opera and classical music scene, and yet back in the day, there seem to have been more of them before the public. And of course contraltos have always been a powerful presence on the popular music scene, whether in blues, disco, jazz, or as purveyors of the Great American Songbook. There is no way that I can cover all of the great (and near-great) contraltos in recorded history, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try! Today’s selections span a wide chronological range , even for this podcast: nearly 120 years, and include voices both fleet and monolithic (and sometimes both). We begin with a tribute to the late Polish coloratura contralto Ewa Podleś and along with way we hear the most famous contraltos like Kathleen Ferrier and Marian Anderson, and jazz and pop contraltos like Nina Simone and Cassandra Wilson. We also sample singers from the earlier twentieth century such as Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Cloe Elmo, Clara Butt, Eugenia Mantelli, Kerstin Thorborg, and Sigrid Onégin (about whom I spill some major tea!) Throughout the episode are sprinkled some of the most beautiful voices of any kind that I have ever heard: the Scottish Caroline Kaart, the Romanian Florica Cristofereanu, the Czech Věra Soukupová, the Dutch Aafje Heynis, the French Germaine Cernay, the British Norma Procter, and the Russian Valentina Levko. And if like me you have despaired of ever hearing another true contralto again in our lifetime, we hear in young Jasmin White cause for rejoicing. And if your favorites are not heard today, fear not, for this is the tip of the iceberg: many more great singers will follow when the series continues in two weeks.

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.