Tag Archives: Giuseppe Verdi

Episode 198. Cesare Valletti

May 26, 2023African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Tenors, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Schubert, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless Wonders, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlessandro Scarlatti, Alexandre Dumas, Cesare Valletti, Cosi fan tutte, David Bowie, Dichterliebe, Eduard Mörike, Edvard Grieg, Eleanor Steber, Eugène Scribe, Felice Romani, Francesco Maria Piave, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt, Fritz Stiedry, Gaetano Donizetti, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Antonicelli, Giuseppe Verdi, Hector Berlioz, Heinrich Heine, Hugo Wolf, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Jules Massenet, L’amico Fritz, L’italiana in Algeri, La Traviata, Leo Taubman, Les nuits d’été, Lorenzo da Ponte, Mafalda Favero, Maria Callas, Matthäus von Collin, Nicola Rescigno, Pietro Mascagni, Robert Schumann, Rosanna Carteri, Ruth and Thomas Martin, Stefano Donaudy, Théophile Gautier, Tina Turner, Tito Schipa, Vittorio Gui, Werther, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:37:01 — 106.8MB) | Embed

Today’s episode celebrates the Italian tenore di grazia Cesare Valletti (18 December 1923 – 13 May 2000), perhaps the last in a lineage of Italian lyric tenors. Valletti studied under his illustrious predecessor Tito Schipa and rapidly conquered first the Italian opera houses, and then the world stages, with his small-scale but superbly produced voice and his spontaneous yet exacting musicianship. From 1953 through 1960 he was a mainstay of the Metropolitan Opera and also performed at opera houses and festivals worldwide under some of the greatest conductors and at the side of the greatest singers of his day. We hear a sampling of his greatest operatic roles, including duets with Eleanor Steber, Rosanna Carteri, and Maria Callas, as well as the repertoire in which – nearly unique for an Italian singer – he excelled: art song. The combination of his Italianate timbre with his scrupulous and imaginative musicianship makes for an ineffable and deeply satisfying artistic experience. He made five LPs of recital repertoire, including two live recitals from the stage of Town Hall in New York City, excerpts of which are all offered here. The episode begins with a tribute to the beloved Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll: Tina Turner, who died on Tuesday at the age of 83.

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 197. Theatre Dreams

May 19, 2023African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Broadway, Comic Relief, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Renata Scotto, Richard Wagner, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Voiceless Wonders, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAbbé Prevost, Alain Boublil, Alice Ripley, Arnold Schoenberg, Arrigo Boito, Arthur Endrèze, Benjamin Britten, Birgit Nilsson, Biserka Cvejić, Bohuslav Martinů, Brigitte Fassbaender, Carl Maria von Weber, Cesare Valletti, Charles Gounod, Charles Kullman, Claude Devos, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Cy Coleman, Daniel Gundlach, Der Freischütz, Der Zigeunerbaron, Deva Dassy, Dorothy Fields, Edith Mathis, Eduard Künneke, Eleanor Steber, Elektra, Emily Skinner, Ettore Panizza, Eugen Jochum, Fiddler on the Roof, Frank Porretta, Franz Allers, Frieder Weissmann, Gabriel Faure, Georg Solti, Georges Neveux, Geraint Evans, Giovanni Martinelli, Giuseppe Verdi, Grace Bumbry, Hanna Binyamini, Harold Barlow, Henri Defosse, Henri Meilhac, Hildegard Behrens, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Ira Gershwin, Iris (Mascagni), Ivo Žídek, Izhak Graziani, Jacques Brel, Jacques Offenbach, James Levine, Janet Baker, Jaroslav Krombholc, Jean Laforge, Jerry Bock, Joe Darion, Johann Strauss II, José Van Dam, Jules Barbier, Jules Gressier, Jules Massenet, Kurt Weill, La Belle Helene, Lady in the Dark, Lawrence Tibbett, Lea Dulitzkaya, Lee Venora, Leopold Ludwig, Léopold Marchand, Les Misérables, Lloyd Arriola, Lohengrin, Louis Beydts, Ludovic Halévy, Luigi Illica, Man of La Mancha, Manon, Mária Tauberová, Marie Pappenheim, Martin Isepp, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Melitta Muszely, Michel Carré, Mitch Leigh, Nello Santi, Nicolai Gedda, Oklahoma!, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otello, Patrick Baton, Philippe Gille, Pierre Monteux, Pietro Mascagni, Renata Scotto, René Leibowitz, Richard Rodgers, Richard Strauss, Richard Tauber, Richard Wagner, Robert Massard, Robert Stolz, Roland Gilbert, Romand Bussine, Roméo et Juliette, Sheldon Harnick, Shmuel Rudenski, Shraga Friedman, Spiros Argiris, Sweet Charity, The King and I, Todd Ellison, Victoria de los Angeles, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Zafrira Yaronicountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00:00 — 125.1MB) | Embed

I’ve been plotting an episode on the subject of Dreams for a while. Given the profusion of music that references that altered state of consciousness, my challenge was narrowing down the topic. I chose to focus today on theater music (opera, operetta, and musicals) that references actual rather than figurative dreams. Even within these parameters, there was a plethora of material and as usual my repertoire choices are strangely and uniquely my own. So on this episode you’ll hear everything from a 1965 recording of Tevye’s Dream from Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, from the first Israeli production of the musical; Renata Scotto in late career essaying the haunted dreamscapes of Arnold Schoenberg’s monodrama Erwartung; Mattiwilda Dobbs in a rare 1952 recording of “Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben” from Mozart’s Zaide; excerpts from unusual French and German operettas featuring Robert Massard and Charles Kullman, respectively; birthday tributes to Birgit Nilsson and Richard Tauber; and the great Welsh bass Geraint Evans in a live performance of Bottom’s Dream from Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And much, much more, including a teaser of next week’s subject the Italian lyric tenor Cesare Valletti; and Janet Baker live in recital in 1966, a preview of the first in a series of bonus episodes that will feature rare LPs from my personal collection. As always, thanks for your support; enjoy!

Episode 193. Alexander Kipnis

April 21, 2023Art Song, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, SchubertAlexander Kipnis, Alexander Pushkin, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Arrigo Boito, Arthur Bergh, Arturo Toscanini, Boris Godunov, Celius Dougherty, Clemens Schmalstich, Coenraad V. Bos, Der Rosenkavalier, Der Zauberflöte, Detlev von Liliencron, Dichterliebe, Emanuel Schikaneder, Erich Ortmann, Ernst Victor Wolff, Folk Song, Francesco Maria Piave, Frank Bibb, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Schiller, Georg Friedrich Daumer, Gerald Moore, Giuseppe Verdi, Gleb Yellin, Heinrich Heine, Hermann Lingg, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Hugo Wolf, Italienisches Liederbuch, J. Michel Diack, Johannes Brahms, Joseph von Eichendorff, Ludwig Rellstab, Michelangelo, Modest Mussorgsky, Nicolai Berezovsky, Paul Heyse, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Robert Schumann, Schwanengesang, Simon Boccanegra, Tristan und Isolde, Walter Heinrich Robert-Tornow, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Rosécountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:34:53 — 90.1MB) | Embed

If I were to indulge in the foolish task of dubbing certain artists the “Greatest Ever,” I would have little hesitation in naming Ukrainian-American bass Alexander Kipnis (1891–1978) “the greatest” in several categories: greatest Wagner bass, greatest low-voiced Lieder singer, just maybe even the greatest bass ever captured on recording. Though I am trying to wean myself of these designations, I have no difficulty in naming Kipnis my favorite bass. In this episode, his operatic impersonations, though legendary, are touched on but peripherally: the focus instead is on his contributions in art song, specifically Lieder. Despite his heavily-accented German (which to my ear only increases the power of his interpretations in songs like Schubert’s “Aufenthalt” or Wolf’s Michelangelo-Lieder), Kipnis was as keenly attuned to text and its musical setting than any singer of art song before or since. As usual of late in my episodes, I begin with several short contrasting examples that illustrate the “why” question: why was this artist so important, and why does he remain so? There follow a few all-too-brief examples of Kipnis in opera, including examples stretching back to his earliest recordings in 1916, when he was barely 25 years old. Then follow a further examination of Kipnis’s Lieder recordings, including a rare 1943 radio broadcast of Schumann’s Dichterliebe accompanied by Wolfgang Rosé, the son-in-law of Gustav Mahler, as well as recordings issued under the aegis of the Hugo Wolf Society and the Johannes Brahms Society, and his matchless early recordings of the songs of Franz Schubert, which were my introduction not only to Kipnis’s magisterial voice, but also the songs themselves. In all of this material, whether tender, ardent, humorous, or transcendent, Kipnis’s dignity and humanity shine through.

Episode 192. Virginia Zeani: The Soul of the Voice

April 14, 2023Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, VerismoAida, Alberto Zedda, Alexander Pushkin, Alexandre Dumas, Alfredo Simonetto, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Arrigo Boito, Aureliano Pertile, Benjamin Britten, Boris Godunov, Carlo Sabajno, Cornel Trailescu, David Belasco, Death in Venice, Don Carlo, Edward Downes, Francesco Cavalli, Francesco Maria Piave, Franz Bauer Theussl, Friedrich Schiller, Gaetano Donizetti, George Frideric Handel, Giacomo Puccini, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Gioacchino Rossini, Giulio Cesare, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Gloria Foglizzo, Henry Purcell, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Ion Buzea, James Bowman, Jean Bobescu, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, La Calisto, La Traviata, Leopold Stokowski, Lohengrin, Luigi Illica, Lute Songs, Lydia Lipowska, Madama Butterfly, Matthäus-Passion, Mefistofele, Melitta Muszely, Mihai Bradiceanu, Modest Mussorgsky, Myfanwy Piper, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, Nicolae Herlea, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Otello, Philip Ledger, Raymond Leppard, Richard Wagner, Robert Stolz, Robert Tear, Salvadore Cammarano, Snegurochka, T.S. Eliot, The Fairy Queen, Thomas Mann, Tosca, Vincenzo Bellezza, Virginia Zeani, Walter Scott, Walther von der Vogelweide, William Shakespearecountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:38:12 — 106.2MB) | Embed

A number of significant classical and opera singers have died in this calendar year, and this episode pays tribute to three of them. First, James Bowman, the most significant British countertenor since Alfred Deller, who died on March 27th in his 82nd year. Second, Melitta Muszely, the Austrian jugendlich dramatisch soprano of Hungarian origin who died in her native Vienna at the age of 95 on January 18. And finally, a loss which reverberated around the operatic world with particularly poignancy and finality, the great Romanian soprano Virginia Zeani, who died on March 20 at the age of 97. While the focus of the episode is on Zeani, I also discuss the significance and contributions of Bowman and Muszely in detail, as well as offering examples of some of their best recordings. In the case of Zeani, I offer a thorough career and biographical overview, including excerpts from her rare studio recordings as well as live material from both the early and late years of her performing career. Also included are recordings by her teachers Lydia Lipowska and Aureliano Pertile, and her husband, the Italian-Russian bass Nicola Rossi Lemeni. And leave it to me to find a way of bringing three such disparate artists as Bowman, Muszely, and Zeani together at the conclusion of the episode!

Episode 190. Make Your Own Kind of Music: Verdi Edition

March 31, 2023Bel canto, Comic Relief, Giuseppe Verdi, Mezzo Madness, Needle Drop, Queer Pride, Singers in Old Age, Voiceless WondersAida, Alberto Paoletti, Alternate Universe Bel Canto, Barry Mann, Cass Elliot, Cynthia Weil, Domingos Monteiro, Gino Sarri, Giuseppe Verdi, Grazi Barbosa, Howard Salat, Il Trovatore, Joe Raposo, Julie Andrews, La forza del destino, La Puma Opera Company, La Traviata, Luigi Ricci, Make Your Own Kind of Music, Mari Lyn, Natalia de Andrade, Olive Middleton, Sylvia Sawyer, The Golden Treasury of Song, The Howard Salat Quartet Local 802, Un ballo in maschera, Wingcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:40:39 — 115.5MB) | Embed

It’s time for my fourth annual April Fools Day episode! The first one that I published exactly four years ago, entitled Alternate Universe Bel Canto, has proven to be one of my most popular, and one that was the gateway episode for many of my most devoted listeners. Furthermore, this one came specifically at the request of one of my newest Patreon supporters (hint, hint to those of you who are not yet supporting the podcast there!) Instead of an overview of all those “outsider music” opera singers out there, I have chosen to focus in on three sopranos in particular whom I find to be the most original, entertaining: Mari Lyn (AKA Marilyn Sussman), Olive Middleton (AKA Olive Townend), and Natália de Andrade. Each of these women created her own platform. Mari Lyn was the Singing Hostess of the 1980s New York-based cable network series The Golden Treasury of Song. After a career in the 1920s singing roles such as Musetta under Thomas Beecham at Covent Garden, British soprano Olive Middleton became, much later in life, the lead diva of New York’s La Puma Opera Company, giving quixotic performances with that company well into her seventies (and well past her vocal expiration date!), performances that gained her a fanbase that included lead singers of the Metropolitan Opera as well as the fussiest of opera queens. And the Portuguese soprano Natália de Andrade (my favorite!) gained fame and notoriety in her native country and beyond for her self-financed recordings, particularly the late-career ones published in the 1980s, which gained her the grudging respect given to those most deluded of holy fools. And lest one think that this episode deals only with sopranos, I also give a nod to the raucous-voiced American mezzo-soprano Sylvia Sawyer, who appeared in the 1950s on complete opera recordings issued on the Capitol Records label and produced, incredibly, under the auspices of the Rome Opera. To be clear: though I find each of these deluded divas to be, each in her own distinctive way, hilarious, in the end, each of them earns my respect for her enterprising undertakings, her firm belief in her own talent, and her unique approach to tuning, phrasing, and language, here perpetrated exclusively on the music of Giuseppe Verdi, who must surely be turning over in his grave right about now!

Episode 188. Sarah Reese

March 17, 2023African American Singers, Giuseppe Verdi, Happy Birthday, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAndrew Schenck, Carlo Bergonzi, Carolyn Val-Schmidt, David Lawton, Ein deutsches Requiem, Giuseppe Verdi, Herbert von Karajan, Il Corsaro, Il Trovatore, Isaiah Jackson, Johannes Brahms, Knoxville Summer of 1915, Le nozze di Figaro, Prayers of Kierkegaard, Samuel Barber, Sarah Reese, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:22:35 — 93.8MB) | Embed

Greatness expresses itself in different ways. Sometimes in indisputable artistic talents, and other times in profound displays of humanity. And sometimes, as in the case of today’s subject, Sarah Reese, it’s both. The soprano, who just this week celebrated a landmark birthday, is a singer of rare gifts whose career encompassed some of the world’s greatest stages and concert halls who later in life returned to the region where she grew up (in Sarah’s case, South Carolina), to give back to the community as a music teacher and choir director, in which capacity she has positively impacted the lives of countless students who came into contact with her warmth, skill, and generosity of spirit. Earlier on in her personal saga, Sarah made history when in the late 1960s she was the first female Black student at Furman University in Greenville. Through her persistence, courage, and determination, she rose above the ostracism and abuse she experienced there to become enshrined as a legend, with the school’s theater recently permanently renamed in her honor. Though her voice and artistry were acknowledged worldwide, her recorded legacy is small, with only one commercial recording (Samuel Barber’s Prayers of Kierkegaard) which nevertheless won a Grammy award in 1993. It is our great good fortune that in recent years a number of precious live recordings have emerged that show quite clearly the range and extent of her gifts. I present all of them here on this episode: from a concert recording of Verdi’s rare 1848 opera Il corsaro co-starring legendary Italian tenor Carlo Bergonzi, to a broadcast concert with the Detroit Symphony led by Isaiah Jackson in which she sings Mozart and Verdi arias, as well as Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915. The episode concludes with a recently resurfaced 1988 performance of Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem led by Herbert von Karajan the year before his death, one in which Sarah Reese’s heavenly soprano bestows a comforting benediction upon us all. Blessings upon this living legend, and gratitude galore!

Episode 184. Eugene Holmes (Black History Month 2023)

February 17, 2023African American Singers, Bel canto, BHM2023WK3, Black History Month, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Interview, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoAida, Arnold Kempkens, Barbara Carter, Bonita Hyman, Charles Francis Keary, Charles Groves, Claudia Lindsey, Eugene Holmes, Francesco Maria Piave, Frederick Delius, Georges Bizet, Giorgio Aristo, Giuseppe Verdi, Günter Marx, Gwyneth Jones, Harry T. Burleigh, Hector Urbón, Heribert Klein, János B. Nagy, Joseph Rezits, Koanga, La forza del destino, Pagliacci, Paul Callaway, Riccardo Muti, Rigoletto, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Spirituals, Stephen Harrison, Victor Hugo, Yoram Davidcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:21:41 — 98.7MB) | Embed

Eugene Holmes (1932 – 2007), baritone supreme, should be remembered as one of the most significant voices of the Twentieth Century and a Black singer on a par with the most revered and celebrated. Though he participated in the creation of some important work (including by Gian Carlo Menotti, Gunther Schuller, and Frederick Delius), and performed with San Francisco Opera, the Wiener Staatsoper, New York City Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera Regional Company, his career remained centered for more than thirty years at his home company, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. The rare recorded documents that we have of Eugene Holmes, including two self-produced LPs of spirituals and three different recordings of Delius’s rare opera Koanga (two of them live), reveal a voice of rare magnitude, range, power, and sensitivity, qualities which made him one of the premier Verdi baritones of his day. But due to a number of factors, including his modesty and his unwillingness to travel far from home, he did not achieve the international recognition that he deserved. I have pulled together all of the recorded material of Eugene Holmes that I could find, and present excerpts from these varied sources. Guest vocalists appearing opposite Holmes include sopranos Claudia Lindsey, Gwyneth Jones, and Barbara Carter, and tenors János B. Nagy and Giorgio Aristo. In the production of this podcast, I was greatly aided by reminiscences provided by his colleagues Bonita Hyman, the German-based African American mezzo-soprano; Stephen Harrison, the retired musical director of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein; and Heribert Klein, member of the committee of UNICEF Deutschland, an organization to which Eugene Holmes was deeply committed.

Episode 183. Martina Arroyo (Black History Month 2023)

February 10, 2023African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, BHM2023WK2, Black History Month, Comic Relief, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Happy Birthday, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Richard Strauss, Schubert, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoAida, Andromache’s Farewell, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Antonio Somma, Arnold Schoenberg, Burt Bacharach, Charles Mackerras, Colin Davis, David Belasco, Don Giovanni, Donal Nold, Dorothy Maynor, DuBose Heyward, Dusty Springfield, Ermanno Mauro, Ernani, Fausto Cleva, Francesco Maria Piave, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Franz Schubert, George Gershwin, Gerd Albrecht, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Giacomo Puccini, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Günter Wand, Gurre-Lieder, Harry T. Burleigh, Hermann Hesse, Ira Gershwin, János Ferencsik, Jens Peter Jacobsen, Joaquín Nin, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johannes Brahms, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Kurt Eichhorn, L’Africaine, La forza del destino, Lamberto Gardelli, Leonard Hokanson, Lorenzo da Ponte, Luciano Pavarotti, Ludwig van Beethoven, Luigi Illica, Macbeth (Verdi), Madama Butterfly, Martina Arroyo, Max Rudolf, Nicola Rescigno, Porgy and Bess, Regine Crespin, Richard Strauss, Samuel Barber, Sixten Ehrling, Spirituals, Stuart Burrows, Thomas Schippers, Turandot, Un ballo in maschera, Victor Hugo, Vier letzte Lieder, Vittorio Gui, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:21:34 — 103.8MB) | Embed

Last week on Feburary 2, the beloved African American soprano Martina Arroyo turned 86 years old. Although the Countermelody birthday tribute to Ms. Arroyo is a week late, it is nonetheless profoundly heartfelt. I have always valued the artistry and voice of this artist who often referred to herself as “The Other One” (because she was so frequently confused with today’s birthday diva, Leontyne Price). In preparing this episode, however, I flipped over into fan girl mode: was there anything that Martina Arroyo could not do? Of course she was celebrated as one of the premiere Verdi sopranos of her day (or, indeed, of the twentieth century), and there are ample examples on the episode that give testament to her supremacy in that repertoire. But she was also an intrepid performer of contemporary music, creating important works by both Karlheinz Stockhausen and Samuel Barber. Her performances of baroque music, while very much following an earlier style of performance practice, are vivid and insightful. Her affinity with French grand opera style is off the charts, as evidenced by an excerpt from Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine. She also could have pursued a path as a Mozart and Strauss singer, and selections by both of these composers prove her mastery of this genre as well. She also had the power to be a full-fledged dramatic soprano, as shown by her live performances of Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder and the title role in Puccini’s Turandot. And yet her subtlety as a recitalist is shown in live and studio Lieder performances. And the fervor and vigor of her performance of spirituals is a thing of joy. This episode is full of surprises but one thing is not surprising at all: the degree of dedication and commitment of this artist, which continues to this day with the performance and education initiative of the Martina Arroyo Foundation. (The episode begins with a brief tribute to Burt Bacharach, who died yesterday at the age of 94.)

Episode 182. Dorothy Maynor (Black History Month 2023)

February 3, 2023African American Singers, Art Song, BHM2023WK1, Black History Month, Broadway, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Richard Strauss, Schubert, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicArpad Sandor, Carousel (Rodgers & Hammerstein), Cecil Cohen, Claude Debussy, Countee Cullen, David Oppenheim, Die Zauberflöte, Dorothy Maynor, Elijah (Mendelssohn), Felix Mendelssohn, Frank Black, Franz Schubert, Friederich von Florow, Friedrich von Matthisson, George Frideric Handel, George Schick, Georges Bizet, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustave Charpentier, Howard Barlow, Johann Sebastian Bach, L’enfant prodigue (Debussy), Leonard De Paur, Leopold Stokowski, Louise, Ludwig van Beethoven, Oscar Hammerstein II, Pierre Monteux, R. Nathaniel Dett, Richard Rodgers, Richard Strauss, Robert Louis Stevenson, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Semele (Handel), Serge Koussevitzky, St. Matthew Passion, Sylvan Levin, Victor Hugo, Wilhelm Müller, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:15:43 — 80.5MB) | Embed

I lead off my new episodes for Black History Month 2023 with one of the most glorious voices ever captured on recordings, Dorothy Maynor (03 September 1910 – 19 February 1996), one of the most glorious lyric soprano voices ever captured on recording. Discovered by Serge Koussevitzky in the late 1930s and championed by him and a host of other conductors (including Leopold Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy), she became renowned as a recitalist but, because of restrictions of the era placed upon Black singers, never sang on any operatic stage. Nevertheless, her studio recordings of arias by Mozart, Debussy, and Charpentier are legendary. Our appreciation of Maynor the singer is greatly enhanced by the presence of live radio recordings as well as a recently-issued live 1940 song recital from the Library of Congress. It is one of the great injustices of musical history that gifted Black singers of Maynor’s caliber from that era were outrightly denied the opportunity to perform in staged opera performances at venues like the Metropolitan Opera. Dorothy Maynor nonetheless persevered and left an incredible legacy, and not just a vocal one: in 1963, the year of her retirement from singing, she founded the Harlem School of the Arts, for which, before she stepped down as President in 1979, she raised more than $2 million dollars for the construction of a new facility for the institution. She also was the first African American singer to perform at a presidential inaugural (both for Harry S. Truman in 1949 and Dwight D. Eisenhower four years later), as well as the first African American to sit on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Opera. This episode features Maynor in live, studio, and radio recordings of repertoire by Bach, Handel, Schubert, and Mendelssohn, as well as some of the finest recordings of spirituals ever made. Also heard are the songs of three Black composers, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Cecil Cohen, and R. Nathaniel Dett, the latter of which Maynor studied with at the Hampton Institute, whose work Maynor frequently programmed on her recitals. The episode opens with a joyous birthday tribute to next week’s subject, Martina Arroyo, whose 1974 album of spirituals was backed by the Choir of the Harlem School of the Arts conducted by Maynor herself.

Episode 178. Andrzej Hiolski

January 6, 2023Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Gustav Mahler, Happy Birthday, Holiday Music, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Orchestral Songs, Queer Pride, Richard Wagner, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoAdam Mickiewicz, Adamo Didur, Aldous Huxley, Alexander Pushkin, Alina Bolechowska, Andrea Chénier, Andrzej Boruta, Andrzej Hiolski, Arnold Rezler, Augustyn Bloch, Bohdan Wodiczko, Consuelo Velazquez, Die Teufel von Loudun, Don Carlo, Don Giovanni, Eugenia Wnukowska, Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, Friedrich Schiller, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Halka (Moniuszko), Heinrich Heine, Helena Christenko. Karol Szymanowski, Helmut Melchert, Henryk Czyz, Henryk Debich, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Jacek Urbaniak, Jan Chęciński, Jan Krenz, Jerzy Gert, Jerzy Kotyczka, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Jerzy Marchwiński, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Whiting, Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, King Roger (Szymanowski), Konrad Bryzek, Krzysztof Penderecki, Lorenzo da Ponte, Luigi Illica, Marek Janowski, Mieczysław Karłowicz, Mieczysław Mierzejewski, Pagliacci, Paolo Tosti, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Richard Wagner, Ruggero Leoncavallo, St. Luke Passion (Penderecki), Stanisław Moniuszko, Straszny dwór (Moniuszko), Tadeusz Baird, Tadeusz Szeligowski, Tannhäuser, Tatiana Troyanos, The Devils of Loudun, Umberto Giordano, Un ballo in maschera, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Włodzimierz Lwowicz, Włodzimierz Wolski, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yevgeny Onegin, Zygmunt Krasińskicountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:36:07 — 111.4MB) | Embed

This week I have been tantalizing my followers with the promise of a tall, dark, handsome singer who was born on January 1. I shall keep you in suspense no longer: he is the great Polish baritone Andrzej Hiolski, born in Lvov in New Year’s Day 1922 and died in Krakow on 26 February 2000. I have known of Hiolski for years because of his association with the works of the late Krzysztof Penderecki, but I began digging deeper into his legacy a few years ago and was absolutely stunned at what I found: a singer with a near-perfect technique with a powerful voice with a slightly burred timbre characterized by both beauty, range, and subtlety of expression. I have been collecting his recordings for a few years now and have featured him at every possible opportunity on the podcast, including twice already in the current season. But this episode is devoted entirely to him and it may well serve, strange as it may seem for an artist who is so revered and treasured in his native country, as an introduction for many of my listeners to one of the great baritone voices of the twentieth century. The episode features recordings and performances, many of them exceedingly rare, ranging over more than 50 years, and includes music by Verdi, Wagner, Schubert, Mahler, Bach, Leoncavallo, Mozart, Tosti, Rossini, Tchaikovsky, and Giordano, but also a generous helping of music by Hiolski’s compatriots, including Karol Szymanowski, Frédéric Chopin, Augustyn Bloch, Mieczysław Karłowicz, Stanisław Moniuszko, Tadeusz Baird, Tadeusz Szeligowski, as well as, of course, Penderecki. Guest vocalists include the supercharged Greek-American mezzo Tatiana Troyanos and the delectable Polish soprano Alina Bolechowska, as well as the venerable Polish bass Adamo Didur, an early mentor of Hiolski’s. who now joins company with Jorma Hynninen and Gérard Souzay in the triumvirate of my favorite baritones of all time!

Episode 177. Great Singers at Twilight

December 30, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Black History Month, Broadway, Crossover, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, Holiday Music, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Verismo, Voiceless WondersA Little Night Music, Adelaide Hall, Adelina Patti, Alan Jay Lerner, Alban Berg, Alberta Hunter, Alexander Pushkin, Armand Silvestre, Benjamin Britten, Billy Budd, Brandi Carlile, Burt Bacharach, Cesar Franck, Cole Porter, David Atherton, Duke Ellington, Eileen Farrell, Elisabeth Welch, Frank Wedekind, Franz Schubert, Freda Payne, Gabriel Faure, George Gershwin, Giuseppe Verdi, Grace Bumbry, Günter Neuhold, Hans Altmann, Hans Hotter, Harold Arlen, Harry Plunket Greene, Helen Donath, Herman Melville, Hugues Cuenod, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jeffrey Tate, Johnny Mathis, Johnny Mercer, Joni Mitchell, Jules Massenet, Karl Erb, Klaus Donath, Kurt Weill, La sonnambula, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Lotte Lenya, Love Life (Weill), Lulu (Berg), Magda Olivero, Marco Montanari, Mark Reizen, Marlene Dietrich, Patricia Wise, Paul Gemignani, Pique-Dame, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Regina Resnik, Richard Lewis, Rita Gorr, Robert McFerrin, Rose Dobos, Stephen Sondheim, Sylvia Olden Lee, Ted Koehler, Un ballo in maschera, Vincenzo Bellini, Wilhelm Müller, Winterreise, Yevgeny Onegin, Yip Harburg, Yuri Simonovcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:41:00 — 103.8MB) | Embed

For the last episode of 2022, I begin a series of episodes which was one of the reasons I began Countermelody in the fall of 2019: a celebration of great singing from great singers in the late years of their lives and careers. In the early years of the recording industry, a long-retired artist such as Adelina Patti would consent to leave recorded documents of their voices for future generations to experience. Oftentimes a cherished artist will make a guest cameo appearance at an important event (think of Leontyne Price coming out of retirement at age 74 and singing “God Bless America” at the September 30, 2001 memorial concert at Carnegie Hall). Other times, artists like Johnny Mathis, Regina Resnik, or Helen Donath, simply never retire, but continue to bestow their artistry upon us decade after decade. Sometimes, as is the case of Lotte Lenya, a performer finds herself later in her life on a mission which demands that she resume performing, in Lenya’s case, as a means of securing the musical legacy of her late husband Kurt Weill. There is also, in the case of someone like Alberta Hunter or Elisabeth Welch, the thrill of a jazz or pop artist at the end of her life experiencing a career resurgence at the end of a long life. In the classical world, artists late in their lives can still give extraordinary performances of art song, which makes fewer demands on their voices than taxing operatic roles, while allowing full display of their deepened artistry and experience. There are also operatic roles specifically designed for the more mature artist: roles like Schigolch in Lulu, or the Countess in Pique-Dame, among many others, which are sampled here in performances by Hans Hotter and Rita Gorr, respectively. There are also those rare and exceptional artists who are able to perform movingly even into their nineties, like the Ukrainian bass Mark Reizen, or the verismo soprano Magda Olivero; or after having suffered catastrophic physical setbacks, like the German tenor Karl Erb, the African American baritone Robert McFerrin, or the pop icon Joni Mitchell. These artists (along with many others) and this topic seems deeply appropriate as 2022 draws to a close and we look forward to the inevitable challenges, the blank slate, the looming horizon, of the year to come.

Episode 171. November Birthday Gals

November 18, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Canadian Singers, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Happy Birthday, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Operetta, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAllen Rogers, Amelita Galli-Curci, André Kostelanetz, Andre Previn, Aniara (Blomdahl), Barbara Hendricks, Béla Bartók, Beverly Wolff, Bonnie Bramlett, Bonnie Raitt, Caterina Mancini, Chi Coltrane, Delaney Bramlett, Dora Leen, Dory Langdon Previn. kd lang, Emmerich Kálmán, Emmi Varasdy, Erik Linegren, Federico García Lorca, Felix Mendelssohn, Fernando Previtali, Francis Poulenc, Franz Schreker, Genevieve Touraine, Gerald Moore, Giuseppe Verdi, Gräfin Mariza, Harawi, Harry Martinson, Heinrich Heine, Henry Bishop, Irwin Gage, Jackson Browne, Jacques Offenbach, Joan Sutherland, Joaquín Valverde, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Prine, Joni Mitchell, Julia Hamari, Karl Engel, Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Kjerstin Dellert, La battaglia di Legnano, Lawrence Foster, Leon Russell, Louis Spohr, Lucia Popp, Malcolm Martineau, Mária Basilides, Maria Stader, Marie-Madeleine Petit, Marietta Simpson, Maurice Ravel, Michèle Command, Ned Rorem, Olivier Messiaen, Pierrette Alarie, Richard Bonynge, Robert Shaw, Salvatore Cammarano, Saramae Endich, Sylvester Stewart, Theodore Roethke, Tina Turner, Victoria de los Angeles, Werner Janssen, William Walton, William Wordsworth, Yvonne Kenny, Zoltán Kodálycountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:24:15 — 89.9MB) | Embed

Tomorrow morning I leave for three weeks and I’ve been desperately trying to come up with topics that would be a bit easier to produce while I’m away. What could be easier than birthdays for this month and next? Well… leave it to your intrepid producer to make that as complicated as it could be. But there’s a good reason: so many exceptional singers have birthdays this month and next! In fact, November is so chock full of such artists that I decided to focus exclusively on the Birthday Girls. And what a lineup! Iconic divas like Joan Sutherland and Victoria de los Ángeles; tragically short-lived singers like Saramae Endich and the beloved Lucia Popp; forgotten artists like Kjerstin Dellert, Caterina Mancini, and Geneviève Touraine; exceptional Black artists like Barbara Hendricks and Marietta Simpson: all are represented. And let’s not forget the pop divas, both celebrated (Tina Turner, Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt), and less well-remembered (Chi Coltrane, Bonnie Bramlett). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. So lift a glass, cut a piece of Geburtstagkuchen, and tune in to Countermelody in celebration of these exceptional women! [n.b. This episode was posted before the death of Ned Rorem, who will be properly commemorated in next week’s episode.]

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:21 — 73.2MB) | Embed

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.

Episode 169. Grace Bumbry

November 4, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Crossover, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Richard Strauss, Schubert, Singers of Color, VerismoAlexander Schmalcz, Amilcare Ponchielli, Andrea Maffei, Andrew White, Beaumont Glass, Berislav Klobučar, Detlev von Liliencron, Francesco Maria Piave, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Rückert, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Verdi, Grace Bumbry, Gustave Charpentier, Hector Berlioz, Helmut Deutsch, Hermann Allmers, Jacques Revaux, Johann Gabriel Seidl, Johann Jacobi, Johann Mayrhofer, Johannes Brahms, John Fiore, Jules Massenet, Julius Mosen, Kenneth Collins, La Gioconda, Leonard Hokanson, Les nuits d’été, Macbeth, Michelangelo Veltri, Nabucco, Norman Bailey, Norman Newell, Oscar Wilde, Paul Anka, Renato Simoni, Richard Strauss, Robert Schumann, Roger Webb, Salome, Shirley Verrett, Spirituals, Stefan Soltesz, Temistocle Solera, Théophile Gautier, Turandot, Umberto Balsamo, Victor Hugo, William Shakespearecountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:29:02 — 102.7MB) | Embed

Though the great diva Grace Bumbry has often been featured on Countermelody, I have not yet done a full episode on this incomparable artist. Today’s episode seeks to remedy that, and to celebrate a singer whose contribution and influence extends back many decades and continues to this very day. Normally when I consider an artist so well-renowned, I try to offer a perspective that sheds different light on that singer. So today’s Bumbry celebration considers three aspects of her artistry that have received somewhat less attention. While her successes in a wide range of mezzo soprano repertoire are well-known and well-documented, her soprano assumptions have been somewhat more controversial. I highlight numerous scenes and arias, including from Macbeth, Salome, Turandot, and Nabucco, in both live and studio performances, that shed light on the enormous prowess and fearlessness with which she confronted these roles. Alongside such larger-than-life impersonations are Bumbry’s intimate and detailed performances as a Lieder singer, a tribute to her training under that matchless singer and teacher Lotte Lehmann, with whom Bumbry studied at the Music Academy of the West. Recordings of art song by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Strauss, Liszt, and Berlioz, made over the course of 45 years are also a testament to Bumbry’s vocal longevity and technical prowess. In recent years, Grace Bumbry has devoted her time to the care, nurturing, and training of young singers under the aegis of a program she has named “The Bumbry Way.” The episode closes with a definitive performance of the song “My Way,” which incorporates and encapsulates all the colors of this extraordinary singer in all her fearlessness, self-assurance, determination, vulnerability, and strength. Evviva “The Bumbry Way!”

Episode 166. Dan’s Picks

October 14, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Canadian Singers, Eileen Farrell, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, Lieder, Margaret Price, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Renata Scotto, Richard Strauss, Schubert, Singers of Color, Sylvia Sass, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoAdele Addison, Adolphe Adam, Adriana Lecouvreur, Alexander Kipnis, Alfredo Catalani, Angela Lansbury, Aribert Reimann, Arturo Basile, Brigitte Fassbaender, Carl Maria von Weber, Carlo Sabajno, Charles Gounod, Der Freischütz, Die Ägyptische Helena, Donald Pippin, Edwin McArthur, Elisabeth Rethberg, Elisabeth Soderstrom, Ferdinand Leitner, Francesco Cilea, Frank Bibb, Franz Schubert, George Frideric Handel, Georges Pretre, Georges Thill, Gerard Souzay, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Giovanni Battista Bassani, Giuseppe Verdi, Gundula Janowitz, Heinrich Heine, Hina Spani, Hugo von Hoffmansthal, I Puritani, Il Trovatore, Jacqueline Bonneau, James Lockhart, Jephtha (Handel), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johannes Brahms, Kirsten Flagstad, Klaus Groth, Kurt Weill, La Wally (Catalani), Lamberto Gardelli, Le Postillon de Longjumeau, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Lodoletta (Mascagni), Ludwig Rellstab, Malcolm Sargent, Margaret Price, Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Oliviero de Fabritiis, Oralia Dominguez, Paul Badura-Skoda, Pietro Mascagni, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Renata Scotto, Richard Lewis, Richard Strauss, Richard Woitach, Roméo et Juliette, Sylvia Sass, Teresa Stratas, Vincenzo Bellini, Walter Mehring, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:27:28 — 93.3MB) | Embed

This week I celebrated my birthday, so today is the second of this month’s birthday celebrations. A number of my listeners have been asking me for a while to post an episode featuring my favorite singers and recordings. So here it is! We lead off with a brief memorial tribute to Angela Lansbury, who died in the early California morning of my birthday. The rest of the episode features many recordings that I first got to know as I began exploring the world of great singing on records. Leontyne Price, Maria Callas, Alexander Kipnis, Elisabeth Söderström, Richard Lewis, Renata Scotto, Adele Addison, Gundula Janowitz, Margaret Price, Teresa Stratas, Gérard Souzay: all of these artists were formative figures in my early listening experience. My appreciation of some others came later: Hina Spani, Brigitte Fassbaender, Georges Thill, Sylvia Sass, Nicolai Gedda, Kirsten Flagstad. By this late date, all of them have been favorite artists of mine for decades and are represented on the episode by some of their greatest recordings. The episode concludes with a brief tribute to the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams on the occasion of his 150th birthday, also celebrated this week.

P.S. Two years ago I did another Happy Birthday To Me episode, which featured performances by some of my favorite pop divas. The episode can be found for a limited time at the top of my LinkTree chain.

Episode 165. Giuseppe Verdi: A Libran Birthday Tribute

October 7, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Canadian Singers, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, Mezzo Madness, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Singers of ColorAchille de Lauzières, Aida, Alan Titus, Alberto Erede, Alexandre Dumas, Alfredo Simonetto, Alzira, Andrea Maffei, Antonino Tonini, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Antonio Sommo, Arrigo Boito, Attila, Bruno Reibold, Bryan Balkwill, Camilla Williams, Camille du Locle, Carlo Felice Cillario, Christoph von Dohnányi, Claramae Turner, Colin Davis, Delia Rigal, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Don Carlo, Edda Moser, Elizabeth Connell, Eugène Scribe, Falstaff, Francesco Maria Piave, Francisco Araiza, Francisco Casanova, František Jílek, Friedrich Schiller, Galina Vishnevskaya, Georg Singer, Giovanna d’Arco, Giulietta Simionato, Giuseppe Verdi, Guido Cantelli, Hana Janků, Igor Gorin, Ion Buzea, Irene Dalis, Irmgard Seefried, Jean Bobescu, John Alexander, Jon Vickers, Josef Dünnwald, Joseph Méry, Juan Emilio Martini, Julius Rudel, Karl Böhm, La forza del destino, La Traviata, Lamberto Gardelli, Laszlo Halasz, Luciano Pavarotti, Nabucco, New York City Opera, Nino Verchi, Otello, Requiem (Verdi), Rigoletto, Rolando Panerai, Sena Jurinac, Speranza Scappucci, Temistocle Solera, Tito Gobbi, Un ballo in maschera, Vasile Moldoveanu, Victor Hugo, Virginia Zeani, Voltaire, William Shakespearecountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:35:44 — 101.1MB) | Embed

The great Giuseppe Verdi was born this week in 1813. Since his birthday occurs in the same week as mine, and since I firmly believe that I was a Verdi soprano in a former life, I am paying tribute to him this week with a series of excerpts from his works performed by exceptional singers whose birthdays also occur in the month of October. It’s astounding how many great Verdi singers were born at the time of the harvest moon: Luciano Pavarotti, Tito Gobbi, Camilla Williams, Jon Vickers, Rolando Panerai, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Sena Jurinac, and many, many more. I have assembled a setlist featuring more than 20 such singers, including more than a few surprises (the young Irmgard Seefried singing the soprano solo in the Requiem; and a few choice artists that you may have forgotten about, among them Irene Dalis, Delia Rigal, and John Alexander). This whole month will be a birthday extravaganza and this is a marvelous way to start off the celebration, if I do say so myself!

Episode 160. Donald Gramm

September 2, 2022Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Comic Relief, Crossover, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Queer Pride, Twentieth Century MusicAchim von Arnim, Arnold Schoenberg, Carmen, Clemens Brentano, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Donald Gramm, Donald Hassard, Douglas Moore, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Eugene Istomin, Friedrich Schiller, Fritz Reiner, George Frideric Handel, George Shirley, Georges Bizet, Giacomo Puccini, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Antonio Borgese, Giuseppe Verdi, Igor Stravinvsky, Il barbiere di Siviglia, John Duke, Julius Rudel, Loren Driscoll, Ludwig van Beethoven, Ned Rorem, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paul Bowles, Paul Verlaine, Richard Cumming, Richard Rodgers, Robert Craft, Roger Sessions, Sarah Caldwell, South Pacific, Tennessee Williams, Thomas Sherman, Tosca, Walt Whitman, William Murphy, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:53 — 76.2MB) | Embed

Dear ones, I present to you today the extraordinarily versatile bass-baritone and my fellow native Milwaukeean Donald Gramm (1927-1983), one of the central house singers at both the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera from the 1960s through his premature death at the age of 56. Gifted with an intrinsically beautiful voice, an impeccable technique and an expansive range, he also was a crackerjack musician whose repertoire easily encompassed musical styles from florid Baroque music through the thorniest contemporary idioms. He is probably best celebrated these days for his commitment to American art, and this episode features him singing songs by Ned Rorem, John Duke, Richard Cummings, Douglas Moore, and Paul Bowles, with a particular emphasis on texts by Walt Whitman. What is perhaps less well-remembered today is how versatile an opera singer he was, singing roles from Osmin to Scarpia, with a strong emphasis on both bel canto and buffo roles by Rossini and Donizetti. The episode also explores his collaborations with Igor Stravinsky, Glenn Gould, and, perhaps most significantly, Sarah Caldwell, another important musical figure from that era who is strongly deserving of reappraisal.

Episode 156. Barely Sang at the Met II

August 5, 2022Bel canto, Canadian Singers, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoAlban Berg, Alberto Remedios, Alexander Gibson, Alfredo Catalani, Anne Howells, Arrigo Boito, Artur Rodzinski, Carlo Felice Cillario, Charles Bruck, Christel Goltz, Cosi fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Don Giovanni, Eberhard Wächter, Elektra (Strauss), Emanuel, Erna Schlüter, Frank Wedekind, Fromental Halévy, Gabriele d’Annunzio, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Giuseppe Patanè, Giuseppe Verdi, Herbert Häfner, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, I Masnadieri, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Ilona Steingruber, Jane Rhodes, Jean Bobescu, Joan Carden, Jorma Hynninen, Josef Greindl, Josephine Veasey, Jules Massenet, Kurt Herbert Adler, La forza del destino, Leopold Ludwig, Lorenzo da Ponte, Ludovic Spiess, Luisa Malagrida, Lulu (Berg), Manon (Massenet), Margherita Roberti, Maria Chiara, Marina Krilovici, Metropolitan Opera, Montserrat Caballé, Norma (Bellini), Okko Kamu, Oscar Wilde, Otello, Otto Wiener, Pekka Nuotio, Peter Maag, Ramón Vinay, Richard Verreau, Richard Wagner, Rudolf Moralt, Salome (Strauss), Schikaneder, Sergei Prokofiev, Shirley Verrett, Stafford Dean, Tannhäuser, The Fiery Angel (Prokofiev), Thomas Beecham, Tristan und Isolde, Vincenzo Bellini, Walburga Wegner, Wilfrid Pelletier, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:30:52 — 93.6MB) | Embed

This week is the conclusion of my presentation on world-class singers who made a minimal number of appearances at the Metropolitan Opera. My arbitrary parameters for this episode were singers who appeared (approximately) between the years 1950 and 1975 and sang fewer than ten performances in total at that venerable institution. Among the artists featured are the British singers Josephine Veasey and Anne Howells (both of whom we lost earlier this year), as well as Stafford Dean and Alberto Remedios; the French-Canadian tenors Léopold Simoneau and Richard Verreau; the Romanians Ludovic Spiess and Marina Krilovici; the US-American dramatic coloratura Margherita Roberti; the Australian super-soprano Joan Carden; the Italian sopranos Maria Chiara and Luisa Malagrida; the French falcon Jane Rhodes; the Austrians Eberhard Wächter and Otto Wiener; the Finnish heldentenor Pekka Nuotio; and the Germans Josef Greindl, Walburga Wegner, Erna Schlüter and Christel Goltz. Met stalwarts Monserrat Caballé, Shirley Verrett, Ramón Vinay, and Jorma Hynninen are featured as vocal guest stars; conductors include such greats as Dimitri Mitroupoulos, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Thomas Beecham, Carlo Felice Cillario, and Arthur Rodziński..

Episode 155. Barely Sang at the Met I

July 28, 2022African American Singers, Behind the Iron Curtain, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAida, Alexander Melik-Pashaev, Argeo Quadri, Arlene Saunders, Carl Maria von Weber, Charles Mackerras, Chester Kallman, Der Freischütz, Der Rosenkavalier, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Don Carlo, Eleanor Steber, Elisabeth Grümmer, Felicia Weathers, Ferdinand Leitner, Friedrich Schiller, Galina Vishnevskaya, Giacomo Puccini, Giangiacomo Guelfi, Giuseppe Verdi, Gundula Janowitz, Hugo van Hoffmansthal, Idomeneo, Igor Stravinsky, Irmgard Seefried, John Barbirolli, John Pritchard, Joseph Keilberth, Julia Varady, La Fanciulla del West, La Traviata, Leopold Ludwig, Martha Mödl, Metropolitan Opera, Nancy Evans, Nello Santi, Oskar Czerwenka, Pavel Lisitsian, Piero Cappuccilli, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, The Rake’s Progress, Thomas Schippers, Tristan und Isolde, Virginia Zeani, W.H. Auden, William McAlpine, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Wolfgang Windgassen, Wolgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:19:51 — 81.5MB) | Embed

Today’s brain teaser: What do world-class singers Irmgard Seefried, Virginia Zeani, Piero Cappuccilli, birthday girl Gundula Janowitz, Galina Vishnevskaya, Giangiacomo Guelfi, Felicia Weathers, Elisabeth Grümmer, Wolfgang Windgassen, Pavel Lisitsian, and Arlene Saunders, have in common? If you need a hint, it’s in the title of today’s episode: each of them sang at least one and not more than ten performances at that venerable institution, the Metropolitan Opera. These and a number of other artists will be featured on this week’s episode, to be followed by more world-class artists who, for one reason or another (though certainly not talent, skill, or ability) “barely sang at the Met.” We hear music of Mozart, Strauss, Verdi, Stravinsky, Wagner, Puccini, and Weber, led by conductors who either were fixtures at the Met (Thomas Schippers, Nello Santi, Dimitri Mitropoulos), appeared occasionally at the Met (Leopold Ludwig, Charles Mackerras), or never appeared there (Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ferdinand Leitner, Joseph Keilberth) or appeared there only once (John Barbirolli, who led a single gala concert there in 1940).

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 cotent including interviews and livestreams is planned for the upcoming season.

Episode 147. The Young Gabriel Bacquier

June 3, 2022Art Song, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Mirella Freni, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Twentieth Century MusicAlain Vanzo, Alberto Erede, André Gide, André Rivoire, Ariettes oubliées (Debussy), Armand Silvestre, Arrigo Boito, Benjamin Godard, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Ciboulette (Hahn), Claude Debussy, Darius Milhaud, Don Giovanni, Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, Eugène Cools, Félix Nuvolone, Fernando Previtali, Francis Poulenc, Franz Lehár, Gabriel Bacquier, Gabriel Faure, Georges Bizet, Giuseppe Verdi, Henri Duparc, Jacques Houtmann, Janine Ervil, Jean Laforge, Jean Lahor, Jésus Etchéverry, Johann Strauss II, Johann Strauss Sr., Le nozze di Figaro, Les pecheurs de perles, Lorenzo da Ponte, Manuel Rosenthal, Maurice Maeterlinck, Maurice Ravel, Mirella Freni, Orphée et Eurydice, Otello (Verdi), Paganini (Lehár), Paul Morand, Paul Verlaine, Pelleas et Melisande, Renate Holm, Reynaldo Hahn, Robert de Flers, Robert Desnos, Serge Baudo, Sigmund Romberg, Silvio Varviso, The Desert Song (Romberg), Tosca (Puccini), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yvonne Gallcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:07:27 — 71.7MB) | Embed

Two years ago last month, the great French (bass-)baritone Gabriel Bacquier died just four days short of his 96th birthday. At that time I offered a brief memorial tribute which opened my eyes to aspects of his artistry and voice with which I had been previously unfamiliar. Like his near-contemporary, the Italian baritone Tito Gobbi, Bacquier was one of the supreme actors of the operatic stage, whose voice coarsened somewhat over the course of his long career, even as his mastery as an actor and interpreter increased. By the time he retired, his repertoire consisted almost entirely of buffo parts. But in the earliest years of his career (and also like Gobbi), he possessed a baritone of velvety beauty that might surprise those who know only his later comic roles. This episode, which commemorates the second anniversary of Bacquier’s death as well as his (posthumous) 98th birthday, focuses on the three different musical genres in which, in those early years, from 1953 through 1968, he excelled in equal measure: opera, of course, but also mélodie and operetta. The operatic portrayals represented include the title roles in Don Giovanni and Orphée et Eurydice; Zurga in Les Pêcheurs de perles; the Count in Le nozze di Figaro; Iago in Otello; Golaud; and his incomparable Scarpia, which he sang opposite every great Tosca of the 1960s with the exception of Callas. Complementing these live and studio recordings are recordings of melodies by Duparc, Fauré, Debussy, Ravel, and Poulenc; and operetta arias by Sigmund Romberg, Franz Lehár, Johann Strauss II, and Reynaldo Hahn, all deliciously sung in French. Vocal guest stars include Mirella Freni; Alain Vanzo; Bernard Demigny; Janine Ervil; Yvonne Gall, with whom Bacquier studied at the Conservatoire de Paris; and the late Renate Holm, the renowned German soubrette who died in April at the age of 90. In all this repertoire, Bacquier, who insisted on the appellation “acting singer” rather than “singing actor,” displays his commitment to clear yet full projection of text, which serves as a mirror into the music and not the other way around.

Episode 144. Mad about Mesplé

May 13, 2022Art Song, Comic Relief, Crossover, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Richard Strauss, Twentieth Century MusicAlain Vanzo, Aldo Ciccolini, Ambroise Thomas, André Messager, Ariadne auf Naxos, Armand Silvestre, Arnold Schoenberg, Bruno Amaducci, Charles Chaynes, Charles Gounod, Claude Debussy, Dalton Baldwin, Don Procopio, Erik Satie, Fiançailles pour rire, Francis Poulenc, Fritz Kreisler, Gabriel Bacquier, Gabriel Faure, Gabriel Tacchino, Georges Bizet, Georges Pretre, Gilbert Amy, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Hamlet (Thomas), Hugo von Hoffmansthal, Jacques Offenbach, Jane Berbié, Janine Reiss, Jean Cocteau, Jean Moréas, Jean-Claude Hartemann, Jean-Pierre Marty, La Dame de Monte-Carlo, Les trois valses, Louis Ganne, Louise de Vilmorin, Mady Mesple, Maurice Maeterlinck, Michel Dens, Michel Legrand, Michel Plasson, Michel Trempont, Mignon (Thomas), Orphée aux Enfers, Oscar Straus, Peter Maag, Pierre Dervaux, Reynaldo Hahn, Richard Strauss, Rigoletto, Stéphane Mallarmécountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:30:53 — 105.4MB) | Embed

Two years ago this month, the world lost the great French soprano Mady Mesplé at the age of 89. Celebrated as the finest French coloratura of her era (and one of the best examples ever of that dying breed), Mesplé was officially diagnosed in 1996 with Parkinson’s, which had already gravely affected her health for years. For me there is a personal connection here, as next week it is eleven years since my own father died of the same disease. The focus this week, however, is on not on Mesplé’s disease, but her extraordinary vocalism, musicianship, and versatility. Not only was she unmatched in the operatic repertoire for which she was justly celebrated, she was also a mistress of the mélodie, a charming interpreter of French operetta, and a fearless interpreter of contemporary repertoire. This episode examines her contributions in all of those genres, as well as celebrating her delicious expressions of musical humor, and her surprising depth, even profundity, in examining the darker recesses of human experience. On this episode, Mesplé is aided by fellow singers Gabriel Bacquier, Michel Dens, Jane Berbié, Alain Vanzo, and Michel Trempont; pianists Aldo Ciccolini, Jeanine Reiss, Dalton Baldwin, Gabriel Tacchino, and Michel Legrand; and conductors Georges Prêtre, Pierre Dervaux, Michel Plasson, Jean-Pierre Marty, Gilbert Amy, and Jean-Claude Hartemann.

Episode 137. Ukrainian Singers and Composers

March 26, 2022Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAlbert Krywolt, Alexander Kipnis, Alexander Orlov, Alfredo Catalani, Anatoliy Solovyanenko, Anatoly Kotcherga, Andrij Dobriansky, Antin Rudnitsky, Arrigo Boito, Arthur Bergh, Avraham Kook, Bela Rudenko, Bogdan Lepky, Bohdan Wesolovsky, Boris Gmyrya, Boris Khaikin, Boris Lyatoshinsky, Carlo Barrera, Dmitri Shostakovich, Dmitriy Zaghul, Dmytro Hnatiuk, Elena Ruszkowska, Eugenia Miroshnychenko, Galina Nikolaneko, George Frideric Handel, George Tremblay, Giuseppe Verdi, Ira Malaniuk, Ivan Kotlyarevsky, Ivan Kozlovsky, Jacob Orlov, Kyrylo Stetsenko, Leonid Glibov, Lev Lepky, Luthando Qave, Lydia Lipkovskaya, Lyudmila Alexandrova, Maksym Rylsky, Maria Sokil, Mark Ermler, Mark Reizen, Matalya Pasichnyk, Mikhail Donets, Mikhail Dulov, Misha Raitzin, Modest Menzinsky, Modest Tchaikovsky, Mykhailo Petrenko, Mykola Arkas, Mykola Kondratyuk, Mykola Leontovych, Mykola Lysenko, National Choir of Ukraine “Dumka”, Neeme Järvi, Nina Matyienko, Pavel Muravsky, Pavlo Hunka, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Reinhold Glière, Salomea Krushelnytska, Shmerke Kaczerginski, Stefa Turchak, Taras Shevchenko, Teresa Arkel, Ukrainian Folk Music, V.A. Levitov, Valentin Sylvestrov, Vasily Baryinsky, Vladimir Khyostin, Volodymyr Sirenko, Yevhen Stankovych, Yuri Mazurok, Yuriy Mynenko, Zoya Gaidaicountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:48:19 — 111.1MB) | Embed

Here finally is my long-promised and long-overdue episode on great Ukrainian singers. Because I am so historically oriented, I begin the episode at the dawn of recorded sound and present singers from the early twentieth century all the way through to the present day. The first voice heard is the Ukrainian-Jewish bass Alexander Kipnis, still after all these years the noblest voice that I have ever encountered. There follow Teresa Arkel, Salomea Krushelnytska, Elena Ruszkowska, Lydia Lipovska and the extraordinary heldentenor Modest Menzinsky: all voices from the distant past, though much renowned in their day. Along with the exploration of Ukrainian singers (including Boris Gmyria, Ivan Kozlovsky, Yuri Mazurok, Mark Reizen, Misha Raitzin, Ira Malaniuk, Paul Plishka, Yuriy Mynenko, Anatoly Kocherga, and Bela Rudenko, among many others), I also provide a tip-of-the-iceberg introduction to the (for me, as I suspect for many of us) nearly unexplored world of Ukrainian composers, including Reinhold Glière, Mykola Lysenko, Yevhen Stankovych, Mykola Leontovych, Kyrylo Stetsenko, Vasyl Barvinsky, Boris Lyatoschinsky, Mykola Arkas, and Valentin Sylvestrov, their work often bolstered by the powerful poetry of that 19th century bard and figurehead of Ukrainian independence, Taras Shevchenko. Some of the greatest discoveries for me in preparing this episode were the tenor Anatoliy Solovyanenko and the baritones Mykola Kondratyuk and Dmytro Hnatiuk. I trust you will have your favorites as well. I offer this episode in tribute to, and in solidarity with, the people of Ukraine. 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. Resources for learning more about Ukrainian music: Myron Yusypovych’s website on Ukrainian composers The Ukrainian Art Song Project Natalya Pasichnyk’s documentary Ukrainian Rhapsody: A Journey into Ukrainian Classical Music Viktor Ostafeychuk’s astonishing YouTube channel, featuring many historical live performances from the Kiev Opera Ukrainian Vinyl, another invaluable YouTube channel, with rare and priceless recordings

Episode 134. Legacy (Black History Month 2022 Postlude)

March 4, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, BHM2023WK4, Black History Month, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Queer Pride, Schubert, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAdele Addison, Alan Curtis, Alfred Bachelet, Antonietta Stella, Antonín Dvořák, Aubrey Pankey, August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Béatrice et Bénédict, Bernard Greenhouse, Betty Allen, Betty Davis, Bohumil Gregor, Carmen Balthrop, Carolyn Watkinson, Charles Groves, Charles Jennens, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Clamma Dale, Claude Frank, Claudia Lindsey, Cynthia Haymon, Dagmar Průšová, Dorothy Maynor, Eight Songs for a Mad King, El Cimarrón (Henze), Ellabelle Davis, Erich Itor Kahn, Esteban Montoya, Eugène Adénis-Colombeau, Franz Schubert, Franz von Schober, Frederick Delius, George Frideric Handel, Gioacchino Rossini, Giulio Caccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Grace de la Cruz, Gwendolyn Killebrew, Gwendolyn Walters, Handel and Haydn Society, Hans Werner Henze, Harry T. Burleigh, Hector Berlioz, Heinrich Heine, Helen Colbert, Herbert von Karajan, Hubert Reichert, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Iphigénie en Aulide, Jean Baptiste Racine, Jean-Guy Bailly, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Jerzy Lefeld, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johannes Brahms, John Reilly, Joseph-Marie Canteloube, Josephine Veasey, Judas Maccabaeus (Handel), Julius Eastman, Kjell Olsson, Koanga (Delius), L’incoronazione di Poppea, Laurence Hope, Leonard Bernstein, Louise Parker, Marian Anderson, Marius François Gaillard, Marvin Hayes, Marvis Martin, Matthäus-Passion, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Maurice Abravanel, Messa da Requiem (Verdi), Messiah (Handel), Paul Hindemith, Peter Maag, Peter Maxwell Davies, Rhea Jackson, Robert Bloom, Seiji Ozawa, Seth McCoy, Simone Treillard, Spirituals, Thomas Morell, Thompson Stone, Walt Whitman, Warren Jones, William Pearson, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:49:50 — 119.8MB) | Embed

This is the second part of my final episode of Black History Month 2022, continuing the exploration of the legacies of more than two dozen mostly underrecorded African American artists. Each piece of this aural mosaic fills in gaps in the recorded history of these artists. After opening memorial tributes to Josephine Veasey, Antonietta Stella, and Betty Davis, the episode is broken into several sections: first, recordings of Baroque music by Aubrey Pankey, Carmen Balthrop, Adele Addison, Betty Allen, Seth McCoy, Marvin Hayes, and a rare live recording by Marian Anderson, whose 125th birthday was observed this past week. There follow recordings of concert repertoire sung by Dorothy Maynor, Louise Parker, and Grace de la Cruz, with William Pearson and Julius Eastman leading us briefly into the bizarre world of the extended vocal techniques of the 1960s. There follow recorded performances of art song by Helen Colbert, Rhea Jackson, John Riley, Clamma Dale, Ellabelle Davis, Marvis Martin, and Cynthia Haymon, whereupon the episode concludes with some rare performances of operatic repertoire with Gwendolyn Killebrew, Claudia Lindsey, Dagmar Průšová, and Gwendolyn Walters, capped by an exquisite a cappella performance of “A City Called Heaven” by the great Mattiwilda Dobbs.

Episode 133. Never Forget (Black History Month 2022)

February 26, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, BHM2023WK4, Black History Month, Broadway, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless Wonders1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (Bernstein & Lerner), Aida, Alan Jay Lerner, Alexander Nevsky (Prokofiev), Anne Brown, Betty Allen, Bruce Hubbard, Charles Holland, Charles Lloyd Jr., Charles Marshall, Clarence Cameron White, Cole Porter, David Allen, Dennis Russell Davies, Die Zauberflöte, Don Shirley, Edward H.S. Boatner, Edwin Markham, Ella Lee, Eloise Uggams, Eugene Holmes, Eugene Ormandy, Evelyn Dove, Everyman Opera Company, Fernando Previtali, Florence Cole-Talbert, Giuseppe Verdi, Harold Arlen, Harry T. Burleigh, Hattie King Reavis, Helen Thigpen, Horst Roos, Howard Swanson, Il Trovatore, Inez Matthews, Isaiah Jackson, James McCracken, Jessye Norman, John C. Payne, Johnny Mercer, Jonathan Brice, Joseph Crawford, Kenneth Spencer, La Verne Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Leonard De Paur, LeVern Hutcherson, Lorenzo Fuller, Luther Saxon, Martha Flowers, Otto Mortensen, Pagliacci, R. Nathaiel Dett, Robert Frost, Roland Hayes, Ruby Elzy, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Sarah Reese, Serge Prokofiev, Spirituals, Theresa Green Coleman, Todd Duncan, William Leonard King, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:29:33 — 96.6MB) | Embed

I bid a lingering farewell to Black History Month 2022 with the first of a two-part episode featuring singers, each of whom left a relatively small but invaluable recorded legacy. I begin with soloists from the Leonard de Paur Chorus, and continue with earliest recorded examples, more than a century old, of African American singers. I follow with a series of singers, each of whom made a mark in varied productions of Porgy and Bess, but all of them singing other material: by Mozart, Arlen, Bernstein, Cole Porter, Howard Swanson, and a US workers’ song translated into German. I conclude with a trio of exceptional Verdi sopranos of whom you may not yet have heard. Among the singers heard today are Charles Holland, Luther Saxon, Eugene Holmes, John C. Payne, Harry T. Burleigh, Evelyn Dove, LeVern Hutcherson, Inez Matthews, Todd Duncan, Florence Cole-Talbert, Kenneth Spencer, Martha Flowers, Bruce Hubbard, Helen Thigpen, Ella Lee, Ruby Elzy, Theresa Green Coleman, Edward Boatner, Betty Allen, and Sarah Reese. Prepare to have your horizons expanded and your consciousness raised!

Episode 131. Happy Birthday, Reri Grist! (Black History Month 2022)

February 18, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, BHM2023WK4, Black History Month, Broadway, Comic Relief, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Happy Birthday, Lieder, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Richard Strauss, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAchim von Arnim, Alessandro Scarlatti, Andre Previn, Ariadne auf Naxos, Bernhard Paumgartner, Claude Debussy, Clemens Brentano, Cosi fan tutte, Denis Vaughan, Der Rosenkavalier, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Die schweigsame Frau, Don Pasquale, Donald Grobe, Dory Langdon Previn, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Gaetano Donizetti, Giacomo Antonio Perti, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Patanè, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Hilde Güden, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Igor Stravinsky, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Il re pastore, Judith Raskin, Karl Böhm, Kurt Böhme, L’elisir d’amore, Lakmé, Le nozze di Figaro, Léo Delibes, Leonard Bernstein, Luciano Pavarotti, Luigi Alva, Mathieu Lange, Max Goberman, Nicolai Gedda, Paul Verlaine, Pierre Thibaud, Reri Grist, Richard Lewis, Richard Strauss, Rigoletto, Robert Craft, Sena Jurinac, Silvio Varviso, Stefan Zweig, Stephen Sondheim, Un ballo in maschera, West Side Story, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Zubin Mehtacountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:42:45 — 109.9MB) | Embed

The great African American coloratura Reri Grist was born on leap year 1932. We celebrate her upcoming 90th birthday with a tribute featuring many of her greatest roles and recordings. After appearing as Consuelo in the 1957 Broadway premiere of West Side Story, and encouraged by Leonard Bernstein, Grist began a career in opera that took her around the world to all of the greatest opera houses. Reri Grist was the perfect exemplar of the so-called “-ina” roles: soubrette parts in Mozart and Strauss operas (Blondchen, Susanna, Despina, Zerlina, Zerbinetta, and Sophie), as well as the comic operas of Donizetti and Rossini (including Adina, Norina, and Rosina). This episode features her in most of these roles and concludes with the glorious finale of the second act of Richard Strauss’s 1935 comedy Die schweigsame Frau, one of her most notable successes. Vocal guest stars today include Christa Ludwig, Luciano Pavarotti, Sena Jurinac, Nicolai Gedda, Gwyneth Jones, Luigi Alva, Judith Raskin, Donald Grobe, and Richard Lewis. Whether you are celebrating 90 years or 22-and-a-half leap years, we celebrate you, Frau Grist, and offer heartfelt thanks for the joys that you have offered us.

Episode 125. Jon Vickers (Great Canadian Singers)

January 21, 2022Art Song, Canadian Singers, Eileen Farrell, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Renata Scotto, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Schubert, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoAn die ferne Geliebte, Andrea Chénier, Benjamin Britten, Brigitte Fassbaender, Bruno Bartoletti, Carmen, Colin Davis, Das Lied von der Erde, Dido and Aeneas, Die Walküre, Eileen Farrell, Ernest MacMillan, Fidelio, Franz Schubert, George Frideric Handel, Georges Bizet, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Hans Knappertsbusch, Henry Purcell, Herbert von Karajan, Joan Caplan, Joan Carlyle, Jon Vickers, Kenneth Patchen, Leo Barkin, Leonie Rysanek, Ludwig van Beethoven, Luigi Cherubini, Maria Callas, Medea (Cherubini), Messiah (Handel), Nicola Rescigno, Otello, Otto Klemperer, Pagliacci, Renata Scotto, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Richard Woitach, Rudolf Kempe. Salome, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Srul Irving Glick, Tosca, Tristan und Isolde, Tullio Serafin, Umberto Giordano, Wilhelm Müller, William Steinberg, Winterreisecountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:39:00 — 107.5MB) | Embed

Our series saluting great Canadian singers continues with a tribute to one of the greatest singers I have ever seen in performance, the Saskatchewan-born tenor Jon Vickers. Not only was he a profoundly imaginative and creative singing actor, he was also one of the most problematic personalities to appear on the operatic stage in the second half of the twentieth century. I discuss many of the controversies surrounding Vickers the man, in particular his virulent homophobia and sexism, while still giving full attention to his unmatched artistry. I feature both live and studio recordings over the course of his entire career, encompassing both opera and art song, focusing on what are probably his four greatest operatic roles: Florestan, Otello, Peter Grimes, and Tristan. Vocal guest stars include Maria Callas, Eileen Farrell, Joan Carlyle, Leonie Rysanek, and Renata Scotto; conductors include Colin Davis, Otto Klemperer, Tullio Serafin, Rudolf Kempe, Nicola Rescigno, William Steinberg, and Herbert von Karajan.

Episode 124. Dave’s Picks

January 14, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Comic Relief, Giacomo Puccini, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, Lieder, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Schubert, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAlban Berg, Alfred Drake, Anneliese Rothenberger, Arnold Schoenberg, Arthur Winograd, Bette Midler, Beverly Wolff, Birgit Nilsson, Bobby Freeman, Burt Bacharach, Carl Orff, Carmina Burana, Carolyn Leigh, Cathy Berberian, Claude Debussy, Colette, Colin Davis, Cy Coleman, David Crosby, David Savran, Don Giovanni, Dusty Springfield, Eddie Fisher, Elisabeth Soderstrom, Erich Kleiber, Erwin Wohlfahrt, Eugene Ormandy, Fiddler on the Roof, First Choice, Franco Corelli, Françoise Ogéas, Frank Zappa, Friedrich Rückert, George Forrest, George Gershwin, George Schick, George Shirley, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Hal David, Harve Presnell, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Il Trovatore, Ira Gershwin, Jane Berbié, Janis Ian, Jefferson Airplane, Jerry Bock, Joni Mitchell, Judith Raskin, Julia Migenes, Kismet, L’enfant et les sortilèges, Le nozze di Figaro, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Leopold Ludwig, Lisa Della Casa, Little Me (Coleman and Leigh), Lorin Maazel, Luciano Berio, Lulu (Berg), Maria Callas, Maurice Maeterlinck, Maurice Ravel, Montserrat Caballé, Nina Hagen, Norma, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paul Burkhard, Pelleas et Melisande, Pierre Boulez, Porgy and Bess, Richard Rodgers, Rita Tritter, Robert Craft, Robert Wright, Sammy Davis Jr., Sandy Denny, Sheldon Harnick, South Pacific, Stevie Wonder, The Byrds, The Mothers of Invention, The Supremes, Tim Buckley, Trouble in Tahiti, Tullio Serafin, Turandot, Vincenzo Bellini, Wladimiro Ganzarolli, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yvonne Mintoncountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:46:28 — 123.2MB) | Embed

Today’s special episode is in honor of my best friend, partner-in-crime and Corona-lockdown buddy, the distinguished theater scholar and author David Savran, who this week once again celebrated another journey around the sun. I invited him to be the first guest in a new series I will be presenting on Countermelody featuring colleagues and friends speaking about the music (and the singers!) that have most deeply affected and inspired them. Perhaps it’s not surprising that in the nearly two decades that we have known each other, that David’s taste in music and singers often falls neatly in step with mine. But there are many other musical paths and byways that he has explored that have taken him in quite different directions. Our spirited dialogue is punctuated by music that spoke to him most deeply in the first 25 years of his life. We hear samples of everything and everyone from Sammy Davis, Jr. to Grace Slick, from Cathy Berberian to Joni Mitchell, from Lisa della Casa to Nina Hagen, from Alfred Drake to Frank Zappa. The episode also constitutes a fascinating exploration of the role that memory and nostalgia play in the creation of musical tastes and preferences. Happy Birthday, Davey, and thanks for being my guest!

Episode 122. Auld Acquaintance II

December 30, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Gustav Mahler, Holiday Music, Ileana Cotrubas, Lieder, Margaret Price, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Richard Wagner, Singers of Color, Sylvia Sass, Twentieth Century MusicAlberta Hunter, Antal Dorati, Anton de Ridder, Armand Silvestre, Barry McDaniel, Benjamin Britten, Bethany Beardslee, Bruno Reibold, Carl Loewe, Carol Brice, Christa Ludwig, Christine Andreas, Christmas music, Daniel Saidenberg, David Garvey, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Die tote Stadt, Die Walküre, Edda Moser, Edvard Grieg, Eide Norena, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Erik Werba, Ernesto de Curtis, Folk Songs, Francis Lopez, Francisco Araiza, Franz Lehár, Gabriel Faure, Garrick Ohlsson, Gilbert Price, Giuseppe Verdi, Grace Williams, Gustav Mahler, Gwendolyn Killebrew, Hans Schmidt, Henry Lemarchand, Hermann Reutter, Igor Gorin, Ileana Cotrubas, Ivan Törzs, James King, James Lockhart, Jean Lemaire, Johann Gabriel Seidl, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn, Joséphine Baker, Judith Raskin, Karl Dankwart Zwerger, Karl Weigl, Konrad Ragossnig, Lamberto Gardelli, Lawrence Brown, Magda Olivero, Margaret Price, Mel Powell, Muriel Smith, Norman Johnson, Otto Julius Bierbaum, Owen Williams, Paul Robeson, Peter Knight, Peter Schreier, Richard Müller-Lampertz, Richard Wagner, Rigoletto, Robert Hanell, Robert Helps, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Spirituals, Sylvia Sass, Thomas Carey, Tony Taño, Vincenzo Bellini, W.H. Auden, William Warfieldcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:28 — 108.5MB) | Embed

Part Two of my “Auld Acquaintance” mini-series on Countermelody continues the exploitation of even more artists who have already been featured on the podcast, but in rare recordings that have only recently come into my collection. Today’s episode begins with a tribute to the German-based African American mezzo-soprano Gwendolyn Killebrew, who died on Christmas Eve at the age of 80. Featured artists in the main episode include Paul Robeson, Magda Olivero, Edda Moser, Ileana Cotrubas, Carol Brice, Margaret Price, Igor Gorin, Josephine Baker, Eidé Noréna, Alberta Hunter, Thomas Carey, Christa Ludwig, Sylvia Sass, Francisco Araiza, William Warfield, and many, many more singing everything from reggae to Rigoletto. 2021 gets a better send-off than it deserves, what with these singers and this music that will certainly help us all to approach the upcoming New Year “keeping the song in our hearts!”

Episode 121. Auld Acquaintance I

December 23, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Eileen Farrell, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Holiday Music, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Mirella Freni, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Renata Scotto, Richard Wagner, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoAlban Berg, Alexander Pushkin, Allen Rogers, Antoinette Vischer, Antonio Rubino, Barry McDaniel, Benjamin Britten, Bernard Kruysen, Bo Bergman, Borislav Bezala, Camilla Williams, Carlo Alberto Rossi, Cathy Berberian, César Cui, Christmas songs, Claudio Arrau, Claudio Monteverdi, David Garvey, Dusty Springfield, e.e. cummings, Eileen Farrell, Elisabeth Soderstrom, Elza van der Ven, Ernesto Lecuona, Eugene Ormandy, Gabriel Faure, Gabriele d’Annunzio, Georg Friedrich Daumer, Georg Philipp Telemann, George Shirley, Gianfranco Rivoli, Gilbert Bécaud, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gloria Davy, Heather Harper, Huguette Dreyfus, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Janet Baker, Jean Lamy, Jennie Tourel, Johann Christian Bach, John Raitt, Jonas Kulka, Jorma Hynninen, Josef Ulsamer, Julia Migenes, Karl Weigl, L’amico Fritz, Lawrence Winters, Leone Magiera, Leslie Scott, Lionel Hampton, Loonis McGlohon, Luciano Berio, Luciano Pavarotti, Manny Curtis, Margaret Marshall, Mirella Freni, Nicola Daspuro, Nicolae Herlea, Odetta, Ottorino Respighi, Pagliacci, Paolo Tosti, Peter Altenberg, Pierre Boulez, Pierre Delanoë, Pietro Mascagni, Pino Calvi, Renata Scotto, Richard Wagner, Robert McFerrin, Robert Stolz, Rosanna Carteri, Rudolf Ewerhart, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Scott Walter, Shirley Verrett, Spirituals, Stig Westerberg, Sully Prudhomme, Tannhäuser, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Ture Rangström, Walter Calé, Werner Eisbrenner, Xavier Cugat, Yi-Kwei Szecountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:40:27 — 126.2MB) | Embed

This special episode, the first of two year-end celebrations, presents artists who have already been featured on Countermelody in rare recordings that have recently become available to me. A few of the artists heard include George Shirley, Heather Harper, Lawrence Winters, Elisabeth Söderström, Camilla Williams, Julia Migenes, John Raitt, Gloria Davy, Rosanna Carteri, Mirella Freni, Robert McFerrin, Margaret Marshall, Yi-Kwei Sze, Eileen Farrell, Shirley Verrett, Cathy Berberian, and many, many others in recordings, most from my personal collection, which you may not have heard before. This is a gift of love and gratitude from me to my listeners and supporters, a backward glance at all of the great singers who have been heard on the podcast over the past two and a half years, a theme which will continue next week. I look forward to continuing with new topics and new singers as we move into 2022.

Episode 115. Jules Bledsoe

November 12, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, BHM2023WK2, Black History Month, Crossover, Great Baritones, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Queer Pride, Schubert, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAbbie Mitchell, Adelio Zagonara, Afrika-Songs, Aida, Ange Flégier, Anne Roselle, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Colin Davis, Du Bose Heyward, Eugene O’Neill, Frank La Forge, Franz Lehár, George Gershwin, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Giuseppe Verdi, Ira Gershwin, Irene Dunne, Jake Gardner, Jeanette MacDonald, Jerome Kern, Joan Carlyle, Johannes Brahms, Jules Bledsoe, Kurt Weill, Lawrence Tibbett, Le pays du sourire (Das Land des Lächelns), Leo Robin, Lost in the Stars, Louis Gruenberg, Marie Powers, Maxwell Anderson, Michael Tippett, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, Oscar Hammerstein II, Porgy and Bess, Richard Whiting, Robert Russell Bennett, Sam Coslow, Show Boat, Snow, Spirituals, The Emperor Jones (opera), The Midsummer Marriage, Todd Duncan, Valaida, Victor Young, W. Franke Harling, Wilfred Pelletier, Wilhelm Groszcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:37:54 — 99.6MB) | Embed

This week I present an important African American artist who has been nearly forgotten by history: the bass-baritone Jules Bledsoe (1897-1943). He is most remembered for creating the role of Joe in Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s Show Boat, but he was equally celebrated in his time for his memorable concerts, which took place both here and in Europe, and for his operatic portrayals, most significantly, the title role in Louis Gruenberg’s opera The Emperor Jones, based on the play by Eugene O’Neill, which he portrayed both in the United States and in Europe. When this opera premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1933, the legendary baritone Lawrence Tibbett created the title role (in blackface). Barred from singing at the Met because of his race, Bledsoe took his portrayal of Brutus Jones on the road, performing it in a triumphant European tour, but also subsequently in New York in 1934 under the aegis of the short-lived Aeolian Opera Company, which was intended to provide performing opportunities for Black opera singers, but which folded almost immediately. Jules Bledsoe was also a composer who wrote many songs and arrangements of spirituals, as well as a version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin entitled Bondage, as well as his own operatic setting of O’Neill’s Emperor Jones, which may or may not have been performed at the time. Even less well-known and acknowledged is that Jules Bledsoe was a gay man in a relationship with a Dutch white man named Freddy Huygens who at the time of Bledsoe’s premature death was referred to as either his “manager” or his “closest friend.” I present examples of all the extant recorded material I could find by Jules Bledsoe, alongside recorded examples of work by his collaborators Abbie Mitchell, Irene Dunne, Anne Roselle, Marie Powers, Todd Duncan and excerpts from the work of composers W. Franke Harling, Shirley Graham Du Bois, and Louis Gruenberg performed by Jeanette MacDonald, Valaida Snow, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, and Lawrence Tibbett. Billie Holiday even puts in a special appearance! The episode also includes tributes to the recently departed British soprano Joan Carlyle and the US-American bass-baritone Jake Gardner.

Episode 114. James King

November 7, 2021Art Song, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, In Memoriam, Lieder, Needle Drop, Operetta, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, SchubertBernard Haitink, Das Land des Lächelns (Lehár), Das Lied von der Erde, Der singende Traum, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Dietfried Bernet, Ernst Marischka, Felix Hubel, Fidelio, Franz Lehár, Franz Schubert, Fritz Löhner-Beda, Giacomo Puccini, Giuditta (Lehár), Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Hans Karste, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, Henry Geehl, Hérodiade, Hugo von Hoffmannsthal, James King, Kurt Eichhorn, Ludwig Herzer, Ludwig van Beethoven, Martial Singher, Max Lorenz, Otello, Paul Breisach, Paul Knepler, Richard Dehmel, Richard Strauss, Richard Tauber, Richard Wagner, Tannhäuser, Turandot, William Hughes, William Shakespearecountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:22:34 — 101.8MB) | Embed

This week I turn my attention once again to the tenors, who have been getting rather short shrift of late. This week I feature the US-American jugendlicher heldentenor James King, who died 16 years ago this month. Trained as a baritone, he “converted” to tenor in his early thirties under the tutelage of the great French baritone and teacher Martial Singher. In the very early 1960s, he ended up in the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he quickly established himself as a talent to be reckoned with. He sang countless performances of a relatively small number of roles, beginning with Florestan in Fidelio and including Wagner (Lohengrin, Walther in Meistersinger, Parsifal, Siegmund), Strauss (the Kaiser in Frau ohne Schatten, Bacchus, Apollo, Aegisth, and Herodes), Verdi (Otello, Don Carlo, Radames) Puccini (Cavaradossi, Calaf, Rodolfo), and a select number of French roles (Don José, Samson). I am letting Mr. King do the heavy lifting today: I have four LPs in my collection that have never been reissued since their original release in the 1960s: two operatic recital recordings, an operetta album, and a volume of songs by Schubert and Strauss. I feature generous excerpts from each of these, as well as an excerpt from his recording with the late Bernard Haitink of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. It is my joy to bring this exceptional singer to your attention: a superb technician who combines powerful utterance with interpretive sensitivity and musical nuance.

Episode 113. Edda Moser

October 31, 2021Art Song, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Happy Birthday, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Schubert, Twentieth Century MusicAlfredo Kraus, Anton Paulik, Arleen Augér, August Wenzinger, Boris Blacher, Christoph von Dohnányi, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Clara Schumann, Clemens Brentano, Der fliegende Holländer, Die Fledermaus, Die Zauberflöte, Don Carlo, Edda Moser, Erik Werba, Eugene Kohn, Fidelio, Franco Bonisolli, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Rückert, Georg Singer, George Frideric Handel, Giuseppe Patanè, Giuseppe Verdi, Hans Werner Henze, Heinrich Isaac, Heinz Wallberg, Ingeborg Bachmann, Iphigénie en Tauride, Ivan Törzs, Jacques Offenbach, James Levine, Jocelyne Taillon, Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, Johann Strauss II, Johannes Brahms, José Van Dam, Josef Hopferweiser, Julius Rudel, Kostas Paskalis, La Clemenza di Tito, La Traviata, Leonard Hokanson, Leopold Hager, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mitridate Re di Ponto, Oscar Wilde, Paul Sacher, Riccardo Muti, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Rigoletto, Salome, Theo Adam, Werner Krenn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Sawallischcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:57:05 — 124.2MB) | Embed

On 27 October the great German dramatic coloratura Edda Moser celebrated her 83rd birthday. Celebrated as the greatest Queen of the Night ever, Edda Moser’s operatic career was centered on the music of Mozart but also included so much more. I present, it is true, two rare live examples of her singing the music of Mozart, but I also include her performances of music by Henze, Lehár, Verdi, Handel, Gluck, Johann and Richard Strauss, Offenbach, and Boris Blacher, as well as precious examples of her singing of Lieder, including songs by Brahms, Schubert, and Clara Schumann. I conclude with her reading of a beloved poem in tribute to her ongoing commitment to German language and culture. Vocal guest stars this week include Kostas Paskalis, Alfredo Kraus, José van Dam, Arleen Augér, and Theo Adam. Geliebte Frau Moser, wir erfreuen uns an Ihrer Kunstfertigkeit als begnadete Sängerin und Ihrem Vorbild als kulturelle Fahnenträgerin.

Episode 111. Verdi auf Deutsch I

October 17, 2021African American Singers, Behind the Iron Curtain, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Singers of ColorAida, Annelies Kupper, Anneliese Rothenberger, Anton de Ridder, Betty Allen, Bruno Bartoletti, Bruno Seidler-Winkler, Carl Besi, Clemens Krauss, Don Carlo, Elisabeth Grümmer, Erich Orthmann, Ferdinand Leitner, Friedel Beckmann, Frieder Weissmann, Friedrich Schiller, Fritz Wunderlich, Georg Hann, Georgina von Milinkovic, Giuseppe Patanè, Giuseppe Verdi, Gloria Davy, Gottlob Frick, Grace Bumbry, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, Helge Rosvaenge, Hilde Güden, Hildegard Hillebrecht, Horst Stein, Il Trovatore, Inge Borkh, James King, János Kulka, Jess Thomas, Josef Gostic, Josef Greindl, Karl Elmendorff, La forza del destino, La Traviata, Lawrence Winters, Leonora Lafayette, Luisa Miller, Margarete Teschemacher, Maria Cebotari, Maria Stader, Meta Seinemeyer, Nicolai Gedda, Otello, Otto Gerdes, Pilar Lorengar, Raymond Wolansky, Richard Kraus, Richard Tauber, Robert Burg, Rudolf Schock, Sabine Kalter, Sándor Kónya, Teresa Stratas, Un ballo in maschera, Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Wolfgang Windgassencountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:09:33 — 134.5MB) | Embed

Today’s is a mammoth episode on a mammoth topic: historical performances of Verdi’s operas in German translation. I trace the historical and ongoing popularity of Verdi’s works in Germany, and include discussions of the works of Friedrich Schiller as Verdian subject matter; the co-opting of Verdi’s genius by the Third Reich; and the numerous African American Verdi singers, including Gloria Davy, Lawrence Winters, Lenora Lafayette, Betty Allen, and Grace Bumbry, who based their careers (or significant portions thereof) in German-speaking European countries. I include duets and trios from eight different Verdi operas; recordings featured were made between the years 1923 and 1973 and feature such native German-speaking singers as Richard Tauber, Margarete Teschemacher, Maria Cebotari, Josef Greindl, Meta Seinemeyer, Inge Borkh, Fritz Wunderlich, Annelies Kupper, Elisabeth Grümmer, Wolfgang Windgassen, Gottlob Frick, and Hilde Güden, among many others. Non-German singers such as Teresa Stratas, Sándor Kónya, Pilar Lorengar, Jess Thomas, Raymond Wolansky, and James King are also highlighted. This episode is an exploration of the greatest operatic composer of all time, but in unexpected garb.

Episode 107. Norman Bailey and Friends

September 19, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, Broadway, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Pop Icons, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Twentieth Century MusicAlan Curtis, Alan Jay Lerner, Alban Berg, Alexander Gibson, Allegro (Rodgers & Hammerstein), Buddy Bregman, Burton Lane, Carlo Gaifa, Carmen Balthrop, Claudio Monteverdi, Cora Johnson, David Atherton, Die Liebe der Danae, Eduard Mörike, Friedrich Rückert, Geoffrey Parsons, Georges Pretre, Giuseppe Verdi, Jane Powell, Jeanette MacDonald, Johannes Brahms, John Constable, John DeMain, José Cáceres, Joseph Gregor, King Priam (Tippett), Kristine Ciesinski, L’incoronazione di Poppea, La sonnambula, La Traviata, Lulu (Berg), Maria Callas, Michael Tippett, Norman Bailey, Olivier Messiaen, Oscar Hammerstein II, Peter Warlock, Philip Langridge, Pink Martini, Reginald Goodall, Richard Rodgers, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Robert Schumann, Royal Wedding, Scott Joplin, Thomas Lauderdale, Treemonisha, Vier ernste Gesänge, Vincenzo Bellinicountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:43:59 — 109.5MB) | Embed

Death has had a busy month in the music world, especially this past week, when we lost the great British Heldenbariton Norman Bailey and the delectable Hollywood star Jane Powell. This past week was also the memorial service for the soprano Carmen Balthrop, who died of pancreatic cancer on September 5. My original intent was to devote the episode to Norman Bailey, but when Jane (with whom I had a personal relationship, having been her late husband Dick Moore’s personal assistant from 2009-2012) also died, I realized I had to do an omnibus episode of sorts. I begin with several selections each from both of the recently departed divas and then plunge headlong into an appreciation of the voice, technique and artistry of the great Norman Bailey, featuring him in opera excerpts not just by Wagner, in whose music he excelled, but also by Verdi, Richard Strauss, and Michael Tippett. He is also featured in recordings from the 1970s of songs by Schumann, Brahms, Hugo Wolf, and Peter Warlock. The episode concludes with a tribute to Maria Callas on the 44th anniversary of her death on September 16, 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 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.

Episode 105. Teresa Żylis-Gara In Memoriam

September 5, 2021Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Richard Strauss, Twentieth Century MusicAntonín Dvořák, Charles Gounod, Claudio Monteverdi, Don Giovanni, Erik Werba, Faust, Frédéric Chopin, Fritz Lehan, George Frideric Handel, Giacomo Puccini, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Giuseppe Verdi, Guglielmo Tell, Günther Wich, Halina Czerny-Stefańska, I vespri siciliani, Jacek Kaspszyk, Jacques Delacôte, Jerzy Marchwiński, Johann Sebastian Bach, Karol Szymanowski, Kazimierz Kord, L’incoronazione di Poppea, La Boheme, Lorin Maazel, Otello, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, Rusalka, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Turandot, Ulrich Weder, Un ballo in maschera, Waldemar Malicki, Wilhelm Ernst, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Gönnenwein, Yevgeny Onegin, Zubin Mehtacountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31:52 — 112.3MB) | Embed

One of my very favorite singers, the Polish soprano Teresa Żylis-Gara, died on Saturday 28 August at the age of 91. I had been planning a birthday episode dedicated to her next January, but instead I present a heartfelt tribute in memoriam. Over a long career and as her voice developed, Żylis-Gara moved deftly and skillfully from performances of Baroque music through French, Russian, Verdi, and Puccini and even verismo heroines, always with her trademark vocal glamour, technical acuity and musical refinement. I offer live and studio examples of this under-recorded artist, a favorite at the Metropolitan Opera between 1968 and 1984, including early Monteverdi, Bach, and Handel, moving through her career-making assumption of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and touching also on her recital work, and concluding with her definitive performances of Desdemona in Otello and Richard Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder.

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. Twenty-five exclusive bonus episodes are currently available to Patreon supporters.

Episode 104. Nicolae Herlea

August 29, 2021Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, VerismoArta Florescu, Carol Litvin, Charles Gounod, Constantin Bobescu, Cornel Popescu, Ernesto de Curtis, Ernesto Tagliaferri, Ewa Osińska, Ferdinand Weiss, Gabriel Faure, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Giuseppe Verdi, Ion Buzea, Iosif Conta, Jean Bobescu, Ludovic Konya, Ludovic Spiess, Magda Ianculescu, Mircea Popa, Nanci Griffith, Neapolitan Songs, Nicolae Bretan, Nicolae Florei, Nicolae Herlea, Nino Rota, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Rodolfo Falvo, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Stelian Olariu, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Umberto Giordani, Virginia Zeanicountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:30:59 — 104.5MB) | Embed

Yesterday, August 28, would have been the 94th birthday of the great Romanian baritone Nicolae Herlea (1927 – 2014). I continue my great baritone series with a salute to this extraordinary singer, who, unlike many of his fellow Romanian artists during this era, was able to pursue an active career in the rest of Europe and the United States. For many fans of great singing, Herlea is the Verdi baritone of choice. With this tribute, I begin a series examining great singers whose careers originated on the other side of the so-called Iron Curtain. I present examples from one of Herlea’s first recordings, a 1959 recording of arias made in Moscow with the great Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducting. I follow this with three excerpts from his two albums of Neapolitan songs, and conclude with extended excerpts from four of his recordings, made in Romania, of complete operas, which introduce us to a number of Herlea’s Romanian colleagues from the era, including Virginia Zeani, Arta Florescu, Ion Buzea, Ludovic Spiess, Ludovic Konya, and Magda Ianculescu. This episode also includes brief tributes to two of my favorite singers, recently deceased, who represented completely different genres: the folk singer and songwriter Nanci Griffith, who died on August 13 at the age of 68, and the exquisite Polish soprano, Teresa Żylis-Gara, who died yesterday at the age of 91.

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.

Episode 102. John Reardon

August 15, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Crossover, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Queer Pride, Twentieth Century MusicAdolph Green, Alban Berg, Alexander Young, Arrigo Boito, Arthur Siegel, Betty Comden, Bliss Hebert, Candide, Chester Biscardi, Chester Kallman, Christoph von Dohnányi, Denis Deal, Douglass Cross, Edvard Grieg, Evelyn Lear, Franz Allers, Franz Lehár, Fred Rogers, George Cory, George Forrest, Gian Carlo Menotti, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Helena Scott, Henry Butler, Herbert Grossman, Igor Stravinsky, Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Jo Sullivan Lehman Engel, John Koch, John Reardon, Jorge Mester, Judith Raskin, Jule Styne, June Carroll, Kurt Weill, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Lisa Della Casa, Marie Collier, Marvin David Levy, NBC Opera, New Faces of 1956, Newell Jenkins, Nicholas Flagello, On the Town, Oscar Hammerstein II, Peter Herman Adler, Ragnar Ulfung, Richard Owen, Robert Craft, Robert Oliver, Robert Wright, Samuel Krachmalnick, Sarah Caldwell, Song of Norway, Stephen Crane, The Flood, The Magic Flute, The Merry Widow, The Rake’s Progress, The Saint of Bleecker Street, W.H. Auden, Walter de la Mare, William Blake, William Orvis, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:41:14 — 103.9MB) | Embed

Here’s another great baritone to help get us through another week: the extraordinarily versatile and talented John Reardon (1930-1988). Possessed of a voice of extraordinary beauty and flexibility, as well as deeply intuitive interpretive powers and a profound musicality and dramatic sensibility, he had everything it took to make his mark in the fields of musicals, operetta, and opera (the latter in both standard, and, even more significantly, contemporary repertoire). I have several rare live recordings as well as some uncommon studio recordings to share with my listeners. Guest stars include Leontyne Price, Judith Raskin, Jo Sullivan, Lisa Della Casa, Alexander Young, Ragnar Ulfung, Evelyn Lear, and Bliss Hebert, in a rare outing as a pianist accompanying Reardon in a 1967 recording of American art songs. I also pay homage to his television appearances, both on NBC Opera and, especially, between 1968 and 1986, as the character “Reardon” in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which served to introduce countless multitudes of children to the glories of opera.

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.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:39:27 — 93.5MB) | Embed

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.

Episode 100. Claudia Muzio

August 1, 2021Claudia Muzio, Giuseppe Verdi, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, VerismoAlfredo Catalani, Arrigo Boito, Claudia Muzio, Frédéric Chopin, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Giacomini, Giuseppe Verdi, Licinio Refice, Lorenzo Molajoli, Magda Olivero, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Stefano Donaudy, Umberto Giordano, Victor Herbertcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:28:54 — 84.5MB) | Embed

Countermelody celebrates its landmark 100th episode with a tribute to the artist that is my ne plus ultra, the Italian soprano Claudia Muzio (1889-1936). What better artist to salute on this occasion, as her voice is heard at the top of every episode of the podcast, and her beautiful presence graces the Countermelody logo. I discuss my theory that each individual listener has a singer whose voice penetrates to the core of their being. For me, as for many others, Claudia Muzio is that singer. I explore her recorded legacy, which falls into three distinct periods recording for three distinct record companies. In the case of “L’altra notte,” the classic aria from Arrigo Boito’s Mefistofele, Muzio left three different recordings, one from each period. I examine these, and many of her other roles, in my attempt to plumb the depths of the Muzio mystique. Incidentally, there is a special bonus episode on Muzio that has been concurrently published for my Patreon supporters. What better time to celebrate this artist, and this occasion, than by signing up to become a monthly supporter on Patreon? (www.patreon.com/countermelody)

The episode begins with a tribute to the late Italian dramatic tenor Giuseppe Giacomini, who died this past week at the age of 80.

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.

Episode 99. Yi-Kwei Sze (斯義桂)

July 25, 2021Art Song, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Twentieth Century MusicAlexander Tcherepnin, Arseny Golenishchev-Kutuzov, Brooks Smith, Dichterliebe, Eduard Mörike, Franz Schubert, George Frideric Handel, George van Renesse, Giuseppe Verdi, Heinrich Heine, Hugo Wolf, Italienisches Liederbuch, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johannes Brahms, Modest Mussorgsky, Nancy Lee Sze, Robert Freeman, Robert Schumann, Serge Rachmaninov, Songs and Dances of Death, Sunless (song cycle), The Magic Flute, Victor Babin, Vier ernste Gesänge, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yi-Kwei Sze, 斯義桂countermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:25:01 — 91.1MB) | Embed

The Chinese-American bass Yi-Kwei Sze (1915-1994) was the first Chinese singer to achieve worldwide prominence in the world of Western classical music. From his first studies with Vladimir Shushlin at the Shanghai Conservatory, Sze’s sound and artistic soul carried on the great tradition of the Russian basses, including that of Alexander Kipnis, with whom he studied after emigrating to the United States in 1947. This episode captures Sze’s legacy in both his live and (comparatively rare) studio recordings, including operatic arias by Verdi, Mozart and Handel, and songs by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Mussorgsky, and Rachmaninov. Alongside my tribute to this great artist, I also consider the plight of the Asian musician as eloquently set forth in a riveting article published in The New York Times. Over the course of the past nearly two years since I have been producing the podcast, I consider Yi-Kwei Sze to be one of the greatest artistic discoveries on my own path. A note for my Patreon supporters: a second Yi-Kwei Sze episode is being published today that further explores his recorded legacy.

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.

Episode 92. Blessed Memory (In Memoriam III)

June 6, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Twentieth Century Music, Verismo, Voiceless WondersAdele Stolte, Aimé Doniat, Alice Goodman, André Campra, Arnold Schoenberg, Arthur Loosli, Arthur Woodley, Barbara Scherler, Bernard Ładysz, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Caroline Kaart, Catherine Gayer, Cecilia Fusco, Cesare, Christian Martin Fuchs, Claudio Nicolai, Cora Canne Meijer, Cristóbal Halffter, Edith Selig, Edith Thallaug. Erland Hagegård, Eldar Aliev, Eugenia Ratti, Galina Savova, Giacomo Puccini, Gioacchino Rossini, Giovanni Bononcini, Giuseppe Verdi, Hedi Klug, Hiroshi Wakasugi, Hugh Beresford, Inés Rivadeneira, James Maddalena, Janine Reiss, Jean-François Paillard, Jerzy Marchwiński, Jerzy Semkow, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Adams, John Macurdy, Jolanda Meneguzzer, Jose Tellaeche, Juan Vert, Julius Rudel, Kent Nagano, Kurt Azesberger, Kurt Eichhorn, Kurt Weill, Leonard Mróz, Ludwig van Beethoven, Matti Piipponen, Michael Rippon, Neil Howlett, Okko Kamu, Othmar Schoeck, Paul Méfano, Peter Maag, Pierrot lunaire, Pietro Mascagni, Ralf Gothoni, Reveriano Soutullo, Richard Wagner, Rico Saccani, Robert Gilbert, Robert Stolz, Roberto Benzi, Seppo Nummi, Serge Rachmaninov, Siepi, Silvano Carroli, Sophie Boulin, Stanisław Moniuszko, The Death of Klinghoffer, Thomas Daniel Schlee, Thomas Hammons, Umberto Giordano, Vaclovas Daunoras, Vasile Moldoveanu, William Peterson-Berger, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:35:42 — 105.7MB) | Embed

The final episode (for now) in my series commemorating recent deaths in the musical community, this one presents a further group of treasurable (and often less well-known) musical artists, refracted through the lens of memory: personal memory, collective memory, eternal memory, blessed memory. Prepare to make or renew acquaintance with Adele Stolte, Silvano Carroli, Inés Rivadeneira, Eugenia Ratti, Caroline Kaart, Galina Savova, Bernard Ładysz, Cora Canne Meijer, Arthur Woodley, Jolanda Meneguzzer, Eldar Aliev, Sophie Boulin, and Edith Thallaug, among many others. Some were “voiceless wonders,” relatively speaking, others were gifted with enormous vocal gifts. All were artists and human beings who each made their mark in their own distinctive way. Guest stars include Vasile Moldoveanu, Cesare Siepi, Aimé Doniat, and Ralf Gothóni.

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.

Episode 91. Unforgotten (In Memoriam II)

May 30, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, Broadway, Comic Relief, Crossover, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mirella Freni, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Renata Scotto, Sylvia Sass, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersAl Jarreau, Anthony Payne, Antoine Hodge, Celia Cruz, Chick Corea, Christopher Plummer, Dmitri Shostakovich, Eleanor Parker, Giuseppe Verdi, Jane Manning, Jim Steinman, Joan Sutherland, Joan Weldon, Johnny Pacheco, Liza Lehmann, Lorenzo Anselmi, Maria Kouba, Mary Ellen Pracht, Mary Wilson, Maxim Shostakovich, Milva, Mirella Freni, Neal Davies, Oscar Hammerstein II, Pauline Tinsley, Pervis Staples, Renata Scotto, Richard Bonynge, Richard Haydn, Richard Rodgers, Robert Gard, Robert L. Larsen, Rudolf Kelterborn, Steuart Bedford, Sylvia Sass, The Staples Singers, Theodore Lambrinos, Veronica Dunne, Yevgeny Nesterenkocountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:21:25 — 94.7MB) | Embed

We continue our memorial tributes this week with the second of (at least) three episodes commemorating the recent deaths of singers and musicians who have helped make our existence a little more manageable, our world a bit more beautiful. From Milva to Rudolf Kelterborn, from Yevgeny Nesterenko to Mary Wilson, from Jane Manning to Antoine Hodge, may they all rest in peace and power. Above all, this episode is dedicated to George Floyd on the first anniversary of his murder.

The two Countermelody episodes from a year ago devoted to music of protest and emancipation:

www.countermelodypodcast.com/episode-37-no-more-slavery-chains

www.countermelodypodcast.com/episode-38-something-in-the-air

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.

Episode 90. Gone But Not Forgotten (In Memoriam I)

May 23, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Voiceless WondersAngelo Mori, Anne Feeney, Barbara Hendricks, Bedřich Smetana, Biserka Cvejić, Charley Pride, Elias Rahbani, Ennio Morricone, Francesco Cilea, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Gerry Marsden, Giuseppe Verdi, Harold Budd, Jimmie Rodgers, John Shirley-Quirk, Julian Bream, Leon Fleisher, Libuše Domanínská, Marcella Reale, Margherita Roberti, Michel Trempont, Muriel Smith, Osian Ellis, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Sándor Sólyom Nagy, SOPHIE, Tamara Sorokina, Vladislav Piavko, Zoltán Kodálycountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:04:25 — 72.0MB) | Embed

Christa Ludwig, celebrated two weeks ago, is not the only great singer and musician to have departed this earthly realm in recent months. This episode presents a wide cross-section of great musicians we have lost, not just singers, and not just classical musicians. Included are many opera singers who today are less well-known, including Sándor Sólyom Nagy, Libuše Domanínská, Margherita Roberti, Tamara Sorokina, Angelo Mori, Marcella Reale, Biserka Cvejić, and Michel Trempont. A wide range of composers including Ennio Morricone, Elias Rahbani, and Harold Budd, also receive a nod, as do instrumentalists Leon Fleisher, Osian Ellis, and Julian Bream, and non-classical artists such as Anne Feeney, Charley Pride, Gerry Marsden, Jimmie Rodgers, and SOPHIE. Only once before on the podcast have I presented such a kaleidoscopic memorial episode; it is good to be reminded of the full range of expression pursued by great musicians of all stripes. Guest stars today include Barbara Hendricks, Muriel Smith, and John Shirley-Quirk. The tributes continue next week.

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.

Pictured: Biserka Cvejić as Amneris

Episode 89. The Radiant Heather Harper

May 16, 2021Art Song, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Schubert, Twentieth Century MusicAlban Berg, Anthony Lewis, Anton Webern, Benjamin Britten, Bernard Haitink, Carlos Païta, Claudio Monteverdi, Colin Davis, David Atherton, Francesco Cavalli, Francis Poulenc, Franz Schubert, Frederick Delius, Frederik Prausnitz, Gary Bertini, George Frideric Handel, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Heather Harper, Helen Donath, Henry Purcell, Horst Stein, Jessye Norman, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Somary, John Shirley-Quirk, Kieth Engen, Leif Segerstam, Luigi Dallapiccola, Maurice Ravel, Meredith Davies, Michael Tippett, Nicolai Gedda, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Norman Mittelmann, Otakar Kraus, Paul Hamburger, Peter Grimes, Pierre Boulez, Raymond Leppard, Rudolf Kempe, Sanford Sylvan, Steuart Bedford, Walter Süsskind, War Requiem, William Walton, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:41:16 — 122.0MB) | Embed

I have dreamed of doing an episode on the great Irish soprano Heather Harper (1930 – 2019) since before I began the podcast. As we we find ourselves in close proximity to both the anniversary of her birth on 8 May 1930 and her death on 22 April 2019, I feel compelled to bring that dream to life. A peerless artist, probably most renowned today for her close collaboration with Benjamin Britten, whose War Requiem she learned ten days before the premiere when the scheduled artist, Galina Vishnevskaya, was refused by the Soviet government to participate in the performance. Her crackerjack musicianship is heard to full advantage in 20th century works by Michael Tippett, Leif Segerstam, Anton Webern, Luigi Dallapiccola, Francis Poulenc, William Walton, and Alban Berg. But her focused, flexible instrument also made her an ideal performer of the Baroque repertoire (we hear her in Purcell, Monteverdi, Cavalli, Bach and Handel). And the surprising stores of power she could summon made her a vital and sympathetic heroine in the operas of Wagner, Mozart, Strauss, and Gounod, as well Britten’s Ellen Orford, of which she was the definitive interpreter. She also excelled in the intimate medium of the Lieder recital. Vocal guest stars include Jessye Norman, Helen Donath, Nicolai Gedda, John Shirley-Quirk, Norman Mittelmann, Nicolai Ghiaurov, and others. Conductors heard include Pierre Boulez, Rudolf Kempe, Colin Davis, Raymond Leppard, Gary Bertini, Meredith Davies, Horst Stein, Anthony Lewis, Carlos Païta, Bernard Haitink, Steuart Bedford, Hans Swarowsky, David Atherton, and Gianandrea Gavazzeni. Fasten your seat belts and settle for an overdue tribute to the dazzling versatility and artistry of the great Heather Harper.

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.

Episode 82. Magda Olivero: La Verissima

March 28, 2021Giuseppe Verdi, Happy Birthday, Needle Drop, VerismoAdriana Lecouvreur, Alfredo Catalani, Arrigo Boito, Arturo Basile, Beniamino Gigli, Francesco Cilea, Franco Alfano, Fulvio Vernizzi, Giacomo Puccini, Gianni Schicchi, Giuseppe Verdi, La Fanciulla del West, La Traviata, Lino Puglisi, Loreley (Catalani), Magda Olivero, Manon Lescaut, Mefistofele (Boito), Otello (Verdi), Sammy Fain, Turandot, Ugo Tansinicountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:33:20 — 89.4MB) | Embed

This week we celebrate the recent 111th birthday of the great Italian verista Magda Olivero. An extraordinary artist whose unusual career saw her taking a ten-year hiatus just as her career was gaining steam, to return in 1950 at the express request of the composer Francesco Cilea, who felt that her portrayal of the title role of his Adriana Lecouvreur was definitive (and of course he was right!) Olivero made a Metropolitan Opera debut as Tosca at the advanced age of 65; even after her official retirement, she continued to make occasional appearances in concert, including her final one at the age of 99! She began with a modest but capable voice and developed it into a finely-tuned instrument capable of taking on the most dramatic repertoire, including Cherubini’s Medea and Minnie in La fanciulla del West, but always capable of the finest pianissimo shadings. Her voice displays an extraordinary range of color and her dramatic acumen has never been matched. This week’s episode features a number of her live appearances in Amsterdam, including an extraordinary Adriana Lecouvreur from 1965 which features her at her artistic and vocal peak. The episode also features excerpts from an extraordinary live concert at the Church of San Jacopino in Firenze on 28 March 1969 which includes nearly superhuman displays of vocal skill and dramatic insight. Magda Olivero lived to the age of 104; though she is no longer with us on earth, her artistry continues to inspire and delight lovers of opera and singing.

This episode was prepared with the kind assistance and input of Denis Robert, who maintains the Magda Olivero Archives page on YouTube. He was a personal friend of the artist and has done much to meticulously preserve her artistry and keep her legacy alive. He has provided me with high-quality masterings of many of the recordings featured on today’s episode and also regaled me with wonderful personal anecdotes and reminiscences of this great artist.

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.

Episode 81. Happy Songs (straight up)

March 21, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Giuseppe Verdi, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Richard Strauss, Voiceless WondersAaron Copland, Alberta Hunter, Andy Kim, Anthony Newley, Arlene Saunders, Arpad Sandor, Barbara [Monique Serf], Barbra Streisand, Christa Ludwig, Claramae Turner, Conchita Supervia, Dorothy Maynor, Frances Wayne, Franz Allers, Franz Lehár, George Frideric Handel, Gerald Moore, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Harold Arlen, Horace Everett, James Levine, Janet Williams, Jeff Barry, Jo Bouillon, Johannes Brahms, Johnny Nash, Joséphine Baker, Joy Clements, Kathleen Battle, Leopold Stokowski, Leslie Bricusse, Lisa Della Casa, Mahalia Jackson, Margaret Bonds, Maria Callas, Max Hansen, Nancy Wilson, Nina Simone, Norman Treigle, Oleta Adams, Peter Matz, Pointer Sisters, Ralph Benatzky, Richard Cassilly, Richard Fredricks, Richard Strauss, Robert Gilbert, Ted Koehler, The Archies, The Tender Land (Copland & Everett), Tullio Serafin, Woody Herman, Yip Harburgcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:10:03 — 74.3MB) | Embed

This week I offset the gloom of last week’s music with straight-up joy. No gimmicks, no goofiness, no weird accents. Whether the composer is Giuseppe Verdi, Ralph Benatzky, Aaron Copland, Oleta Adams, or Harold Arlen, and whether sung by Nancy Wilson, Dorothy Maynor, Tina Turner, Maria Callas, Max Hansen, Conchita Supervia, Barbra Streisand, Mahalia Jackson, Lisa Della Casa, or the Pointer Sisters, all today’s selections are guaranteed to make you feel a little lighter, a little more joyous. And in today’s continuing climate of pandemic uncertainty, who doesn’t need a little more of that?

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.

Episode 77. Margaret Tynes (Black History Month 2021 V)

February 24, 2021African American Singers, BHM2023WK1, Black History Month, Broadway, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Needle Drop, Richard StraussA Drum Is a Woman (Ellington & Strayhorn), Aida (Verdi), Anita Turner-Butler, Billy Strayhorn, Brock Peters, Creole Folk Songs, DuBose Heyward, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, George Shirley, Georges Bizet, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Giuseppe Verdi, Ira Gershwin, LeVern Hutcherson, Lili Chookasian, Macbeth (Verdi), Margaret Tynes, Massimo Bruni, Pál Varga, Paul Belanger, Porgy and Bess (Gershwin), Richard Strauss, Salome (Richard Strauss), Spirituals, Stabat Mater (Pergolesi), Thomas Schippers, Warren Edward Vincentcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:08:52 — 67.6MB) | Embed

For a special bonus episode this week (without the usual paywall!), I bring you the extraordinary soprano Margaret Tynes, who in September celebrated her 101st birthday! Tynes is a unique artist, fearlessly forging her own musical, dramatic, and vocal path, aided and abetted by a strong voice with a powerful top register. Though she made a number of significant appearances in her homeland earlier in her career (including an appearance in Duke Ellington’s jazz suite, A Drum Is a Woman), her later successes were focused primarily in Europe, where she was particularly celebrated for her extraordinary Salome, with which she created a sensation in Spoleto in 1961, and her Lady Macbeth. All these and more are featured on this episode, which also includes spirituals and Creole folk songs, as well as excerpts from Aida, Carmen, and Porgy and Bess. Guest artists include LeVern Hutcherson, most remembered today for his appearances on stage and screen in Porgy, and George Shirley, the first African American tenor to sing at the Metropolitan Opera.

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.

Episode 75. Lenora Lafayette (BHM2021 III)

February 14, 2021African American Singers, BHM2023WK1, Black History Month, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in TranslationAida (Verdi), Baton Rouge Louisiana, Black History Month 2021, Clemens Krauss, Dusolina Giannini, Frederick Delius, Georgine von Milinkovič. Georgine von Milinkovic, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, John Barbirolli, Josef Gostic, Koanga (Delius), Lenora Lafayette, Madama Butterfly (Puccini), Richard Lewiscountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:08:20 — 71.0MB) | Embed

Every so often I discover a singer who had previously not come under my radar, but who simply blows me away with their voice, artistry, and communicative powers. Such an artist is the Baton Rouge-born African American soprano Lenora Lafayette (1926-1975), historically important as the first Black artist to perform at Covent Garden. Relocating to Basel shortly after finishing her training under Dusolina Giannini at Juilliard, Lafayette encountered early career success in Switzerland, winning the Geneva Competition and making a highly successful debut at the Basel Opera as Aida, a role which, along with Madama Butterfly, she performed hundreds of times. And yet, despite enormous career success in Europe, she was never able to establish herself in her native country. Her recorded legacy is slim but revelatory: an Aida in German under Clemens Krauss; a 1958 BBC recording of Frederick Delius’s opera Koanga; and a single commercial recording of Puccini duets with Welsh tenor Richard Lewis under the baton of John Barbirolli, who also led her Covent Garden debut. All of these precious documents are sampled on this episode. She was struck down with cancer in her early forties and died prematurely at the age of 49. And yet listening to her recordings, one is struck by the emotional power of her utterance, the firmness of her vocal technique, and the bloom of her exquisite voice. Lenora Lafayette deserves a place among the greatest singers of her generation.

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.

Episode 72. Igor Gorin (Great Baritones II)

January 31, 2021Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Crossover, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, VerismoAdolf Baller, Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Sarti, Antonio Vivaldi, Attila (Verdi), Avodath Hakodesh (Bloch), Donald Voorhees, Ernest Bloch, Francis Poulenc, Fritz Kreisler, Gaetano Donizetti, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Henry Penn, Howard Barlow, Idabelle Firestone, Igor Gorin, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Irving Berlin, Johann Sebastian Bach, Maria di Rohan (Donizetti), Max Rabinowitsch, Maximilian Pilzer, Mischa Spoliansky, Modest Mussorgsky, Nathaniel Shilkret, Pagliacci, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Russian Folk Songs, Stella Roman, Wilfred Pelletier, William G. Jamescountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:08:07 — 71.4MB) | Embed

I recently rediscovered the great Ukranian-American baritone Igor Gorin (1904-1982) and was bowled over by the sheer beauty of his voice. In fact, I am tempted to call his the most beautiful baritone voice I have ever heard. His is a fascinating life story, beginning in pre-Soviet Ukraine and moving back and forth from Vienna to the United States until finally, with forged documents, he emigrated to the US and became a naturalized citizen. Through a series of happy circumstances, he became one of the top US radio stars of the 1930s and 1940s and eventually appeared as well on early television broadcasts. A career in regional opera resulted, including starring roles at Lyric Opera of Chicago and one single appearance at the Metropolitan Opera at the age of 59. This episode features live, radio, and studio performances by Gorin in opera, operetta, Broadway, and folk and art songs over a period of nearly 40 years, including exceptional a live late career performance of Ernest Bloch’s Avodath Hakodesh, in which he returned to his cantorial roots. If you do not (or do) already know this artist, you are in for a treat.

A bonus episode on Igor Gorin for my Patreon subscribers includes complete performances of two constrasting song cycles by Modest Mussorgsky, The Nursery and the Songs and Dances of Death.

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.

Episode 71. Eidé Noréna

January 24, 2021Art Song, Bel canto, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in TranslationAgathe Backer-Gröndahl, Ambroise Thomas, Charles Gounod, Edvard Grieg, Eide Norena, Gabriel Faure, George Frideric Handel, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Giacomo Puccini, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Harold Arlen, Herman Bemberg, Jacques Offenbach, Kaja Eide, Kaja Eidé Noréna, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Piero Coppola, Victoria Clark, Waldemar Thrane, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yip Harburgcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:12:02 — 63.6MB) | Embed

Kaja Eidé Noréna (1884-1968, née Karoline Hansen), the Norwegian lyric-coloratura soprano, is one of the greatest singers of her generation, and nearly forgotten today. She made her concert debut at the age of 19 and in 1907 began her operatic career as Amor in Orfeo ed Euridice. In 1909 she married the actor Egil Eide, through whose coaching she became celebrated for her dramatic portrayals. Under her married name Kaja Eide she became one of the Norway’s most famous singers, though her career was essentially a provincial one until, mid-career, she restudied her technique and rebuilt her voice, which led to her La Scala debut as Gilda under the baton of Arturo Toscanini (and under her new professional name, Eide Norena). She went on to an international career, performing in the world’s most celebrated opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, the Salzburg Festival, and, particularly, the Paris Opéra. Her repertoire was a wide one, ranging from Ophélie to Desdemona, and her vocal technique was solid to the point of near-perfection, her legato singing being particularly remarkable. What sets her apart, and what makes her one of my favorite singers, is her profoundly musical interpretations allied to her keen dramatic sense. The majority of the recordings featured on the episode are from the 1930s. Noréna retired in 1938 and spent the remainder of her life in Switzerland, where she died in 1968. Noréna is, for me, everything that a great singer should be, and it is a particular honor for me to feature her on the podcast.

A bonus episode posted today on my Patreon page (www.patreon.com/countermelody) features Noréna in the role of Juliette in Gounod’s opera, including both live and studio recordings of duets with Charles Hackett and Gaston Micheletti.

And a link to the article about Noréna that I wrote in 2007 for my long-defunct blog: www.counterleben.blogspot.com/2007/07/fairy-from-ice.html

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.

Episode 64. Jorma Hynninen in Opera (Great Baritones I)

December 6, 2020Finnish Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Mirella Freni, Needle Drop, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, VerismoAarre Merikanto, Aleksis Kivi (Rautavaara), Antonio Ros Marbá, Aulis Sallinen, Claude Debussy, Don Giovanni, Eeva-Liisa Saarinen, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Elektra, Eri Klas, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Eugene Onegin, Fuat Manchurov, Gabriel Suovanen, Giuseppe Verdi, Hildegard Behrens, Il Prigioniero (Dallapiccola), Il Trovatore, Ilkka Kuusisto, Jean Sibelius, Jorma Hynninen, Juha (Madetoja), Juha (Merikanto), Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Jussi Jalas, Kalevi Kiviniemi, Kullervo (Sallinen), Le nozze di Figaro, Leevi Madetoja, Luigi Dallapiccola, Markus Lehtinen, Mathis der Maler, Matti Salminen, Mirella Freni, Okko Kamu, Pagliacci, Paul Hindemith, Pekka Haapasalo, Pekka Nuotio, Pelleas et Melisande, Pohjalaisia (Madetoja), Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Riccardo Muti, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Savonlinna Opera Festival, The Ostrobothnians (Madetoja), The Red Line (Sallinen), Thomas (Rautavaara), Tristan und Isolde, Ulf Söderblom, Un ballo in maschera, Victoria de los Angeles, Vincent (Rautavaara), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yevgeny Onegincountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:47:49 — 127.9MB) | Embed

This is the first of two episodes I have planned in honor of the great Finnish baritone Jorma Hynninen, who turns 80 in 2021. The focus today is on his work in opera. His stylistic range was unusually large: during the years in which he appeared internationally he triumphed in roles ranging from Mozart to Verdi to the title role in Eugene Onegin in opera houses around the world. What is perhaps less well-remembered is that he also was a phenomenal Pelléas and also a distinguished Wagnerian, singing Wolfram, Amfortas, and Kurwenal, among other parts. All of these are featured in today’s episode, as well as arias and scenes from operas by Strauss, Dallapiccola, and Hindemith. Jorma Hynninen made his greatest contribution to the field, however, in his legendary creations in the world of Finnish opera. The second portion of the program features excerpts of his performances in works by pioneers Leevi Madetoja and Aarre Merikanto and continues with roles he created in operas by Aulis Sallinen and Einojuhani Rautavaara. Though he retired from opera in 2012, he continues to concertize in Finland; in the fall of 2019 he embarked on a brief concert tour with a voice nearly untouched by the years. Mirella Freni, Hildegard Behrens, and Victoria de los Ángeles are also featured in the episode. Join me in an exploration of the operatic career of this extraordinary singer.

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. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our 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, including a new extra episode further exploring today’s topic.

Episode 61. Margaret Price I: The Voice of Consolation (Music for a World in Crisis V)

November 15, 2020Art Song, Giuseppe Verdi, Lieder, Margaret Price, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, SchubertAdrian Boult, Alain Lombard, Alban Berg, Andre Previn, Carl Maria von Weber, Claudio Abbado, Cosi fan tutte, Der Freischütz, Don Carlo, Edward Elgar, Ein deutsches Requiem [A German Requiem], Enrique Granados, Franz Schubert, Geoffrey Parsons, Giuseppe Verdi, Hans Sotin, Heinz Wallberg, James Lockhart, Johannes Brahms, John Pritchard, Lamberto Gardelli, Margaret Price, Otello, Otto Klemperer, Phyllis Tate, Renato Bruson, Riccardo Muti, Robert Schumann, Simon Boccanegra, The Kingdom (Elgar), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yvonne Mintoncountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:16:11 — 94.3MB) | Embed

Our world seems to be falling apart, both in the personal and in the global sense. I sustained an enormous personal loss this week when my dear friend Fred Berndt, the great German stage director, died suddenly on Friday. But we are all feeling an enormous sense of despair, of hopelessness, even of rage. Even before Fred’s death, I recognized that this episode needed to offer a message of hope to those who are finding it difficult to negotiate the world right now. The voice that has spoken to me most in my sadness is the Welsh soprano Margaret Price (1941-2011), whose distinctively cool yet engaged timbre, scrupulous musicianship, and communicative gifts prove unfailingly capable of conveying comfort and consolation to those who are distressed or grieving. I offer a survey of the career of this exemplary singer, a personal favorite of mine, in a wide range of repertoire including opera, oratorio, and art song. Composers include her specialties Mozart and Verdi, as well as Brahms, Strauss, Schumann, Schubert, Weber, Elgar, and the undervalued British composer Phyllis Tate. Collaborators include Otto Klemperer, Claudio Abbado, John Pritchard, Alain Lombard, Adrian Boult, and her mentor, the pianist and conductor James Lockhart, among many others. I hope that Margaret Price and her voice of consolation bring you much solace.

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. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our 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, including a new extra episode further exploring today’s topic.

Episode 59. Rosanna Carteri In Memoriam

November 1, 2020Bel canto, Giuseppe Verdi, In Memoriam, Needle Drop, Operetta, VerismoArtur Rodzinski, Carlo Bergonzi, Cesare Valletti, Charles Gounod, Ettore Bastianini, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Francis Poulenc, Gabriele Santini, Gaetano Donizetti, Georges Pretre, Giacomo Puccini, Gilbert Bécaud, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe di Stefano, Giuseppe Gismondo, Giuseppe Taddei, Giuseppe Verdi, Leonard Warren, Mario Rossi, Nicolai Gedda, Pierre Monteux, Pietro Mascagni, Rosanna Carteri, Serge Prokofiev, Tullio Serafin, Vincenzo Bellezza, Vittorio Guicountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:38:49 — 96.2MB) | Embed

I had been planning a 90th birthday tribute to this extraordinary artist in December, but alas, the great Rosanna Carteri departed this earth a week ago today, just a few weeks short of that landmark celebration. But let us celebrate today nonetheless, that this long-lived artist, who abandoned her performing career in 1966 when she was only 35 years old, brought her full-throated voice and impeccable artistry to operatic stages around the world for fifteen exceptional years. Carteri’s was a lyric yet full-bodied voice with facility that allowed her to undertake soubrette parts as well as some spinto roles. I feature extended examples of her versatility over the course of that entire career, including excerpts from La traviata, La bohème, La rondine, Guglielmo Tell, Falstaff, L’elisir d’amore, Madama Butterfly, Roméo et Juliette, Otello, Pietro Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz and Iris, Prokofiev’s War and Peace (the final version of which she created in Florence in 1954), the premiere recording of Poulenc’s Gloria and Gilbert Bécaud’s Opéra d’Aran (which she premiered in Paris in 1962). These operas represent just a fraction of her repertoire, in which are featured, among others, Giuseppe di Stefano, Nicolai Gedda, Leonard Warren, Carlo Bergonzi, Ettore Bastianini, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Giuseppe Taddei, Cesare Valletti, and Giuseppe Gismondo and conductors Tullio Serafin, Pierre Monteux, Vittorio Gui, Georges Prêtre, Gabriele Santini, and Artur Rodzinski. In other words, the crème de la crème of the operatic firmament in the 1950s and 1960s, in which company Carteri most emphatically belonged.

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. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our 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, including a new extra episode further exploring today’s topic.

Episode 57. Francisco Araiza @ 70

October 18, 2020Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Crossover, Giuseppe Verdi, Happy Birthday, Ileana Cotrubas, Lieder, Needle Drop, Operetta, SchubertÁdám Fischer, Alzira, Andrea Chénier, Carlo Maria Giulini, Charles Gounod, Claudio Abbado, Colin Davis, Cosi fan tutte, Daniel García Blanco, Das Lied von der Erde, Der Rosenkavalier, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die Zauberflöte, Don Pasquale, Edith Mathis, Eduardo Mata, Fernando Lozano, Fidelio, Francisco Araiza, Franz Lehár, Franz Schubert, Gabriele Ferro, Gaetano Donizetti, Giacomo Puccini, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Kuhn, Heinz Wallberg, Herbert von Karajan, Idomeneo, Ileana Cotrubas, Irma González, Irwin Gage, Jacques Offenbach, Jean Lemaire, Jésus “Chucho” Monge Ramírez, Jules Massenet, L’elisir d’amore, La Boheme, La Cenerentola, Lamberto Gardelli, Leonard Bernstein, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Lucia Popp, Ludwig van Beethoven, Manuel M. Ponce, mariachi, Mariella Devia, México Lindo, Ralf Weikert, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Rolando Panerai, Roméo et Juliette, Stefan Soltesz, Stephen Sondheim, Umberto Giordano, West Side Story, Winterreise, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:34:02 — 108.7MB) | Embed

On October 4, the great Mexican tenor Francisco Araiza celebrated his 70th birthday. On that day I promised my listeners a full episode on this exceptional artist in the very near future. And here it is! I’m thrilled to trace Araiza’s career path, from his studies with the great soprano Irma González through his early career encounters with Herbert von Karajan. Through the 1980s through the 1990s, Araiza was simply the greatest lyric tenor on the planet. I share live and studio recordings of his nonpareil performances of Mozart, Rossini, and Donizetti, and the heroes of the French repertoire through his assumption of heavier repertoire including Verdi, Puccini, Beethoven, and Wagner. Though his critics dubbed these journeys ill-advised, I would argue that Araiza’s singing, always rooted in a very secure technique, in fact followed the natural trajectory of his voice and allowed him to retain vocal health and longevity. I also highlight his deeply-felt Lieder performances, including an exceptional live performance of Schubert’s Winterreise.

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. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our 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!

Episode 55. Season Two Teaser

October 4, 2020African American Singers, Art Song, Broadway, Crossover, Giuseppe Verdi, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music, Needle Drop, Pop IconsAdolph Green, Alec Wilder, Alexander Kipnis, Anita Cerquetti, Antonín Dvořák, Betty Comden, Brenda Lewis, Brigitte Fassbaender, Burton Lane, Carol Brice, Carol Neblett, Charles Cambon, Cyndi Lauper, Donald Gramm, Dory Previn, Dusty Springfield, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Eide Norena, Felix Mendelssohn, Francis Poulenc, Francisco Araiza, Franz Schubert, Friedrich von Flotow, Gaspare Spontini, George Frideric Handel, Giacomo Puccini, Giorgio Zancanaro, Giuseppe Verdi, Guillaume Apollinaire, Heather Harper, Heinrich Heine, Helen Reddy, Irmgard Seefried, Jack Beeson, Johannes Brahms, John Duke, John Reardon, Judith Blegen, Jule Styne, Jules Massenet, Kenward Elmslie, Lotte Lenya, Marlene Dietrich, Milada Šubrtová, Nicholas Lenau, Patricia Brooks, Paul Robeson, Pierre Bernac, Robert Schumann, Roberta Alexander, Ruby Elzy, Russell Oberlin, Sándor Kónya, Sergei Rachmaninov, Stephen Sondheim, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yi-Kwe Sze, Yip Harburgcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:18:03 — 85.7MB) | Embed

This week represents the limbo between the first and second seasons of Countermelody. I have been collating ideas for programs for the coming year and I have some short snippets representing singers and topics that we’ll be encountering there. We begin the episode with Francisco Araiza, who celebrates his 70th birthday on October 4th. And we conclude the episode celebrating the live of Helen Reddy, whose song “I Am Woman” formed the soundtrack to the burgeoning Women’s Movement in the 1970s. In between I present short clips of some of my favorite singers who will be featured in upcoming episodes, including Anita Cerquetti, Alexander Kipnis, Russell Oberlin, Ruby Elzy, Eidé Noréna, Sándor Kónya, Heather Harper, Paul Robeson, Cyndi Lauper, Milada Šubrtová, Carol Brice, John Reardon, Yi-Kwe Sze, Judith Blegen, Charles Cambon, Dory Previn, Donald Gramm, Pierre Bernac, Irmgard Seefried, Lotte Lenya, Dusty Springfield, and many others. This episode is also a thank you to all listen and support the podcast in whatever ways they are able. I can’t wait to bring you the first episode of Season Two next week!

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. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our 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!

Episode 53. Justice (In Memoriam RBG)

September 20, 2020African American Singers, Bel canto, Eileen Farrell, Giuseppe Verdi, In MemoriamAmilcare Ponchielli, Antonino Votto, Arlene Saunders, Barbara Hendricks, Bernard Haitink, Beverly Sills, Brigitte Fassbaender, Bruno Bartoletti, Carlo Felice Cillario, Carlos Kleiber, Carol Neblett, Cesare Siepi, Christiane Eda-Pierre, Der Rosenkavalier, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Don Giovanni, Eileen Farrell, Elisabeth Grümmer, Elisabeth Soderstrom, Ettore Bastianini, Fernando Corena, Fidelio, Franco Corelli, Georg Solti, Giacomo Puccini, Gianpiero Mastromei, Giuseppe Verdi, Götterdämmerung, Gottlob Frick, Gwyneth Jones, Il Trovatore, Jessye Norman, Jussi Bjorling, Kenneth Collins, La Boheme, La Fanciulla del West, La forza del destino, La Gioconda, Le nozze di Figaro, Leonard Warren, Leontyne Price, Leopold Simoneau, Lisa Della Casa, Lucia Popp, Ludwig van Beethoven, Margaret Price, Maria Callas, Max Rudolf, Renata Tebaldi, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Rita Streich, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Victor de Sabata, Walter Berry, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:40:44 — 111.7MB) | Embed

I awoke Saturday morning in Berlin to the apocalyptic news that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died. Once again a crisis in the United States has prompted me to quickly put together a different episode than originally planned. The late Justice Ginsburg was a particular lover of opera, and so I have decided to showcase some of her favorite operas and performers. We will hear extended scenes from La Gioconda, Le nozze di Figaro, Der Rosenkavalier, Otello, Don Giovanni, La Fanciulla del West, Fidelio, Götterdämmerung, and others in performances featuring favorite singers of hers, including Jussi Björling. Renata Tebaldi, Leontyne Price, Franco Corelli, and Cesare Siepi. Other featured singers are Gottlob Frick, Fernando Corena, Margaret Price, Leonard Warren, Arlene Saunders, Carol Neblett, Gianpiero Mastromei, Beverly Sills, Gwyneth Jones, Lucia Popp, Brigitte Fassbaender, Christiane Eda-Pierre, Elisabeth Söderström, Eileen Farrell, among many others. The episode also incorporates a memorial tribute to Maria Callas on the 43rd anniversary of her death, and to Jessye Norman on what would have been her 75th birthday.

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. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our 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!

Episode 52. Operaish Broadway (Crossover Classics VIII)

September 13, 2020African American Singers, Broadway, Comic Relief, Crossover, Mezzo Madness, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop Icons1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Adam Guettel, Adolph Green, Alan Jay Lerner, Alfred Drake, Anton Coppola, Audra McDonald, Barbara Cook, Betty Comden, Bruce Yarnell, Camilla Williams, Candide, Carol Brice, Carolyn Leigh, Cesare Siepi, Claibe Richardson, Cy Coleman, Dorothy Sarnoff, Du Bose Heyward, Eve Queler, Ezio Pinza, Florence Henderson, Franco Corelli, Franz Allers, George Forrest, George Gershwin, Georges Bizet, Giorgio Tozzi, Giuseppe Verdi, Harold Arlen, Harold Rome, Helen Traubel, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jacques Brel, Jerome Kern, Jerry Ross, Joe Darion, John Raitt, John Reardon, José Van Dam, Judy Kaye, Jule Styne, Kenward Elmslie, Lawrence Winters, Lee Venora, Lehman Engel, Leonard Bernstein, Leslie Scott, Lisa Vroman, Lorenz Hart, Madeline Kahn, Marin Mazzie, Mitch Leigh, Mona Paulee, Nicolai Gedda, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paul Gemignani, Porgy and Bess, Rebecca Luker, Richard Adler, Richard Rodgers, Risë Stevens, Robert Gilbert, Robert Trehy, Robert Wright, Rosemary Clooney, Sheldon Harnick, Shirley Verrett, Show Boat, Stephen Sondheim, The Grass Harp, The Light in the Piazza, Victoria Clark, Yip Harburgcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:48:08 — 118.0MB) | Embed

Today’s episode (in celebration of Countermelody’s first birthday!) picks up where the last one left off: more musicals, more opera (and operaish) singers! Excerpts from cast recordings, radio broadcasts, telecasts, and live performances highlight the work of singers who divided their time, to a greater or lesser extent, between the Broadway stage and the operatic stage. We begin with the great bass-baritones (Ezio Pinza, Cesare Siepi, Giorgio Tozzi, and José Van Dam) and move through the great Broadway (and sometime opera) baritones (Alfred Drake, John Raitt, Bruce Yarnell, Robert Trehy, Leslie Scott, Lawrence Winters, and John Reardon) with a nod to other opera singers who have also graced the Broadway stage (Helen Traubel, Shirley Verrett, Mona Paulee, Dorothy Sarnoff, Risë Stevens, Lee Venora, Camilla Williams, and Carol Brice). We then consider singers whose vocal abilities could easily have put them on the opera stage, had they chosen to so devote themselves (Alice Ghostley, Madeline Kahn, Barbara Cook, Florence Henderson, Judy Kaye, Lisa Vroman, Audra McDonald, Victoria Clark, Rebecca Luker, and the late Marin Mazzie). The episode also features tributes to two recently deceased divas (Gabriella Tucci and Christiane Eda-Pierre) as well as a spotlight on the gorgeous soprano Margaret Tynes, who just celebrated her 101st birthday.

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. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our 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!

Episode 49. Eileen Farrell (Crossover Classics V)

August 23, 2020Art Song, Crossover, Eileen Farrell, Giuseppe Verdi, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop Icons, Queer PrideAdolph Green, Alec Wilder, André Kostelanetz, Andre Previn, Betty Comden, Claude Debussy, Depuis le jour, Die Walküre, Dory Langdon, Dory Langdon Previn, Dory Previn, Edvard Grieg, Eileen Farrell, George Gershwin, Gian Carlo Menotti, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustave Charpentier, Harold Arlen, Helen Traubel, House of Flowers, Ira Gershwin, Johnny Mercer, Jule Styne, Knoxville Summer of 1915, La forza del destino, Leonard Bernstein, Londonderry Air (Danny Boy), Loonis McGlohon, Lorenz Hart, Luther Henderson, Maurice Ravel, Mitchell Parish, My Funny Valentine, On the Town, Oscar Hammerstein II, Peer Gynt, Percy Faith, Peter DeRose, Renato Cellini, Richard Rodgers, Richard Wagner, Robert Farnon, Samuel Barber, The Consul, The Lamp Is Low, Truman Capote, Victor Herbert, William Engvickcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:25:36 — 98.1MB) | Embed

The American dramatic soprano Eileen Farrell (1920–2002) was one of the finest and most versatile singers the United States has ever produced. Her singing career lasted more than fifty years, and this episode covers the entire chronological range of that career, from her early work as a radio singer in the 1940s to her final pop albums in the 1990s. While the episode focuses on her crossover work (and includes work by, among others, Harold Arlen, Jule Styne, Alec Wilder, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, as heard on two of her lesser-known pop albums with Percy Faith and the late André Previn), we also sample her opera and concert work, with examples from Verdi and Wagner, to Debussy and Charpentier, to Barber and Menotti. A late reunion with her frequent collaborator Leonard Bernstein caps the episode. In all her singing Farrell combines ease of delivery and a relaxed, insouciant response to the words and music with a vocal and interpretive precision that inevitably strikes a bullseye. Bow down to the Queen of Crossover, nay, the Queen of Song!

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. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our 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!

Episode 48. Cesare Siepi (Crossover Classics IV)

August 16, 2020Art Song, Crossover, Giuseppe Verdi, In Memoriam, Lieder, Needle DropAlfredo Mazzucchi, Cesare Siepi, Cole Porter, Easy to Love, Eduardo di Capua, Ezio Pinza, Funiculi funicula, Giuseppe Verdi, I Get a Kick out of You, In the Still of the Night, Johannes Brahms, La sonnambula, Luigi Denza, Nabucco, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paolo Tosti, Renato Brogi, Richard Rodgers, Roland Shaw Orchestra, Sigmund Romberg, Some Enchanted Evening, South Pacific, Vincenzo Bellini, Visione venezianacountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:12:00 — 81.9MB) | Embed

Last month marked the tenth anniversary of the death of the great Italian basso Cesare Siepi, one of the most important basses of the twentieth century, after such figures as Nazzareno de Angelis, Tancredi Pasero, and, particularly, Ezio Pinza, the latter, like Siepi, particularly associated with the title role of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. His dashing good looks, solid technique, sonorous voice and appealing artistry, placed him in the forefront of the opera world, particularly in the 1950s through the 1970s. In this episode, rather than his celebrated Mozart and Verdi portrayals, however, we will focus primarily on his 1958 Decca/London album, Easy to Love: The Songs of Cole Porter. Siepi also made two appearances on Broadway, including 1962’s Bravo, Giovanni, from which we hear two excerpts. Other musical selections in this episode include two operatic arias, several favorites from the Neapolitan song repertoire, and live and television performances from Brahms to Sigmund Romberg. Revisiting this artist, and particularly his spot-on Cole Porter performances, is a nostalgic journey for me, and I hope to convey to you his enormous appeal.

Episode 47. Sylvia Sass (Crossover Classics III)

August 9, 2020Bel canto, Crossover, Operetta, Sylvia SassA Kékszakállú herceg vára, András Sebestyén, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Anthony Hymas, Barry Gibb, Béla Balázs, Béla Bartók, Bluebeard’s Castle, Bridge over Troubled Water, Daniel Molnár, Don Giovanni, Ervin Lukács, G. Dénes György, Gábor Lakatos, Georg Solti, Giuseppe Verdi, Híd a romlás vizén [Bridge over Troubled Water], Il Trovatore, Iván Bradányi, Jacques Offenbach, James Diamond, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jim Steinman, Joe Jackson, Kolos Kováts, La Belle Helene, Miklós Tibor, Nello Santi, Nézz körül [Total Eclipse of the Heart], Paul Simon, Péter Wolf, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, Robin Gibb, Sarà qual che sarà, Stephen Bishop, Sylvia Sass, Szerelmes asszony, Tim Rice, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Vier letzte Lieder, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Woman in Lovecountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:13:42 — 85.3MB) | Embed

The Hungarian soprano Sylvia Sass was a comet in the operatic firmament in the mid-1970s through the 1980s, most celebrated for singing the heaviest dramatic coloratura repertoire. In 1984 she also released a crossover album entitled Nézz körül, which I purchased when it was first released, and which amused me to no end, featuring as it did songs from “Flashdance” to “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” all sung in Hungarian. As the years have passed, and I have become more and more of a Sass fan, I have completely revised my opinion of this unusual entry into the Crossover Classics genre and now am of the opinion that Sass’s achievement on this record represents the peak of opera singers singing crossover material. Her unusual and compelling voice is heard at its most mellifluous here; her musicianship is at the complete and non-condescending service of the material, which ranges from Andrew Lloyd Webber to Quincy Jones; and the intensity of her delivery, contrasted with the sometimes tacky arrangements, makes for a unique and delectable experience. I supplement material from that album with several examples of Sass’s magisterial performances of operetta and classical music, from Mozart and Offenbach through Ferenc Erkel and Richard Strauss, pausing (regretfully only momentarily) on her matchless Verdi portrayals. Prepare for the Total Eclipse of the Kékszakállú!

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. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our 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!

Episode 40. Sisters in Sappho [Queer Pride I]

June 21, 2020African American Singers, Art Song, Crossover, Giuseppe Verdi, Ileana Cotrubas, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Queer Pride, SchubertAida, Alban Berg, Alessandro Scarlatti, Andrzej Hiolski, Aribert Reimann, Ariodante, Arleen Augér, Beautiful Soul, Best Friend (The Unicorn Song), Brigitte Fassbaender, Cecilia Gasdia, Cinq mélodies populaires grecques, Cord Garben, Cosi fan tutte, Cris Williamson, Deidre McCalla, Der Rosenkavalier, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Die Teufel von Loudun, Don Carlo, Dusty Springfield, Endimione e Cintia, Erik Werba, Felix Mendelssohn, Ferron, Francesco Cavalli, Franz Schubert, George Frideric Handel, Giuseppe Verdi, Gundula Janowitz, Gustav Mahler, Holly Near, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Ileana Cotrubas, Janet Baker, Janis Ian, John Wustman, Krzysztof Penderecki, Kurt Weill, La Calisto, La Clemenza di Tito, Lulu, Margaret Price, Margie Adam, Maurice Ravel, Meg Christian, Meshell Ndegeocello, Nicolai Gedda, O don fatale, Raymond Leppard, Reri Grist, Rheinenlegendchen, Richard Heuberger, Richard Strauss, Ronnie Gilbert, Scherza infida, Serge Rachmaninov, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Tatiana Troyanos, Toshi Reagon, Vincenzo Bellini, Wie lange noch, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Sawallischcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:48:57 — 129.0MB) | Embed

The first of my two Queer Pride episodes is devoted to a group of pioneering lesbians in the 1970s and beyond, in both classical and pop music. Two iconic mezzo-sopranos whose careers began in the 1960s and extended through the 1990s are the Greek-American Tatiana Troyanos and Brigitte Fassbaender, daughter of the German baritone Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender. I explore the similarities and differences in the repertoire and career paths of these two unique artists, and share examples of them singing repertoire from Handel to Weill, Scarlatti to Penderecki, with particular focus on Fassbaender’s Lieder performances and Troyanos’s work in bel canto. Then I turn to key figures in the Women’s Music Movement of the 1970s, including Meg Christian, Cris Williamson, Margie Adam, Holly Near, and Deidre McCalla, while also paying tribute to those who, in turn, paved the way for them, including Janis Ian, Dusty Springfield, and Ronnie Gilbert. We also acknowledge the work of queer African American singers, including Deidre McCalla, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Toshi Reagon. We all owe an enormous debt of gratitude to these extraordinary artists, who created a world of possibility for their musical and artistic descendants, at the same time setting standards that will stand the test of time. Vocal guest stars include Janet Baker, Ileana Cotrubas, Margaret Price, Nicolai Gedda, Gundula Janowitz, Arleen Augér, Cecilia Gasdia, and Reri Grist.

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 classical and opera singers of the past and present with the help of guests from the classical music field: singers, conductors, composers, coaches, agents, and voice teachers. 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 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. And please head to our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/countermelody to pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 36. Glamour

May 24, 2020African American Singers, Crossover, Giuseppe Verdi, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop IconsAlice Faye, Anna Moffo, Annie Lennox, Bellini I Puritani, Bernard Herrmann, Betty Carter, Canzone di Doretta, Carol Neblett, Cassandra Wilson, Cesare Andrea Bixio, Charles Gerhardt, Citizen Kane, Das Wunder der Heliane, Dave Stewart, David Garvey, Diahann Carroll, Die tote Stadt, Dorothy Kirsten, Eleanor Steber, Eurythmics, Florence Quartararo, Franz Lehár, Fritz Wunderlich, George Gershwin, Gershwin Oh Kay!, Giacomo Puccini, Giuditta (Lehár), Giuseppe Verdi, Hana Janků, Harold Arlen, Harold Simpson, Harry Revel, Helen Traubel, Hercule Gilles de Fontenailles, Hilde Güden, Hildegarde, House of Flowers, I Lombardi, I Put a Spell on You, Il Trovatore, Ira Gershwin, Italian Street Song (Naughty Marietta), James Bland, Jeanne Dortzal, José Carreras, Jules Massenet, Karl Friedrich, Kiri Te Kanawa, Knickerbocker Holiday, Kurt Weill, La rondine, Landon Ronald, Leontyne Price, Liane Augustin, Lisa Kirk, Lorenz Hart, Lotte Lehmann, Mack Gordon, Maria Nemeth, Massenet Thaïs, Miguel Fleta, Montserrat Caballé, Moonlight in Vermont, Muddy Waters, My Funny Valentine, Naughty Marietta, Ned Rorem, Noël Coward, Richard Rodgers, Richard Strauss, Robert Gilbert, Robert Stolz, Rosa Ponselle, Teresa Żylis-Gara, The Incomparable Hildegarde, Truman Capote, Victor Herbert, Vier letzte Lieder, Vincenzo Bellini, Zarah Leandercountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31:04 — 95.7MB) | Embed

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “glamour” as “magic; enchantment; spell” and “a magical or fictitious beauty attaching to any person or object; a delusive or alluring charm.” Further down in the entry are “charm; attractiveness; physical allure,” certainly the definition we most closely associate with the term. And yet, it’s fascinating to examine the concept of glamour from its spellbinding origins. In the first of my episodes on Glamour, I examine many singers both from the spell-binding sense of the term and the sense of vocal and personal allure. Among others, I examine such varied singers as Alice Faye, Eleanor Steber, Annie Lennox, Carol Neblett, Betty Carter, Diahann Carroll, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Liane Augustin, Dorothy Kirsten, Florence Quartararo, Hana Janků, Helen Traubel, Hilde Güden, Kiri Te Kanawa, Leontyne Price, Lisa Kirk, Lotte Lehmann, Anna Moffo, Maria Nemeth, Montserrat Caballé, Rosa Ponselle, Zarah Leander, and The Incomparable Hildegarde with an eye to what makes their work glamourous in all senses of the term. And the gentlemen are by no means excluded: I spend particular time on the seductive and dulcet tenor tones of Fritz Wunderlich, José Carreras, Karl Friedrich, and Miguel Fleta.

Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glories of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great classical and opera singers of the past and present with the help of guests from the classical music field: singers, conductors, composers, coaches, agents, and voice teachers. 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 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. And please head to our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/countermelody to pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 30. Giulietta Simionato (Mezzo Madness I)

April 12, 2020Giuseppe Verdi, Mezzo Madness, Needle DropAcerba voluttà (Adriana Lecouvreur), Adriana Lecouvreur, Aida, Annie Get Your Gun, Anything You Can Do, Canzone del velo, Cavalleria Rusticana, Che farò senza Euridice, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Don Carlo, Ettore Bastianini, Francesco Cilea, Franco Corelli, Franco Ghione, Già i sacerdoti adunansi (Aida), Giacomo Meyerbeer, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Gioacchino Rossini, Giulietta Simionato, Giuseppe Verdi, Gli Ugonotti, Herbert von Karajan, Hertha Töpper, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Jon Vickers, La Cenerentola, La Scala, Les Huguenots, Margarete Sjöstedt, Maria Callas, Mezzo Madness, Non più mesta, Norma, O don fatale, Oh rimembranza (Norma), Orfeo ed Euridice, Pietro Mascagni, Salzburg Festival, Teatro San Carlo, Una voce poco fa, Vincenzo Bellinicountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:30:02 — 93.8MB) | Embed

Today’s episode, a celebration of the delicious and versatile Italian mezzo-soprano Giulietta Simionato (1910-2010), kicks off a miniseries in celebration of the mezzo-soprano voice. The centerpiece of the episode is a 10-inch London/Decca recording entitled Operatic Recital by Giulietta Simionato which features arias of Rossini, Bellini, and Verdi. The remainder of the episode features live and studio recordings, primarily from La Scala and Salzburg, by Simionato with distinguished partners, including Maria Callas, Franco Corelli, Jon Vickers, Ettore Bastianini, Gianadrea Gavazzeni, Antonino Votto, Carlo Maria Giulini, and Herbert von Karajan. Works include Il barbiere di Siviglia, Cavalleria rusticana, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Don Carlo, Adriana Lecouvreur, Orfeo ed Euridice, Norma, La Cenerentola, Gli Ugonotti, L’Italiana in Algeri, and Aida, with one special Easter egg at the end. This episode, dedicated to my dear friend Gloria Parker, also features a tribute to the late German mezzo-soprano Hertha Töpper. A te la buona Pasqua!

Episode 26. Calling You (Music for a World in Crisis)

March 15, 2020Art Song, Crossover, Eileen Farrell, Giuseppe Verdi, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop IconsAida, Alfredo Catalani, Andre Previn, Anne Roselle, Anytime Any Place Anywhere, Bagdad Cafe, Blow the Wind Southerly, Calling You, Chi Coltrane, Claudia Muzio, Danny Boy, Don Shirley, Dusty Springfield, Ebben ne andro lontana, Edvard Grieg, Eide Norena, Eileen Farrell, Elinor Ross, Frieder Weissmann, Giuseppe Verdi, Hina Spani, I Will Come to You, Il Trovatore, Its Not Easy, Janis Ian, La forza del destino, La Wally, Lee Wiley, Licinio Refice, Linden Lea, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Ma dall arido stelo divulsa, Martha Flowers, Meta Seinemeyer, Ned Washington, O patria mia, Ombra di nube, Peter Serkin, Rosa Ponselle, Spring Is Here, Un ballo in maschera, Våren, Victor Youngcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:19:21 — 82.9MB) | Embed

The world is in chaos. We don’t know from one day to the next, or one hour to the next, what is going to happen. I am currently halfway around the world from home and wondering what the coming weeks will bring. This week I have decided to feature music that addresses reaching out to loved ones across enormous gaps of time and space, the yearning for a home lost and the ambivalence with which we face the changing seasons. But all is not hopelessness: at the end of the episode, I offer several pop songs by some of my favorite singers that address the promise of healing and reunion, no matter how difficult the process. In this episode, marking the six-month anniversary of Countermelody, I’m featuring Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Hina Spani, Rosa Ponselle, Meta Seinemeyer, Anne Roselle, Claudia Muzio, Eidé Noréna, Eileen Farrell, Kathleen Ferrier, Martha Flowers, Janis Ian, Chi Coltrane, and Dusty Springfield. I also offer a recording I made in 2006 of “Danny Boy,” and I explain the song’s significance to me.

Countermelody is a new podcast devoted to the glories of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great classical and opera singers of the past and present with the help of guests from the classical music field: singers, conductors, composers, coaches, agents, and voice teachers. 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 interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. Please also visit the Countermelody website for updates, additional content, and to pledge your support. www.countermelodypodcast.com

Episode 25. Freni on the Fringe (Mirella in Memoriam II)

March 8, 2020In Memoriam, Mirella Freni, Needle DropBeatrice di Tenda, Beim Schlafengehen, Bruno Bartoletti, Claudio Abbado, Dove sono, George Frideric Handel, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, I vespri siciliani, Jorma Hynninen, Le nozze di Figaro, Leone Magiera, Madama Butterfly, Maurizio Arena, Mercè dilette amiche, Michel Plasson, Mireilla, Mirella Freni, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Piero Bellugi, Richard Strauss, Scene de la Crau, Serse, Signore ascolta, Turandot, Va godendo, Vaclav Smetacek, Vier letzte Lieder, Vincenzo Bellini, Voici la vaste plaine, Yevgeny Onegincountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:13:43 — 82.8MB) | Embed

Episode 25 – Freni on the Fringe (Mirella in Memoriam II)

Today’s episode continues last week’s homage to the late, great Mirella Freni. This time around, I explore some her performances of operas and works which she performed only rarely, or to which she turned later in her career. Featured works include excerpts from Handel’s Serse, Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda, Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (in which Freni sings the Countess rather than her usual Susanna), the title role in Gounod’s Mireille, Tatyana in Yevgeny Onegin, and Richard Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder. The Finnish baritone Jorma Hynninen, one of my favorite singers, is heard as Onegin. Conductors include Claudio Abbado, Bruno Bartoletti, Michel Plasson, and Václav Smetáček. The episode concludes with a relatively obscure 1977 studio recording of Freni singing “Signore, ascolta” from Turandot which represents the absolute pinnacle of her vocal art.

Episode 24. Freni in Duet (Mirella In Memoriam I)

March 1, 2020Bel canto, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Mirella Freni, Needle Drop, Renata Scotto, VerismoAlfredo Kraus, Carlos Kleiber, Claudio Abbado, Don Giovanni, Franco Bonisolli, Franco Corelli, Giacomo Puccini, Gianni Schicchi, Giuseppe Verdi, Gundula Janowitz, I Puritani, La Boheme, La Traviata, Lamberto Gardelli, Le due illustri rivali, Le nozze di Figaro, Leone Magiera, Luciano Pavarotti, Luis Lima, Manon Lescaut, Mirella Freni, Nicolai Gedda, Otello, Peter Dvorsky, Renata Scotto, Saverio Mercadante, Vincenzo Bellinicountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:19:46 — 92.6MB) | Embed

Today, in the first of two consecutive episodes. I pay tribute to the great Mirella Freni, who died on February 7 and who would have celebrated her 85th birthday on February 27th. Celebrated for the freshness of her timbre, her musical integrity and commitment, her vocal prowess and longevity, and her expressivity, Freni sang a repertoire which covered a wide range of styles and languages. Today’s selections, from over the course of her entire career, feature her exclusively in duet, and include selections from Gianni Schicchi, I Puritani, L’Elisir d’amore, Le nozze di Figaro, La Bohème, Otello, Manon Lescaut, Don Carlo, Le due illustri rivali, Don Giovanni, and La Traviata with Alfredo Kraus, Nicolai Gedda, Gundula Janowitz, Franco Corelli, Luciano Pavarotti, Peter Dvorsky, Luis Lima, Renata Scotto, and her husband Nicolai Ghiaurov. Three selections from a rare 1977 LP of Puccini and Verdi duets with the superlative (and notorious!) Italian tenor Franco form the centerpiece of this loving tribute.

Episode 22. Gloria Davy (Black History Month III)

February 16, 2020African American Singers, BHM2023WK1, Black History Month, MusicA Picnic Cantata, Aida, Al Howard, Anna Bolena, Arnold Gamson, Arthur Gold, Auf dem Kirchhofe, Benjamin Britten, Cavalleria Rusticana, Cesar Franck, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Erich Leinsdorf, Giorgio Favaretto, Giorgio Tozzi, Giuseppe Verdi, Gloria Davy, Gloria Wynder, Henry Purcell, Il Trovatore, James Schuyler, Jess Thomas, Johannes Brahms, Jonas Kulka, Julia Perry, Karl Böhm, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Leontyne Price, Les Illuminations, Man is for the Woman Made, Mareda Gaither, Martha Flowers, Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, Mirella Freni, Momenten, Nelly Sachs, New York Philomusica Chamber Ensemble, Nicolai Gedda, O the Chimneys, Paul Bowles, Pierre Mollet, Rébecca (Franck), Robert Fizdale, Sándor Kónya, Sergiu Celibidache, Shulamit Ran, Spirituals, The Magic Flute, Town Hall New Yorkcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:22:02 — 92.2MB) | Embed

Today we examine the fascinating and somewhat frustrating career of Gloria Davy (1931-2012). Yet another African American singer who found greater opportunity abroad than in the United States, Davy has the distinction of being the first Black singer to perform the title role of Verdi’s Aida at the Metropolitan Opera, which role served as her debut in 1958. Another early career success came when she replaced Leontyne Price as Bess in an international tour of Porgy and Bess. Her earliest recordings, both live and studio, reveal a voice of uncommon beauty with an interpretive sensitivity to match. A superb musician, Davy also sang contemporary music throughout her career, including important premieres by Hans Werner Henze and Karlheinz Stockhausen. One must ask the question, however, if her voice would have been better served had she not turned to sung Bess and Aida so early in her career, but had instead had access to roles such as Anna Bolena, which she sang brilliantly at Town Hall in New York in 1957. The episode includes a rare airing of Davy’s 1956 album of Spirituals, in arrangements by the lesser-known African American composer Julia Perry and excerpts from her recordings of Shulamit Ran’s O the Chimneys, on poems by Nelly Sachs, and the 1972 revision of Stockhausen’s momentous Momente.

Episode 8: Williams and Williams

November 10, 2019African American Singers, BHM2023WK1, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Lieder, Needle Drop, Singers of ColorAida, Berliner Staatsoper, Borislav Bezala, Camilla Williams, Celius Dougherty, Detroit, George Frideric Handel, Georges Bizet, Giuseppe Verdi, Janet Williams, Jules Massenet, Laszlo Halasz, Léo Delibes, Les pecheurs de perles, Manon, MGM Records, New York City Opera, Nina Koshetz, Povla Frijsh, Semele, Spirituals, Undine Smith Moorecountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:07:40 — 114.1MB) | Embed

Episode 8: Williams and Williams. As a supplement to the first part of my interview last week with Janet Williams, I offer a cache of rare studio recordings by Camilla Williams, supplemented by live material sung by Janet Williams from the artist’s private archives. Among other material featured are excerpts from Camilla’s rarely-heard album of spirituals on the MGM Records label, and a concert given by Janet Williams in her home town of Detroit in 1989, capped by a stunning rendition of Undine Smith Moore’s arrangement of the spiritual “Watch and Pray,” dedicated to Camilla Williams.

Episode 5: Shirley Verrett I: La Nera Callas

October 20, 2019African American Singers, Bel canto, Giuseppe Verdi, Mezzo Madness, Needle Drop, Singers of ColorAnna Caterina Antonacci, Camille Saint-Saens, Carmen, Christa Ludwig, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Claudio Abbado, Cornelie Falcon, Covent Garden, Don Carlo, Eugene Ormandy, Eve Queler, Fritz Reiner, Georges Bizet, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Giuseppe Verdi, Grace Bumbry, Il Trovatore, Imre Pallo, Jon Vickers, Julius Rudel, Justino Diaz, La Scala, Luciano Pavarotti, Marian Anderson, Maurizio Arena, Michelangelo Veltri, Philadelphia Orchestra, Richard Cassilly, Richard Lewis, Samson et Dalila, Shirley Verrett, Tom Krause, Un ballo in maschera, Zwischenfachcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 52:53 — 82.8MB) | Embed

Episode 5: Shirley Verrett: La Nera Callas I. Falcon or Verdi soprano?

This episode is the first of two on one of my favorite singers, the Zwischenfachsängerin Shirley Verrett. Renowned in the United States for her performances of Verdi mezzo-soprano parts, particularly Azucena in Il Trovatore and Eboli in Don Carlo, the late singer commanded an enormous repertoire, comprising bel canto and French roles, on which she left her indelible stamp. I focus in particular on the French roles she performed at the Opéra de Paris from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, as well as her Verdi soprano roles, including Amelia in Un ballo in maschera and the title role in Aida. Known in the Italian press as La Nera Callas [The Black Callas], Verrett is heard in this episode singing Brahms, Gluck, Saint-Saëns, and Verdi roles for both soprano and mezzo-soprano. Special attention is paid to her newsworthy appearances with fellow African American mezzo-cum-soprano, Grace Bumbry, the first of which, a joint Carnegie Hall concert in 1982, honored the iconic contralto Marian Anderson on the occasion of her 80th birthday.

Episode 3: Creating Magic, Interview with Nicholas Tamagna, Part 2

October 6, 2019InterviewAkhnaten, Alpha Classics, Arrigo Boito, Arthur Johnston, As long as he needs me, Atlantic Starr, Au mont Ida, Backlash Blues, Bagdad Cafe, Benjamin Britten, Bidu Sayao, Billie Holiday, Calling You, Carnegie Hall, Cesare Siepi, Charles Gounod, Clori Tirsi e Fileno, Daniel Gundlach, Don Carlo, Edvard Grieg, Elisabeth Rethberg, Elisabeth Soderstrom, Emil Cooper, Faust, Franz Schubert, Frederick Schauwecker, Gabriela Benackova, George Frideric Handel, Georgia Brown, Giuseppe Verdi, Hector Berlioz, Hilde Güden, Hilde Gueden,