Tag Archives: Hanne-Lore Kuhse

Episode 498. November Surprise

November 6, 2026African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Black History Month, Black History Month 2026, Canadian Singers, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Gustav Mahler, In Memoriam, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Rescue Mission, Richard Wagner, Schubert, Singers of Color, Sylvia Sass, Twentieth Century Opera, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAdolphe d’Ennery, Aida, Alexander Kipnis, Almire Gandonnière, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Auguste Mariette, Carlo Bergonzi, Carol Neblett, Charles Jennens, Charles O’Connell, Der fliegende Holländer, Dieter Klöcker, Edda Moser, Édouard Blau, Egisto Tango, Eino Leino, Eleanor Steber, Emőke Békésy, Enrique Granados, Erich Leinsdorf, Ernö Sebestyen, Fernando Periquet y Zuaznabar, Florence Quivar, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Rückert, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Georg Philipp Schmidt von Lübeck, George Frideric Handel, George Shirley, Georges Thill, Gérard de Narval, Giacomo Puccini, Gilda Cruz-Romo, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Goyescas, Grace Bumbry, Gustav Mahler, Hanne-Lore Kuhse, Hector Berlioz, James Conlon, James Levine, Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, Jeffrey Tate, Jill Gomez, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Wyre, Jorma Hynninen, José Van Dam, Joseph Sonnleithner, Judas Maccabaeus, Judith Blegen, Jules Massenet, Kindertotenlieder, La Damnation de Faust, Le Cid, Le nozze di Figaro, Leonore, Lorenzo da Ponte, Louis Gallet, Ludwig van Beethoven, Luigi Illica, Maria Ewing, Maureen Forrester, Messiah, Nello Santi, Pierre Corneille, Pierre de Beaumarchais, R. Murray Schafer, RA (Schafer), Rachel Yakar, Ralf Gothoni, Richard Wagner, Spiros Argiris, Stabat Mater (Rossini), Stephen Simon, Sylvia Sass, Temistocle Solera, Thomas Morell, Thomas Randle, Tosca, Victorien Sardou, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yrjö Kilpinencountermelody

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If you are a like-minded (i.e., a left-minded) person, then you, too, must be rejoicing in the overwhelmingly good news coming from my home country, the US, this week. (And if you’re not, maybe you’re in the wrong place?) So much unexpected joy and hope that I have been breaking into spontaneous tears ever since I became aware of the election result. The thing is, that we are once again on the road this week (in Korea, in fact!) so I had to “pre-load” this week’s setlist. Since I wasn’t sure if we would be rejoicing or despondent, I had a challenging time choosing my setlist. It’s framed as yet another of my “Rescue Mission” series, in which I present singers who have either recently or in the more remote past, already been prominently featured on the podcast. So there is an overall sense of revisiting old friends. Those heard today include such recent subjects as Judith Blegen, whose passing was commemorated just last week, Georges Thill, José van Dam, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Jill Gomez, Maureen Forrester, Eleanor Steber, and Hanne-Lore Kuhse (who was also just featured in a bonus episode for my Patreon supporters this past week). Also heard are some perennial Countermelody favorites who have been absent in recent months, including Grace Bumbry, Jorma Hynninen, George Shirley, Carol Neblett, Maria Ewing, Edda Moser, Rachel Yakar, Sylvia Sass, Alexander Kipnis, Florence Quivar, and Gilda Cruz-Romo. There are sacred arias by Schubert, Handel, and Rossini, barnstorming operatic arias by Massenet, Verdi, Granados, and Berlioz, Lieder by Mahler, Schubert, and Kilpinen, and duets from Tosca, Fliegende Holländer, Nozze di Figaro, and Beethoven’s Leonore, his first version of Fidelio. Meanwhile, the countdown continues to Episode 500 of the podcast, which is planned as a special treat for all listeners, old and new.

Countermelody is the podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel’s lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and author yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody’s core is the celebration of great singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. By clicking on the following link (https://linktr.ee/CountermelodyPodcast) you can find the dedicated Countermelody website which contains additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. The link will also take you to Countermelody’s Patreon page, where you can pledge your monthly or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 493. Hanne-Lore Kuhse and Kurt Masur: Deutsche Einheit Edition

October 3, 2026Bel canto, Ein Opernabend mit..., Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Holiday Music, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Richard Wagner, Twentieth Century Opera, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlfred Brüggemann, Andrea Maffei, Àngel Guimerà, Camille du Locle, Carlo Gozzi, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Der fliegende Holländer, Der Friedensengel, Don Carlos, Don Giovanni, Eugen d’Albert, Euripides, Francesco Maria Piave, Friedrich Schiller, Georg Göhler, George Frideric Handel, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Verdi, Hanne-Lore Kuhse, Heinz Fricke, Heinz Rögner, Heinz Rückert, Hermann Levi, Horst-Tanu Margraf, Iphigenia auf Tauris, Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, Johann Daniel Sander, Joseph Méry, Joseph Sonnleithner, Karl Egon Glückselig, Kurt Masur, Lohengrin, Lorenzo da Ponte, Ludwig van Beethoven, Macbeth, Max Kalbeck, Nicolas-François Guillard, Paul Schmitz, Radamisto, Renato Simoni, Richard Wagner, Rudolf Lothar, Siegfried Wagner, Tannhäuser, Theo Adam, Tidelio, Tiefland, Tristan und Isolde, Turandot, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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Today, October 3, is probably the most significant of all German holidays, the Tage der Deutschen Einheit, the day on which we celebrate “Die Wende,” German reunification. Though the country in some ways is more divided than it has ever been (shades of my own home country!), we somehow must continue to hold on to hope and love as the forces that drive us on. It just so happens that the episode I was planning for today fits in quite nicely with today’s theme of German reunification, as it presents two significant East German musicians, the jugendlich dramatisch soprano Hanne-Lore Kuhse, and the conductor Kurt Masur. The latter figure, in fact, played a significant part in Germany’s coming back together. The two of them were collaborators from the beginning of their respective careers, as they both performed at the Mecklenburgisches Staatsoper in Schwerin in the 1950s. The trajectory of Masur’s later career is well known; after Schwerin, Kuhse herself was a leading soprano first in Leipzig and then at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, finding her greatest personal success during a surprising yet brief sojourn to the United States in 1966, where she performed in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles in particular, just missing out (thanks to the machinery of the East German bureaucracy) on a Metropolitan Opera debut as Isolde, probably her greatest role. Today’s episode presents, nearly in its entirety, a 1968 release for the East German Eterna label which brought Kuhse and Masur back together. Another in the label’s Ein Opernabend mit… series, this installment features Kuhse and Masur collaborating on arias from Don Giovanni, Fidelio, Macbeth, and several Wagner operas, including Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, and Tristan. I supplement these with additional recordings of Kuhse, both live and studio, in Turandot, Iphigenia auf Tauris, Don Carlos, Radamisto of Handel, Tiefland by Eugen d’Albert, and Der Friedensengel of Siegfried Wagner. Still remembered by aficionados of great singing, Kuhse is revealed once again (or for the first time) as one of the most important German sopranos of the mid-twentieth century.

Episode 484. Bubbles on the Nile, Handel Edition

August 1, 2026African American Singers, Bel canto, Black History Month, Black History Month 2026, Claudia Muzio, Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Ileana Cotrubas, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, NYCO Divas, Queer Pride, Renata Scotto, Singers of ColorAaron Hill, Adrian Boult, Alcina, Alma Gluck, Amadigi, Antoine Houdar de la Motte, Antonio Fanzaglia, Antonio Salvi, Ariodante, Arnold Gamson, Atalanta, Beverly Sills, Boris Christoff, Christa Ludwig, Christiane Eda-Pierre, Claudia Muzio, Elisabeth Rethberg, Elisario Valeriana, Florence Quartararo, Frieder Weissmann, Fritz Lehan, Gabriele Ferro, George Frideric Handel, Giacomo Francesco Bussani, Giacomo Rossi, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Giulio Cesare, Grace Bumbry, Hanne-Lore Kuhse, Hans-Ludwig Hauck, Heinz Rückert, Helmut Hucke, Herbert Albert, Hercules, Horst-Tanu Margraf, Ileana Cotrubas, Jean Morel, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Jephtha, Johannes Somary, Judas Maccabaeus, Julius Rudel, Leontyne Price, Lotte Lehmann, Ludovico Ariosti, Ludovico Arosti, Martina Arroyo, Maurice Abravanel, Montserrat Caballé, Nicola Rescigno, Onelia Fineschi, Ovid, Radamisto, Raymond Leppard, Renata Scotto, Renata Tebaldi, Reri Grist, Riccardo Broschi, Rinaldo, Robert Shaw, Rudolf Seith, Ryan Edwards, Semele, Serse, Silvio Stampiglia, Sosarme, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Thomas Broughton, Thomas Morell, Torquato Tasso, Victoria de los Angeles, Virginia Zeani, Walter B. Rogers, William Congrevecountermelody

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Today’s episode is the second of my so-called “Bubbles on the Nile” series, performances by Beverly Sills (and a host of other divas) in unexpected roles. While the first episode drew on the contents of a 1985 release on the Legendary Recordings label with the same title, today’s episode focuses exclusively on the music of George Frideric Handel with an entirely Gundlach-generated setlist. Sills is featured not as Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, the role that made her a star, but in two other Handel roles which she only rarely performed: Ginevra in Ariodante, and the title role in Semele. There follow nearly two dozen additional singers singing unexpected Handel roles, beginning with Alma Gluck all the way back in 1916. Other singers include Claudia Muzio, Elisabeth Rethberg, Lotte Lehmann, Florence Quartararo, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Hanne-Lore Kuhse, Christa Ludwig, Ileana Cotrubaș, Christiane Eda-Pierre, Shirley Verrett, Martina Arroyo, Grace Bumbry, Victoria de los Ángeles, and Reri Grist. There is a special section featuring six unexpected performers of the role of Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare: Renata Tebaldi, Leontyne Price, Montserrat Caballé, Renata Scotto, Onelia Fineschi, and Virginia Zeani. Other Handel works represented include Rinaldo, Hercules, Alcina, Atalanta, Amadigi, Judas Maccabaeus, and Radamisto. Hearing these singers take a determinedly “old school” approach to Handel’s music is fascinating, diverting, challenging, sometimes amusing, and always revelatory. And overseeing it all is our beloved Bubbles!