Tag Archives: Harry Revel

Episode 130. Hutch (Black History Month 2022)

February 16, 2022African American Singers, BHM2023WK3, Black History Month, Broadway, Great Baritones, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Singers of ColorAndy Razaf, Arthur Schwartz, Bart Howard, Billy Rose, Bob Sharples, Cole Porter, Consuelo Velazquez, Dave Dreyer, Edmund Anderson, Eric Maschwitz, Fats Waller, George Gershwin, George Posford, Georges Auric, Harry Revel, Helen Morgan, Howard Dietz, Hutch, Hutch (Leslie Hutchinson), Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jack Strachey, Jackie Trent, Jerome Kern, Leslie Hutchinson, Lorenz Hart, Mack Gordon, Manning Sherwin, Richard Rodgers, Ruth Coleman, Sunny Skylar, Ted Grouya, Thomas Morris, Tony Hatchcountermelody

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Leslie Hutchinson (1900-1969), known universally as Hutch, rose from his beginnings in Grenada, to become the biggest music star in London in the 1930s. Though he is but little remembered today, he personified class and élan with his smooth, supple baritone and his relaxed yet buoyant pianistic stylings. His career spanned the years from 1923 to his death, and this episode samples recordings ranging over that entire period. His musical importance is overridden today by the many sexual exploits with both women and men that remain even today, legendary. This episode highlights not just the music of Cole Porter, Hutch’s mentor and lover, but covers the entire gamut of the Great American Songbook and beyond, including many near-definitive performances of works by Rodgers and Hart, Irving Berlin, Schwartz and Dietz, and Jerome Kern, as well as some classic British standards.

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 118. Stephen Sondheim & Joséphine Baker

December 3, 2021African American Singers, Crossover, Holiday Music, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicA Little Night Music (Sondheim), Anyone Can Whistle (Sondheim), Ary Barroso, Bronislau Kaper, Charles Trenet, Cole Porter, Edmond Mahieux, Follies (Sondheim), Gedde Watanabe, George Hearn, Gypsy (Styne and Sondheim), Harry Revel, James Dybas, Jo Bouillon, Joséphine Baker, Judy Kaye, Julie Wilson, Mack Gordon, Mako, Mark Hsu Syers, Nacio Herb Brown, Pacific Overtures (Sondheim), Paul Gemignani, Peter Kreuder, Pierre Spiers, Princesse Tam-Tam, Stephen Sondheim, Thomas Fay, Tony Yazbeck, Vernon Duke, Victoria Clark, Victoria Mallory, Vincent Scotto, Yip Harburg, Zou-Zoucountermelody

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Two titans of culture were in the news this past week for very different reasons. Just as I was publishing last week’s episode came the news that Stephen Sondheim had died at the age of 91 a few hours earlier. Today’s episode begins with a by-no-means-exhaustive tribute to the composer-lyricist, whose work completely changed the face of the so-called Broadway and who is responsible for two of my very favorite stage works of all time, Follies and Sweeney Todd. Second, the great French-American artiste Joséphine Baker was inducted this week into the Panthéon in Paris, the first American and the first person of color to be afforded this honor. I have been an undying fan of La Baker since I first encountered her during my childhood, first in the pages of Time magazine and second, nearly fifteen years later, on an astonishing PBS television special. While I touch, as one must, upon her enormous cultural importance and significance, the focus today is on her prowess as musician, singer, and showperson. I feature excerpts from her first recording session in 1926 through her final stage appearance in April 1975, just days before her death. Though these two icons shared little common ground, their individual importance simply cannot be overestimated.

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

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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.