Tag Archives: Helmut Hucke

Episode 445. Simply Radiant: Edith Mathis In Memoriam

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

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

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

Episode 374. Maureen Lehane Sings Bach

July 7, 2025Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Contraltos, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle DropBarry McDaniel, Eigel Kruttke, Gerhard Wilhelm, Gisbert Schneider, Günther Höller, Helmut Hucke, Helmut Kahlhöfer, Hermann Schroeder, Johann Sebastian Bach, Kurt Thomas, Maureen Lehane, Rudolf Pohl, Wilhelm Ehmancountermelody

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Today’s episode offers music of consolation, divinely sung. On a Sunday morning back in December, freshly arrived back in New York from a challenging trip to my home state of Wisconsin, I sat down to a cup of coffee and began playing a setlist that I had created in the aftermath of my “Great Contraltos Sing Bach” episode a few weeks before. This setlist was comprised of arias from Bach cantatas sung by the British contralto Maureen Lehane (18 September 1932 – 27 December 2010) which I had discovered on YouTube as part of a huge cache of Bach cantata recordings from German radio, many of which featured Lehane as the alto soloist. I was thrilled to find such a treasure trove, since during the preparation of that episode, Lehane had stood out for her impeccable diction and fluid vocal technique, which served her equally well in recitative, cantilena, and coloratura. As I listened to that setlist and contemplated the texts, I realized that these recordings needed to be shared. I have chosen fourteen of the very finest of those recordings and am presenting them today to all who are seeking to make some kind of sense of the world in its current chaos. May the voice of Maureen Lehane singing the music of Bach provide you with a momentary oasis of order and beauty. A biographical sketch of Lehane rounds out the episode.

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

Episode 338. Ameling and Friends Sing Bach

March 3, 2025Comic Relief, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Baritones, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Holiday Music, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle DropAugust Wenzinger, Birgit Finnilä, Charles de Wolff, Coffee Cantata, Elisabeth Cooymans, Elly Ameling, Ernest Ansermet, Everhard Spelberg, Franzjosef Maier, Fritz Wunderlich, Gijs Reijns, Günter Höller, Hanneke van Bork, Hannelore Müller, Hans Sotin, Hans Thamm, Hans-Martin Linde, Hein Jordans, Helen Watts, Helmut Hucke, Helmut Winschermann, Hermann Schroeder, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Koch, Karl Münchinger, Koos Verheil, Kurt Thomas, Marga Höffgen, Mass in b minor, Matthäus-Passion, Neil Black, Norma Procter, Peter Pears, Raymond Leppard, Reinhold Johannes Buhl, Samuel Ramey, Siegmund Nimsgern, Tom Krause, Weihnachts-Oratorium, Werner Krenn, Wolfgang Gönnenwein, Yvonne Mintoncountermelody

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As a belated 92nd birthday tribute to our beloved Elly Ameling, I offer another episode of the Elly and Johann Show which features her in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. If you twisted my arm, I might opine that she is simply the ideal Bach soprano, and these recordings, made between 1961 and 1981, stem from her absolute prime. In this episode, the majority of the works featured (from various cantatas, oratorios, masses, and passions), are duets, with a few trios and even a quartet thrown in for good measure. Siegmund Nimsgern, Werner Krenn, Hans Sotin, Birgit Finnilä, Yvonne Minton, Helen Watts, Elisabeth Cooymans, Peter Pears, Samuel Ramey, Norma Procter, Tom Krause, Gerald English, Marga Höffgen, and Fritz Wunderlich lend their voices in harmony with our Elly. The featured recordings teeter between early period performance efforts and my preferred “full-figured Bach” performance practice. Without exception however, the style is never heavy, never thuddy, but rather gracious, flowing, and mellifluous. The episode is capped with a stunning 1966 live performance of the soprano aria from the Matthew-Passion in which Ameling, just for a moment, restores my faith in humanity.

Episode 291. A Bevy of Bachian Contraltos

September 22, 2024African American Singers, Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Contraltos, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle DropAafje Heynis, Antonio Janigro, Benjamin Britten, Bernard Greenhouse, Bernardette Greevy, Brigitte Fassbaender, Carol Smith, Christa Ludwig, Claudia Hellmann, Diethard Hellmann, Elly Ameling, Erich Itor Kahn, Franz Holetschek, Fritz Werner, Germaine Cernay, Hans Heintze, Hans Thamm, Helen Watts, Helmut Hucke, Helmuth Kahlhöfer, Helmuth Rilling, Hermann Sauter, Hilde Rössel-Majdan, Janet Baker, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Newmark, John O’Sullivan, Karl Richter, Kathleen Ferrier, Kurt Thomas, Madeleine Berkeley, Marga Höffgen, Margarethe Bence, Marian Anderson, Martha Angelici, Maureen Forrester, Maureen Lehane, Maurice Wilk, Millicent Silver, Noélie Pierront, Norma Procter, Richard Harand, Robert Bloomcountermelody

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This week I pull out all the Baroque stops (appropriately enough), to present you with an episode chock full of contraltos, all singing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. I have chosen 28 different contraltos, active between the late 1930s and the early 2000s, who excelled in the singing and interpretation of this most spiritual, and most genius, of composers. I am dividing this episode into two separate segments, the first of which I present here, a group of singers which includes such legendary historical figures as Kathleen Ferrier and Marian Anderson, and Christa Ludwig, as well as such exceptional voices from the Americas as Maureen Forrester and Carol Smith; and, from the continent, Aafje Heynis, Germaine Cernay, Brigitte Fassbaender, Hilde Rössel-Majdan, Claudia Hellmann, Marga Höffgen, and Margarethe Bence. These women are joined by a further a group of British contraltos and mezzo-sopranos, each with distinctive and exceptional approaches to the music of Bach, including Helen Watts, Norma Procter, Maureen Lehane (for me, the big discovery of the week), and of course Janet Baker, beloved to all of us. I also pay tribute to a select group of exceptional Kapellmeister including Karl Richter, Helmuth Kahlhöfer, Fritz Werner, Kurt Thomas, and Hans Thamm, who thrived in recordings and live performances from the 1950s and beyond. If certain favorite names of yours are missing from this week’s setlist, no worries: they may well appear on next week’s episode, which continues to combine Bachian expressive profundity with plummy contralto depths.