Tag Archives: Hendrik Andriessen

Episode 349. Lenten Melody

April 10, 2025Art Song, Canadian Singers, Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Holiday Music, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Richard Wagner, Singers in Old Age, Voiceless WondersAlbert de Klerk, Alfred Zighera, Alfreda Hodgson, Ambrose Gauntlett, Antonín Dvořák, Benjamin Britten, Camille Maurane, Cesar Franck, Charles Gounod, Daniel Pinkham, Das Marienleben, Elly Ameling, Erich Itor Kahn, Felix Mendelssohn, François Couperin, Françoise Pollet, Gundula Janowitz, Hans Knappertsbusch, Heinz Hoppe, Hendrik Andriessen, Henri Büsser, Henri Ghéon: Miroir de Peine, Henry Purcell, Hugues Cuenod, Ilse Wolf, Jacques Mercier, Jean Luce, Jennie Tourel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes-Passion, John Donne, John Shirley-Quirk, Jon Vickers, Joseph Haydn, Kurt Masur, Laszlo Heltay, Lotte Lehmann, Marcel Journet, Marie-Claire Alain, Martin Isepp, Michael Tippett, Pablo Casals, Parsifal, Paul Hindemith, Paulus (Mendelssohn), Pelham Humfrey, Peter Pears, Picander, Rafael Kubelik, Rainer Maria Rilke, Richard Verreau, Richard Wagner, Sena Jurinac, Stabat Mater, Walter Bergmann, William Fullercountermelody

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I’ve already done a Lententide episode devoted to contraltos singing the music of Bach, but it seemed to me that in the upheaval of today’s vengeful and war-hungry world, we could use another contemplative episode to provide us with meditative (and even tuneful!) music to calm our spirits. The tunefulness comes especially from recordings of favorite religious music by Gounod, Franck, and other 19th-century French composers sung by Camille Maurane, Marcel Journet, Richard Verreau, and Françoise Pollet. Also included are a live excerpt from Parsifal with Jon Vickers and Hans Knappertsbusch; the miraculous yet voiceless Hugues Cuénod performing an excerpt from the first of Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbres; the unsung German-British soprano Ilse Wolf in a live performance of the Bach Johannes-Passion conducted by Pablo Casals; Gundula Janowitz in a searing but brief aria from Mendelssohn’s Paulus; excerpts from settings of the Stabat Maters of Haydn and Dvorák, sung by Alfreda Hodgson, Sena Jurinac, and Heinz Hoppe; the original version of Hendrik Andriessen’s exquisite Miroir de Peine cycle for voice and organ featuring our beloved Elly Ameling; and Jennie Tourel in an excerpt from her ultra-rare recording of Hindemith’s Das Marienleben preceded by Lotte Lehmanns’s recitation of the same Rilke poem. The episode begins and ends with realizations by Benjamin Britten and Michael Tippett of Baroque masters Henry Purcell and Pelham Humfrey sung, respectively, by Peter Pears and John Shirley-Quirk.

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 340. Roberta Alexander: Dutch Treat

March 10, 2025African American Singers, Art Song, Black History Month 2025, Full-Figured Baroque, Happy Birthday, Holiday Music, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAlphons Diepenbrock, Bernard Haitink, Claron McFadden, Clemens Brentano, David Porcelijn, Ed Spanjaard, Ezra Pound, Hendrik Andriessen, Henri Ghéon, Jac van Steen, Jed Wentz, Jules Laforgue, Julius Röntgen, Lodwijk van Deyssel, Miroir de peine, Nico van der Meel, Paul Verlaine, Robert Heppener, Roberta Alexander, Rudolf Jansen, Thomas à Kempis, Willem de Fesch, Willem Frederik Boncountermelody

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Nothing brings me greater joy than when a deep exploration into the artistry of a favorite singer yields even more delights than I could have possibly imagined. And when I have a personal friendship with that singer, my cup truly runneth over. A week ago the music world once again celebrated the birthday of the treasurable soprano Roberta Alexander. Today, in a belated birthday tribute, I offer recordings of Roberta singing the music of composers of The Netherlands, where she has made her adoptive home since the mid-1970s. As befits Roberta Alexander’s eclecticism, the range of musical styles is wide, ranging from the baroque oratorio Joseph, by Willem de Fesch, to the romanticism of early 20th-century composers Hendrik Andriessen, Alphons Diepenbrock, and Julius Röntgen, to the more astringent (yet still lush and colorful) idiom of Robert Heppener and Willem Frederik Bon. Prepare yourself to be swept away by these magnificent works in brilliant performances recorded between 1979 and 2000 in which Roberta Alexander is joined by fellow singers Claron McFadden and Nico van der Meel, and accompanied by Bernard Haitink, Rudolf Jansen, David Porcelijn, Ed Spanjaard, and Jed Wentz. If you are thinking of passing this episode by because of the obscure repertoire, I encourage you to take a chance, not only because these recordings present Alexander in all her glory, but because you will get to hear fascinating music by composers you might not have heard before, ranging from a dramatic Baroque seduction scene between Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, to an erotically-charged setting of Verlaine, to exquisite settings of meditative texts for the Lenten season.

Episode 191. Music for Holy Week

April 6, 2023African American Singers, Art Song, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, Holiday Music, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Muriel Smith, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Voiceless WondersAlfred Zighera, Benjamin Luxon, Bernd Weikl, Betty Allen, Briana Hunter, Carlos Mena, Cesar Franck, Daniel Pinkham, Das Marienleben (Hindemith), David Porcelijn, David Rendall, David Shallon, David Willison, Dialogues des Carmélites, Diana Montague, Edith Mathis, Eduard Mörike, Ein deutsches Requiem, Elijah (Mendelssohn), Erich Itor Kahn, Eugene Holmes, Felix Mendelssohn, Florence Quivar, Francis Poulenc, François Couperin (le Grand), Frank Martin, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Schlegel, Georges Bernanos, Gerald Finzi, Gerald Moore, Gerd Albrecht, Gerd Hirtz, Gertrud von le Fort, Gioacchino Rossini, Giovanni Felice Sances, Hans Hotter, Harry T. Burleigh, Hendrik Andriessen, Henri Ghéon, Holy Week, Hugo Wolf, Hugues Cuenod, Huw Montague Rendall, James Bowman, Jean Fournet, Jennie Tourel, Johannes Brahms, Joséphine Colomb, Julia Perry, Leçons de Ténèbres, Leon Botstein, Lotte Lehmann, Maria Triptychon (Martin), Max Brod, Michel Corboz, Miroir de Peine (Andriessen), Mitsuko Shirai, Muriel Smith, Nino Sanzogno, Owain Arwel Hughes, Paul Dessau, Philippe Pierlot, Rainer Maria Rilke, Robert Brink, Robert Shaw, Robert Spencer, Roberta Alexander, Scipio Colombo, Sergiu Celibidache, Sheila Armstrong, Spirituals, Stabat Mater, Virgil Thomson, Virginia Zeani, Werner Krenn, William Shakespeare, William Waterhouse, Wolfgang Schneiderhancountermelody

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Welcome to all listeners both old and new to the podcast! This week I am focusing on music related to the Christian observation of Holy Week: oratorios, motets, cantatas, songs and song cycles, even operas from Renaissance to contemporary, performed by a wide range of singers. Alongside podcast favorites Jennie Tourel, Roberta Alexander, Eugene Holmes, Hugues Cuénod, Mitsuko Shirai, Muriel Smith, and others, I also feature performances by recently departed vocal giants Virginia Zeani and James Bowman (both of whom will be foregrounded in next week’s episode), as well as the sublime British mezzo-soprano Diana Montague, who celebrates her birthday this week. We also hear her husband, the magnificent tenor David Rendall, as well as their extraordinarily gifted son, baritone Huw Montague Rendall, whom I was privileged to meet in Berlin this past week. We also hear a variety of settings of the 13th century Stabat Mater text from Giovanni Felice Sances in the 17th century to the more thorny twentieth-century idiom of the Swiss Frank Martin and the African American Julia Perry. Contemplative art songs by Schubert, Wolf, Hindemith, Finzi, and Andriessen round 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 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.