Tag Archives: Henri Cazalis

Episode 394. Valletti Revisited (French Edition)

September 15, 2025Art Song, Bel canto, French Opera, Great Tenors, In Memoriam, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAbbé Prevost, Alphonse Daudet, André Theuriet, Armand Silvestre, Bruno Rigacci, Cesare Valletti, Charles Baudelaire, Claude Debussy, Édouard Blau, Francesco Cilea, Gabriel Faure, Georges Hartmann, Gioachino Rossini, Hector Berlioz, Henri Cazalis, Henri Duparc, Henri Meilhac, Jean Lahor, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Joseph Szulc, Jules Massenet, L’Arlesiana, La Betulia liberata, La Donna del Lago, Leconte de Lisle, Leo Taubman, Les nuits d’été, Manon, Mario Rossi, Paul Bourget, Paul Milliet, Paul Verlaine, Philippe Gille, Pierre Monteux, Pietro Metastasio, René Leibowitz, Reynaldo Hahn, Robert de Bonnières, Romain Bussine, Rosalind Elias, Théophile Gautier, Tullio Serafin, Victor Hugo, Victoria de los Angeles, Walter Scott, Werther, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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More than two years and nearly two hundred episodes ago, I published an episode on the great Italian tenore di grazia Cesare Valletti. Today I revisit his recorded legacy, focusing on his prowess in the French repertoire, both in opera and, rather uncharacteristically for an Italian tenor of the era, mélodie. Not only do I present the complete 1965 LP entitled Cesare Valletti Sings French Art Songs, which was his final release on the RCA Victor label, but I supplement that with two fantabulous death scenes from two of Jules Massenet’s most popular operas, Manon (a live 1954 recording pairing Valletti with Victoria de los Angeles at her most memorable), and Werther (a 1962 studio recording of excerpts from the opera featuring Rosalind Elias, the dearly beloved mezzo-soprano of blessed memory.) Valletti once again reveals himself an artist of refined taste, as well as (in the operatic excerpts) a surprisingly powerful and forthright vocal present and (in the song repertoire) an interpreter with superb French diction and exquisite insight into the half-lit atmosphere of the genre.

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 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 367. Bernac Sings Not-Poulenc (Pride 2025)

June 13, 2025UncategorizedAlphonse de Lamartine, André Jolivet, Boris Golschmann, Camille Saint-Saens, Charles Fontaine, Charles Gounod, Charles Munch, Claude Debussy, Dichterliebe, Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, Emmanuel Chabrier, Éphraïm Mikhaël, Ernest Chausson, Francis Poulenc, Franz Liszt, Georges Auric, Gerald Moore, Henri Cazalis, Histoires naturelles, Jean Doyen, Jean Lahor, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Jules Barbier, Jules Renard, Leconte de Lisle, Leïla ben Sedira, Louis Beydts, Maurice Ravel, Mélodies Passagères, Paul Bourget, Paul Morand, Paul Verlaine, Pierre Bernac, Pierre Vellones, Rainer Maria Rilke, René Chalupt, Reynaldo Hahn, Robert Casadesus, Robert Schumann Heinrich Heine, Samuel Barber, Stéphane Mallarmé, Tristan L’Hermitecountermelody

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Continuing our exploration of queer pride in classical music, I bring you the great baryton-martin Pierre Bernac (1899 – 1979), known first and foremost as a creator of some of the most exquisite mélodies of his friend and musical partner Francis Poulenc. Later Bernac became renowned as the exemplar of style and taste in the interpretation of French art song. In this episode, however, I wanted to explore his contribution as a singer of the music of composers other than Poulenc. I had already found some great orchestral song cycles by André Jolivet and Louis Beydts, as well as a sublimely anachronistic recording of a Bach cantata, but just yesterday I came upon a series of rare recordings that Bernac made in 1935 for the Ultraphone label. These include songs by Debussy and Hahn accompanied by pianists Jean Doyen and Boris Golschmann (who was the brother of the conductor Vladimir Golschmann, and whose tragic story I relate), as well as an earlier (and even more exquisite) recording of Chausson’s “Le colibri.” But perhaps the crown jewels among these early records were two duets with the exquisite French-Algerian soprano Leïla Ben Sedira which won the Grand Prix du Disque in 1936. I have folded these deeply satisfying early recordings into the setlist that I had already partially assembled for a very special episode that I hope that you will enjoy!

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 339. Todd Duncan

March 8, 2025African American Singers, Art Song, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Broadway, Crossover, Great Baritones, Interview, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Schubert, Singers of Color, Spirituals, Twentieth Century OperaAbbie Mitchell, Alan Paton, Alex North, Alexander Smallens, Alexander Steinert, Anne Brown, Artur Rodzinski, August Heinrich von Fallersleben, Camille Saint-Saens, Carroll Hollister, DuBose Heyward, Eva Jessye, Frank Black, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Schiller, George Gershwin, Hall Johnson, Harry T. Burleigh, Henri Cazalis, Hy Zaret, Ira Gershwin, Jean Lahor, Jerome Kern, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johannes Brahms, Kurt Weill, Lawrence Brown, Lost in the Stars, Ludwig van Beethoven, Maurice Levine, Maxwell Anderson, Modest Mussorgsky, Oscar Hammerstein II, Porgy and Bess, Show Boat, Spirituals, Todd Duncan, William Allencountermelody

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Today I present the male lead creator of Gershwin’s towering masterpiece, Porgy and Bess, the magnificent Todd Duncan (12 February 1903 – 28 February 1998), whose other creations included work by Kurt Weill, Cole Porter, and a pop standard that might surprise you. Duncan also made extraordinarily important contributions as a teacher, a recitalist, and as a civil rights figure. All of these aspects of his life are explored in this episode, which features recordings from all corners of his artistic and musical life, including two live broadcasts of excerpts from Porgy and a number of rare recordings of art song and a treasurable (if craggily-recorded) album of spirituals. Here was a man who pursued his career and his life with a strong sense of his own self-worth, but also kindness, integrity, and humility.

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.