Tag Archives: Hugh Martin

Episode 179. The Pop Stylings of Maria Ewing

January 13, 2023African American Singers, Black History Month, Crossover, In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAngela Morley, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Barry Forgie, Billy Rose, Billy Strayhorn, Bob Merrill, Cole Porter, Cy Coleman, David Shire, Don Raye, Dorothy Fields, Edward Eliscu, George Gershwin, Gordon Rose, Harold Arlen, Harry South, Herman Hupfeld, Hugh Martin, Hughie Price, Iain Sutherland, Ira Gershwin, Jerome Moross, Jimmy Van Heusen, John LaTouche, John Wilson, Johnny Burker, Jule Styne, Ken Woodman, Kurt Weill, Kymaera, Maria Ewing, Maxwell Anderson, Neil Richardson, Norman Gimbel, Oscar Hammerstein II, Pete Moore, Ralph Blane, Richard Maltby, Richard Rodgers, Richard Rodney Bennett, Shane Hill, Simon James, Stephen Robinson, Ted Koehler, Vincent Youmanscountermelody

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A year ago, as I was preparing my memorial Countermelody episode dedicated to Maria Ewing I was struck anew at just how naturally she had mastered the often messy “crossover” genre. Perhaps that’s because she never “crossed over” at all: this material formed part of her essence. I thought it would be a lovely thing to give a more complete picture of her work as a pop singer, using three primary sources: first, her 1990 studio pop album entitled “From this Moment On,” featuring arrangements by Richard Rodney Bennett; second, a rare release entitled “Simply Maria,” which comprises a live concert she gave at the Barbican Centre in London in 10 May 1997; and third, live and studio recordings that she made in in the early 2000s with the jazz combo Kymaera, led by guitarist Simon James. The range of material is dizzying, from Broadway classics by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Jule Styne, Harold Arlen, Cy Coleman, Kurt Weill, and George and Ira Gershwin to jazz stylings by Tom Jobim, eden ahbez, and Billy Strayhorn, with more than a few surprises along the way, and her mastery of it all is exceptional, with all of the intense commitment she showed in her operatic portrayals (and none of the condescension or preciousness associated with certain other crossover artists). I’m so thrilled to share this less well-known side of one of the great operatic singing actors of our time.

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 138. Cabaret Risqué: Broadway Edition

April 1, 2022African American Singers, Broadway, Comic Relief, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAlec Wilder, Alyn Ainsworth, Ann Miller, Arnold Weinstein, Arthur Schwartz, Bertolt Brecht, Bessie Smith, Bruce Rameker, Burt Bacharach, Buster Davis, Carolyn Leigh, Charlie Meredith, Charlotte Rae, Chita Rivera, Christopher Denny, Cole Porter, Dick Shreve, Durwood Douché, Eddie Cantor, Elisabeth Welch, Ellen Greene, Francesca Blumenthal, Fred Barton, Gayla Morgan, Gertrude Lawrence, Gertrude Niesen, Glenn Osser, Howard Dietz, Hugh Martin, Irving Berlin, Jimmy Carroll, Joan Morris, Joe Harnell, John Waters, John Willett, Jonathan Tunick, Judy Holliday, Julie Wilson, Kurt Weill, Lawrence Rush, Lea DeLaria, Lorenz Hart, Mabel Mercer, Marlene Dietrich, Martha Wright, Mary Martin, Mink Stole, Morty Palitz, Nina Hagen, Patricia Prunty, Paul Gemignani, Pearl Bailey, Philip Springer, Porter Grainger, Ralph Blane, Ralph Manhein, Raul Julia, Richard Pearson Thomas, Richard Rodgers, Ronny Whyte, Sheldon Harnick, Skip Redwine, Sophie Tucker, Stanley Silverman, Stephen Sondheim, Vivienne Segal, Will Irwin, William Bolcom, William Engvick, William Roycountermelody

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At Countermelody, this April Fool’s Day begins with a dirty musical joke, and a great one! The episode continues with nearly a century’s worth of performances of risqué songs, most but not all of them from musicals. Among the composers and lyricists, the great Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Brecht and Weill, Comden and Green, Carolyn Leigh, Alec Wilder, Stephen Sondheim, Bolcom and Weinstein, Fred Barton, the late Francesca Blumenthal, my friends Richard Pearson Thomas and Lawrence Rush, and the mysterious Durwood Douché. Among the performers, who really let their raunchy side out, Pearl Bailey, Eddie Cantor, Judy Holliday, Mabel Mercer, Gertrude Lawrence, Ann Miller, Vivienne Segal, Marlene Dietrich, Elisabeth Welch, Martha Wright, Raul Julia, Gertrude Niesen, Chita Rivera, Nina Hagen, Mary Martin, Julie Wilson, and Lea DeLaria, among many others. Fasten your seat belts: this is a long episode, but a beautifully down and dirty one!

Episode 45. Muriel Smith (Crossover Classics I)

July 26, 2020African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, BHM2023WK4, Black History Month, Crossover, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Muriel Smith, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, SmithBHMWK4Angela Morley, April Olrich, Auyar Hosseini, Body and Soul, Carmen Jones, Charles Zwar, Franz Waxman, Georges Auric, Georges Bizet, Hoagy Carmichael, Hugh Martin, Hugo Wolf, Johannes Brahms, Julian Bream, Kenneth Leslie-Smith, Luther Saxon, Marc Blitzstein, Mörike-Lieder, Moulin Rouge, Muriel Smith, Ned Washington, Nimmersatte Liebe, Norman Gimbel, Oscar Hammerstein II, Ralph Blane, Reginald Burston, Richard Rodgers, Robert MacGimsey, Rodgers & Hammerstein South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein The King and I, South Pacific, Sweet Little Jesus Boy, The King and I, The Nearness of You, Wallace Stott, Wally Stottcountermelody

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For the first of my Black History Month episodes back in February, I did a program featuring the extraordinary artist Muriel Smith, who in 1943, while still a student at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, created the title role in Oscar Hammerstein II’s Carmen Jones, which used George Bizet’s opera as the springboard for a hybrid musical featuring an all-Black cast. After several other Broadway appearances (including in a revival of Marc Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock, Muriel Smith moved to London, where she was featured in the “exotic” roles in the London premieres Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific and The King and I. For several years she was the toast of London, appearing on records, on radio, on television, and in concert, as well as singing Bizet’s gypsy in performances of Carmen at Covent Garden in 1957. Most of the currently extant examples of Smith’s singing are of popular music, which she performed with her unique blend of bel canto precision and pinpoint interpretive accuracy. I have recently gotten my hands on numerous rare 78s of Smith’s mid-1950’s pop records, as well as her 1953 EP, I’m in the Mood for Love, all of which are featured on this episode. I also share examples of her famous turns in musicals, capped with a rare recording of her singing Hugo Wolf’s “Nimmersatte Liebe.” Two excerpts from her 1955 Songs of Christmas 45 render this episode a veritable Christmas in July celebration! Musical guest stars include, among others, Marc Blitzstein, Georges Auric, Harvey Fuqua, Auyar Hosseini, Franz Waxman, Luther Saxon, Martin and Blane, Julian Bream, and the extraordinary Angela Morley.

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 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.

Episode 14. Christmas Potpourri II: Hard/Try

December 21, 2019African American Singers, Broadway, Full-Figured Baroque, Holiday Music, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Pop Icons, Singers of ColorAdeste fideles, Adolphe Adam, After the Holidays, Alice Parker, August von Haxthausen, Augusta Holmès, Brian Sullivan, Cantique de Noël, Cesar Franck, Christmas for the Brokenhearted, Christmas Hymns and Carols Volume 2, Daniel Gundlach, David Shire, Dietrich Bocholtz-Asseburg, Edmund Sears, Eduard Ebel, Eduard Mörike, Eileen Farrell, Farrold Stephens, Firestone Christmas Albums, Fritz Wunderlich, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Henri Contet, Hermann Prey, Hugh Martin, Hugo Wolf, It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, It Must Have Been Love, James Melton, Johannes David Falk, John McCormack, John Meyer, Joni Mitchell, Judy Garland, Le Noel de la Rue, Leise rieselt der Schnee, Leonard De Paur, Little Boy How Old Are You, Lotte Lehmann, Marc Heyral, Maria durch ein Dornwald ging, Mariä Wiegenlied, Marie Frederiksson, Mary Had a Baby, Max Reger, Meet Me in St. Louis, Mel Tormé, Minuit Chrétiens, Noël, Norman Shetler, O Come All Ye Faithful, O du fröhliche, O helga natt, O sanctissima, Panis angelicus, Per Gessle, Peter Schreier, Ralph Blane, René Kollo, Richard Maltby Jr., Richard Storrs Willis, Rita Gardner, River, Robert MacGimsey, Robert Shaw, Robert Shaw Chorale, Robert Wells, Roland Hayes, Roxette, Rudolf Schock, Schlafendes Jesuskind, Schlichte Weisen, Starting Here Starting Now, Still still still, Sweet Little Jesus Boy, tenor, The Christmas Song, The De Paur Chorus, The Leonard De Paur Chorus, Trois anges sont venus du ciel, Vinzenz Maria Süßcountermelody

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Another week of Christmas music! The first part of the episode is a continuation of last week’s All-Tenor Extravaganza. We hear from Farrold Stephens, Luther Saxon, Roland Hayes, James Melton, Brian Sullivan, Richard Crooks, Raoul Jobin, Jussi Björling, Richard Verreau, Fritz Wunderlich (with an assist from Hermann Prey), Rudolf Schock, René Kollo, John McCormack, Peter Schreier, and Mel Tormé (with an assist from Judy herself!) And for those who have ambivalent feelings about this holiday, the second half of the program foregrounds six of my most favoritest Depressing Christmas Pop Songs, sung by Eileen Farrell, Rita Gardner, Joni Mitchell, Edith Piaf, Judy Garland and (in memory of the recently deceased Marie Fredriksson), Roxette. A line from Judy’s song “After the Holidays” (by John Meyer) provides the inspiration to the episode title: “I know it’s hard, but try.”

Countermelody is a new 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 also visit the Countermelody website for updates, additional content, and to pledge your support. www.countermelodypodcast.com