Tag Archives: Il franco cacciatore

Episode 444. Renata Scotto: Casta Diva

Bel canto, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Renata Scotto, Verismo, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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Today’s episode serves numerous purposes: first, as a belated tribute to the great Renata Scotto and in particular her controversial assumption of the title role Vincenzo Bellini’s bel canto masterpiece, Norma. Second, as a memento of International Womens’ Day and Women’s History Month. The remainder of the month will feature various favorite divas in belated Countermelody tributes. In all honesty, this episode also is posted today because I have been quite ill and exhausted upon returning home to Berlin and have not had the energy to post a brand new episode. An earlier version of this episode first saw the light of day in the summer of 2020 in the first season of the podcast. Scotto is heard in some of her earliest recordings, including her first studio recording in 1954 and a live performance from Trieste of Weber’s Il franco cacciatore [AKA Der Freischütz]. Early bel canto triumphs as Adina in Elisir and Amina in Sonnambula serve as a foretaste of possibly her greatest (and certainly her most ambitious and audacious) bel canto heroine, Norma, in which she is heard in early live performances between 1963 and 1978. Fellow singers heard in this episode include Alfredo Kraus, Gianfranco Cecchele, Biancamaria Casoni, Ermanno Mauro and Tatiana Troyanos. Conductors include Giuseppe Patanè, Nicola Rescigno, Nello Santi, Fulvio Vernizzi, and Riccardo Muti.

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 293. The Mysterious Mara Coleva

Behind the Iron Curtain, Forgotten Divas, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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The Bulgarian soprano Mara Coleva (12 March 1922 – 22 October 2014) was a vital and versatile singer, the majority of whose career took place in Italy in the 1950s through the very early sixties. Her most prominent and readily-accessible recordings are all for the RAI (Radio-Televisione Italiana), including the role of Silvana in a 1955 recording from Milano and two Martini & Rossi-sponsored RAI concerts, one in Milano in 1957, and the other in Roma in 1961. These recordings reveal an artist with a well-schooled voice with a powerful dramatic sense, but one whose life remains to a great extent shrouded in mystery. It is an enormous thrill and privilege to present this great (if virtually unknown) artist in repertoire ranging from Rossini, Catalani, Cilea, Verdi, and twentieth-century Italian composers Ottorino Respighi and Lodovico Rocca. The episode ends with Coleva in a surprising and superbly-sung rendition of Agata’s big scena from Il franco cacciatore (better known as Weber’s Der Freischütz!)

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.