Tag Archives: Jacques Ibert

Episode 490. José van Dam chante l’éternité

September 11, 2026Art Song, Crossover, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Gustav Mahler, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century OperaAlain Fondary, Alexandre Arnoux, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Arrigo Boito, Charles Gounod, Charles Trenet, Ciboulette, Cyril Diederich, Dalton Baldwin, Deux mélodies hébraïques, Don Quichotte (Massenet), Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, Francesco Maria Piave, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Rückert, Gabriel Faure, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Henri Cain, Hugo Wolf, Jacques Ibert, Jacques Le Lorrain, Jean-Claude vanden Eynden, Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, Jean-Philippe Collard, Jean-Philippe Collard-Neven, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johannes Brahms, José Van Dam, Jules Massenet, Justinus Kerner, Kent Nagano, Kerner-Lieder, Le Fou (Landowski), Léo Chauliac, Louise Bertin, Maciej Pikulski, Marcel Landowski, Maurice Ravel, Michel Plasson, Miguel Gómez-Martínez, Olivier Messiaen, Patrice de La Tour du Pin, Paul Morand, Pierre Boulez, Reynaldo Hahn, Robert de Flers, Robert Schumann, Rückert-Lieder, Saint François d’Assise, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Boccanegra, Sully Prudhomme, Teresa Berganza, Vier ernste Gesänge, Wilhelm Müller, Winterreisecountermelody

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Today we commemorate the quarter century since 9/11, an event that sent shockwaves throughout the world as it was transpiring (and who can forget where they were in those first awful hours?) And yet the aftermath has been so much worse than one could even imagine at the time, and with no end in sight (witness the right-wing populism and divisiveness which have become the order of the day). My heart and spirit cry out in pain every single day and the only consolation, the only balm, my soul receives these days is through art, and particularly for me, as for many of us, music. 2026 has also seen an inordinate number of deaths of people who made a different in the world. As I struggled to come up with a theme and a setlist for today’s episode, one figure kept reappearing at the door: Belgian bass-baritone José van Dam, who died last February at the age of 85. Though I was a lifelong admirer of the singer, and was deeply saddened by his death, I have not yet presented a suitable memorial tribute in his honor. His voice exuded a warmth and humanity that gave his performances and portrayals a particular glow. So I have chosen to present him today singing music appropriate to this solemn occasion: songs of Ravel, Schubert, Gounod, Schumann, Fauré, Brahms, Ibert, Wolf, Mahler, and Trenet; supplemented by arias and scenes by Verdi, Massenet, Landowski, and Messiaen. I’m keeping chatter to a bare minimum on this episode, letting the music, the texts, and van Dam’s voice and artistry, create a patina of consolation for all the complicated emotions raised by this day of mourning and meditation.

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 406. Dan’s Belated Birthday Gals (Soprano Edition)

October 28, 2025African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Broadway, Crossover, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop Icons, Richard Strauss, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Voiceless WondersAchim von Arnim, Alicia de Larrocha, André Emelianoff, Andrée Esposito, Annie Fullard, Arabella, Arleen Augér, Bela Jenbach, Benita Valente, Canciones amatorias, Clemens Brentano, Colette Herzog, Delia Rigal, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Don Shirley, Donald Voorhees, Edith Mathis, Elizabeth Harwood, Enrique Granados, Erik Werba, Erika Eckert, Erika Köth, Eugène Bigot, Eugène Scribe, Faye Robinson, Francis Poulenc, Frank Bridge, Frank Dempster Sherman, Franz Lehár, Franz Schulz, Genevieve Touraine, Georges Bizet, Georges Jean-Aubry, Gerald Moore, Germain Delavigne, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Gordon Gottlieb, Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, Gotthard Arnér, Gustav Mahler, Hans May, Harold Arlen, Hilde Güden, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Ignaz Michael Welleminsky, Irmgard Seefried, Jacqueline Bonneau, Jacques Février, Jacques Ibert, Jacques Mars, Jean Sibelius, Jerome Kern, Jill Gomez, Joanna Bassett, Joel Lester, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Constable, John DeMain, Johnny Mercer, Juan Emilio Martini, Judith Blegen, Judith Raskin, Jules Barbier, Jules Laforgue, Karl Böhm, Karl Engel, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Herrosee, Klaus Groth, Kurt Eichhorn, La Courte Paille, Laura Zaerr, Louise de Vilmorin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Manuel de Falla, Margarete Teschemacher, Martha Flowers, Martin Katz, Mathieu Ahlersmeyer, Matthew Arnold, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Maurice Carême, Melitta Muszely, Merry Peckham, Métamorphoses, Miriam Gideon, Nino [né Michel Jean Verber], Oscar Hammerstein II, Oscar Levertin, Paganini, Pagliacci, Patricia Spencer, Paul Knepler, Persée et Andromède, Pilar Lorengar, Prayers of Kierkegaard, Ralf Gothoni, Richard Strauss, Robert Gilbert, Robert le Diable, Robert Shaw, Robert Stolz, Ronald Roseman, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Samuel Barber, Show Boat, Søren Kierkegaard, St. Louis Woman, Taru Valjakka, Teresa Stratas, Walter Reisch, Zwei Herzen im Dreivierteltaktcountermelody

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The last of my festive potpourri episodes for this, my birthday month, this episode focuses on a favorite vocal range of this opera queen: the soprano voice, in all its variety and glory. Included are such pristine lyric voices as Erika Köth, Benita Valente (who just departed us last weekend, shortly after celebrating her 91st birthday), Judith Raskin, Judith Blegen, Mattiwilda Dobbs, and Edith Mathis, among others; medium- to heavier-weight lyric voices such as Pilar Lorengar, Delia Rigal, Teresa Stratas, Taru Valjakka, Melitta Muszely, and Margarete Teschemacher; and “ambiguous” voices as Arleen Augér, Martha Flowers, Irmgard Seefried, Andrée Esposito, Jill Gomez (pictured), Faye Robinson, Hilde Güden, and Elizabeth Harwood which could, if you’ll pardon the term, “swing both ways,” at least in terms of vocal weight! They perform a wide range of material of material including vocal chamber music by Manuel de Falla and Miriam Gideon; art song by Brahms, Bridge, Poulenc, Beethoven, Bizet, Granados, Sibelius, and Mahler; operetta and musical selections by Arlen, Lehár, Stolz, and Kern; and full-throated operatic selections by Richard Strauss, Jacques Ibert, Leoncavallo, and Meyerbeer. It’s another jam-packed episode guaranteed (in a limited sense) to bring you the full-range of listening pleasure.

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 393. George London in Song

September 13, 2025Art Song, Broadway, Canadian Singers, Crossover, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Baritones, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, SchubertAlexandre Arnoux, Andrea Falconieri, Arseny Golenishchev-Kutuzov, Beatrice Goldsmith, Eduard von Bauernfeld, Erik Werba, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Rückert, George Kleinsiger, George London, Gustav Mahler, Hans Langer, Heinrich Heine, Henri Duparc, Jacques Ibert, Johannes Brahms, John Newmark, Joseph Blatt, Kindertotenlieder, Leconte de Lisle, Leo Taubman, Martin Luther, Matthäus von Collin, Modest Mussorgsky, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Klemperer, Paul Ulanowsky, Richard Rodgers, Robert de Bonnières, Roland Shaw, Songs and Dances of Death, South Pacific, Vier ernste Gesänge, William Shakespeare, Песни и пляски смертиcountermelody

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Even before the continuing acts of gun violence in the US this week, I had chosen a theme that necessitated a rather sombre setlist: the artistry of Canadian-born singer George London in recital. Though London was one of the premier operatic bass-baritones in the 1950s, he also reserved a significant corner of his artistic endeavors for the recital stage. This episode focuses on London’s live and studio recordings of this repertoire, which, in part simply by virtue of the dark color of his voluminous voice, tended toward the serious: Schubert’s Heine settings, Brahms’s Vier ernste Gesänge, Ibert’s Don Quichotte songs, Duparc’s sepia-toned melodies, Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder, and his calling-card, Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death. Examples of London singing all of this repertoire are included, accompanied by Paul Ulanowsky, Leo Taubman, Erik Werba, and John Newmark, among others. The episode is dedicated to the memory of all innocent victims in the epidemic of gun violence in the United States.