Tag Archives: Jennie Tourel

Episode 305. Rage and Despair

November 9, 2024Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Broadway, Forgotten Divas, Great Baritones, Great Contraltos, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Queer Pride, Schubert, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlexez Zybtsev, Alfredo Catalani, Alonso de Mudarra, Arne Dorumsgaard, Banalités, Claudio Monteverdi, Dalton Baldwin, Die Zauberflöte, Edvard Grieg, Emanuel Schikaneder, Felicia Montealegre, Francis Poulenc, Franz Schubert, George Schick, Gerard Souzay, Gian Carlo Menotti, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Giovanni Francesco Busenello, Guillaume Apollinaire, Hartmut Höll, Irwin Gage, István Kertész, Jennie Tourel, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Judith Raskin, Judy Garland, Julia Ward Howe, Justinus Kerner, Kurt Weill, L’incoronazione di Poppea, La Wally, Leonard Bernstein, Lost in the Stars, Louis Aragon, Luigi Illica, Maria Callas, Martti Talvela, Maxwell Anderson, Mitsuko Shirai, Mort Lindsey, Narcisse Bonnet, Nikolaus Lenau, Nino Sanzogno, Oralia Dominguez, Pavel Lisitsian, Pilar Lorengar, Robert Schumann, Rufus Wainwright, The Consul, Thomas Schippers, Tullio Serafin, Virginia Zeani, Wilhelm Müller, Wilhelmine von Hillern, Winterreise, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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Before I traveled to my home state of Wisconsin this week, I had prepared an episode to post this weekend, but in my naïveté, I had not anticipated the catastrophe that happened to my country, and to the world, when the unthinkable occurred this past Tuesday. Since then I have barely had a moment’s rest, feeling gripped by a torrent of negative emotions, rage and despair primary among them. It became apparent to me that I had to give voice to those feelings in order to work through them, and in the process maybe even help my friends and listeners who are struggling with their own versions of this toxic emotional cocktail. So here is the episode I dearly wish I had not felt compelled to produce, one devoted to despair and to rage, as we attempt to convert them into resolve and determination to “stand our ground” and demand that our beloved country not go under, powerless though we may feel at this moment to prevent that from happening. I have chosen work by Poulenc, Mozart, Weill, Monteverdi, Menotti, Schumann, Schubert, and Bernstein, performed by such podcast favorites as Jennie Tourel, Judy Garland, Gérard Souzay, Maria Callas, Oralia Domínguez, Virginia Zeani, Judith Raskin, Pilar Lorengar, and others, to act as our music therapists as we struggle to regain our equilibrium, “Lost in the Stars” though we may feel at this moment.

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.

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.

Episode 174. Song of Songs

December 8, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Canadian Singers, In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAntoine Brumel, Benjamin Britten, Bernard Haitink, Bertus van Lier, Chanticleer, Claudio Monteverdi, Daniel Lesur, David Willcocks, Edmund Spenser, Edward Bairstow, Eleanor Steber, Elly Ameling, Emmanuel Chabrier, Eric Ericson, Ernest Ansermet, Ernest MacMillan, Francis Quarles, Gary Schneider, Giovanni Luigi da Palestrina, Herbert Elwell, Howard Mitchell, India Adams, Irene Papas, Jack Gould, Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, Jennie Tourel, Jerzy Katlewicz, John Eliot Gardiner, John LaMontaine, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Kate Bush, Krzysztof Penderecki, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Lois Marshall, Lukas Foss, Martina Arroyo, New York Polyphony, Nicholas Harsanyi, Peter Pears, Philip Langridge, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ray Martin, Stephen Cleobury, Stephen Roberts, Susan May Schneider, Suzanne Danco, Sviatoslav Richter, Vangelis, Vic Mazzy, William Waltoncountermelody

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This week is a continuation of my memorial tribute to my dear friend and colleague Susan May Schneider, who died last week after a long struggle with cancer. Susan’s husband Gary, a composer and conductor, wrote a stunning song cycle for Susan using texts from the biblical Song of Songs, and this episode is bookended with their live 2000 performance of two of those songs. I supplement this with further material which all use texts based on the Song of Songs. This includes choral works by composers from Brumel and Palestrina, Walton and Bairstow to Penderecki and Daniel-Lesur; pop songs by India Adams and Kate Bush; orchestral song cycles, cantatas, and oratorios performed by Lois Marshall, Elly Ameling, Jennie Tourel, Leontyne Price, Eleanor Steber, and Suzanne Danco; and works from such surprising compositional sources as Stockhausen and Vangelis.

Episode 140. Universal Passion

April 14, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Canadian Singers, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Baritones, Holiday Music, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Schubert, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersAdele Addison, Alexander Young, Andrzej Hiolski, Arvo Pärt, August Wenzinger, Barthold Heinrich Brockes, Benjamin Luxon, Brockes-Passion (Handel), Christus am Ölberge (Beethoven), Daniel Pinkham, Das Marienleben, David Willison, Edda Moser, Eduard Mörike, Elzbieta Szmytka, Eric Tappy, Erich Itor Kahn, Ernst Haefliger, Eugen Jochum, Eugene Ormandy, Florence Quivar, Francis Poulenc, Franco Caracciolo, François Couperin, Frank Martin, Franz Crass, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Schlegel, George Frideric Handel, Georges Pretre, Gilbert Kalish, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Golgotha (Martin), Gundula Janowitz, Hannu Holma, Hans-Joachim Rotzsch, Heinrich Schütz, Henryk Czyz, Herbert von Karajan, Hugo Wolf, Hugues Cuenod, Irmgard Seefried, Irwin Gage, Jan DeGaetani, Jennie Tourel, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Shirley-Quirk, Jorma Hynninen, Judith Raskin, Jukka Vaari, Julius Baker, Karol Szymanowski, Kristina Boerger, Krzysztof Penderecki, Leçons de Ténèbres, Lotte Lehmann, Ludwig van Beethoven, Lukas-Passion (Penderecki), Maria Stader, Maria Triptychon (Martin), Marie-Lise de Montmollin, Matthäus-Passion, Maureen Lehane, Meriel Dickinson, Muriel Smith, Passio (Pärt), Paul Hindemith, Peter Pears, Peter Schreier, Philippe Huttenlocher, Pierre Mollet, Rainer Maria Rilke, Regine Crespin, Richard Lewis, Robert Bloom, Robert Faller, Robert Shaw, Roger Norrington, Rolf Apreck, Rudolf Jürgen Bartsch, Rudolf Mauersberger, Simon Rattle, Spanisches Liederbuch (Wolf), Spirituals, St. John Passion, Stabat Mater (Pergolesi), Stabat Mater (Poulenc), Stabat Mater (Szymanowski), Tauno Satomaa, Teppo Lampela, Theo Adam, Topi Tuuli Lindeberg, Wally Stämpfli, Walter Berry, Wolfgang Schneiderhancountermelody

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For Christians, this week is probably the most central to the theology of their faith, focusing as it does on the story of the Passion of the Christ. My dear friend, the choral conductor and singer Kristina Boerger posted a fascinating meditation this week about her “complicated” relationship with this theology, and how the performance of music for Holy Week over the years has given her insight into some universal tenets about human nature and behavior. She very kindly agreed to read her essay for me to use as the basis of this week’s podcast, which features music written for, and associated with, the Passion. Composers featured include, from the Baroque era, Couperin, Schütz, Handel, and Bach (with Pergolesi right on the cusp); from the 19th century, Beethoven, Schubert, and Wolf; and from the 20th century, Hindemith, Szymanowski, Poulenc, Penderecki, Frank Martin, and Arvo Pärt. Featured singers include Régine Crespin, Irmgard Seefried, Peter Schreier, Gundula Janowitz, Richard Lewis, Florence Quivar, Andrzej Hiolski, Judith Raskin, Jorma Hynninen, Margaret Marshall, Benjamin Luxon, Muriel Smith, Walter Berry, Edda Moser, and Adele Addison, plus further encounters with several of the Swiss singers we explored last week (Hugues Cuénod, Maria Stader, Eric Tappy, Pierre Mollet, and Ernst Haefliger). Whether you are Christian, agnostic, atheist, Muslim, Jew, or fall into a different category altogether, there will be something here for you of value in this episode.

The Countermelody podcast is 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 121. Auld Acquaintance I

December 23, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Eileen Farrell, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Holiday Music, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Mirella Freni, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Renata Scotto, Richard Wagner, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoAlban Berg, Alexander Pushkin, Allen Rogers, Antoinette Vischer, Antonio Rubino, Barry McDaniel, Benjamin Britten, Bernard Kruysen, Bo Bergman, Borislav Bezala, Camilla Williams, Carlo Alberto Rossi, Cathy Berberian, César Cui, Christmas songs, Claudio Arrau, Claudio Monteverdi, David Garvey, Dusty Springfield, e.e. cummings, Eileen Farrell, Elisabeth Soderstrom, Elza van der Ven, Ernesto Lecuona, Eugene Ormandy, Gabriel Faure, Gabriele d’Annunzio, Georg Friedrich Daumer, Georg Philipp Telemann, George Shirley, Gianfranco Rivoli, Gilbert Bécaud, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gloria Davy, Heather Harper, Huguette Dreyfus, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Janet Baker, Jean Lamy, Jennie Tourel, Johann Christian Bach, John Raitt, Jonas Kulka, Jorma Hynninen, Josef Ulsamer, Julia Migenes, Karl Weigl, L’amico Fritz, Lawrence Winters, Leone Magiera, Leslie Scott, Lionel Hampton, Loonis McGlohon, Luciano Berio, Luciano Pavarotti, Manny Curtis, Margaret Marshall, Mirella Freni, Nicola Daspuro, Nicolae Herlea, Odetta, Ottorino Respighi, Pagliacci, Paolo Tosti, Peter Altenberg, Pierre Boulez, Pierre Delanoë, Pietro Mascagni, Pino Calvi, Renata Scotto, Richard Wagner, Robert McFerrin, Robert Stolz, Rosanna Carteri, Rudolf Ewerhart, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Scott Walter, Shirley Verrett, Spirituals, Stig Westerberg, Sully Prudhomme, Tannhäuser, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Ture Rangström, Walter Calé, Werner Eisbrenner, Xavier Cugat, Yi-Kwei Szecountermelody

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This special episode, the first of two year-end celebrations, presents artists who have already been featured on Countermelody in rare recordings that have recently become available to me. A few of the artists heard include George Shirley, Heather Harper, Lawrence Winters, Elisabeth Söderström, Camilla Williams, Julia Migenes, John Raitt, Gloria Davy, Rosanna Carteri, Mirella Freni, Robert McFerrin, Margaret Marshall, Yi-Kwei Sze, Eileen Farrell, Shirley Verrett, Cathy Berberian, and many, many others in recordings, most from my personal collection, which you may not have heard before. This is a gift of love and gratitude from me to my listeners and supporters, a backward glance at all of the great singers who have been heard on the podcast over the past two and a half years, a theme which will continue next week. I look forward to continuing with new topics and new singers as we move into 2022.

Episode 62. Gustav Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Music for a World in Crisis VI)

November 22, 2020Art Song, Gustav Mahler, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Lieder, Margaret Price, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle DropAafje Heynis, Achim von Arnim, Adrian Boult, Anny Felbermayer, Bernard Haitink, Bernd Weikl, Brigitte Fassbaender, Bruno Walter, Christa Ludwig, Clemens Brentano, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, George Schick, Geraint Evans, Grete Stückgold, Gustav Mahler, György Lehel, Hans Zender, Irmgard Seefried, István Gáti, Janet Baker, Jennie Tourel, John Shirley-Quirk, Judith Raskin, Kathleen Ferrier, Klaus Tennstedt, Leonard Bernstein, Lucia Popp, Maureen Forrester, Walter Berry, Wyn Morriscountermelody

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This week I turn to the music of Gustav Mahler, specifically his orchestral settings of poems from the influential collection of folk poetry, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, collected by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano and published in three separate volumes between 1805 and 1808. The themes of war, death, and humor, the latter often of the grimmest variety, pervades the texts that Mahler set. I present recordings of each of the fifteen orchestrated songs (several of which form movements of three of his symphonies) by such singers as Janet Baker, Christa Ludwig, Maureen Forrester, Lucia Popp, Brigitte Fassbaender, Irmgard Seefried, Bernd Weikl, Geraint Evans, Walter Berry, and many others, in performances conducted by Leonard Bernstein, Klaus Tennstedt, Wyn Morris, Bernard Haitink, and Adrian Boult. I also include a tribute to the Hungarian baritone István Gáti on the occasion of his 72nd birthday and a commemoration of the Dutch contralto Aafje Heynis on the fifth anniversary of her death. From chaos to transfiguration, Mahler conjures and depicts a world perhaps not far-removed from our own.

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.” Occasional guests from the “business” (singers, conductors, composers, coaches, and teachers) lend their distinctive insights. 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. Bonus episodes available only to Patreon supporters are currently available, including a new extra episode further exploring today’s topic.

Episode 60. The Bach Aria Group (Full-Figured Baroque I)

November 8, 2020African American Singers, Eileen Farrell, Full-Figured Baroque, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle DropAlexander Schneider, Antonio Janigro, Bach Aria Group, Bernard Greenhouse, Eileen Farrell, Eleanor Steber, Jennie Tourel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lois Marshall, Mack Harrell, Maureen Forrester, Maurice Wilk, Norman Farrow, Pablo Casals, Paul Ulanowsky, Richard Lewis, Robert Bloom, Samuel Baron, Thomas Paul, William H. Scheide, William Warfieldcountermelody

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Today’s episode, dedicated to historical performances of Johann Sebastian Bach, is the first in an ongoing series I have dubbed “Full-Figured Baroque.” It begins with a bang with the great Canadian soprano Lois Marshall rocketing her way through the opening salvos of “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen,” an apt way to celebrate the US election outcome after a week of even greater anxiety than usual. I describe my love for old-fashioned Bach performance, and why it still speaks to us in a genuine and elevating manner. In particular, I foreground the early years of the Bach Aria Group, founded in 1946 by the American philanthropist and collector William H. Scheide. All the singers in this episode (including Lois Marshall) performed under the aegis of this ensemble, either as members or featured guests: Eileen Farrell, Maureen Forrester, Richard Lewis, Norman Farrow, Mack Harrell, William Warfield, and Jennie Tourel. Many of the great instrumentalists associated with the group are heard in duet with these singers, including Robert Bloom, Samuel Baron, and Bernard Greenhouse. The episode ends with that most radiant of singers, Eleanor Steber, also an occasional guest of the Bach Aria Group in a fleet but full-voiced outpouring of celebratory coloratura.

YouTube Link to the documentary about the Bach Aria Group referenced in the episode:

A Time for Bach (1948)

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.” Occasional guests from the “business” (singers, conductors, composers, coaches, and teachers) lend their distinctive insights. 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. Bonus episodes available only to Patreon supporters are currently available, including a new extra episode further exploring today’s topic.

Episode 43. Gl’amour I (Bastille Day 2020)

July 12, 2020African American Singers, Operetta, Pop IconsAndrée Esposito, Bizet Carmen, Charles Gounod, Christoph Wilibald Gluck, Denise Duval, Depuis le jour, Emma Calvé, Emma Luart, Fanny Heldy, Francis Poulenc, Françoise Pollet, Géo Koger, Georges Bizet, Geraldine Farrar, Germaine Cernay, Germaine Féraldy, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Giuseppe di Stefano, Glamour, Gounod Faust, Gounod La Reine de Saba, Gounod Mireille, Grace Bumbry, Gustave Charpentier, Gustave Cloëz, Janine Micheau, Jennie Tourel, Jessye Norman, Joséphine Baker, Jules Massenet, Léo Delibes, Leo Robin, Lisette Oropesa, Mady Mesple, Mary Lewis, Massenet Hérodiade, Massenet Le Cid, Massenet Manon, Massenet Thaïs, Maurice Chevalier, Orphée et Eurydice, Oscar Straus, Pleurez mes yeux, Regine Crespin, Renée Doria, Robert le Diable, Shirley Verrett, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Vincent Scottocountermelody

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Another nation, la belle France, has a birthday right around the corner, and today I hoist the Tricolore to celebrate La Fête Nationale. I had planned this episode several weeks ago but when the worldwide #BlackLivesMatter protests began, I felt the need to respond in kind with two episodes featuring music of protest and hope. Today I present the first of two consecutive episodes on French Glamour, for after all, who does Glamour better than the French? I also consider the manner in which exoticism and imperialism make an appearance in French opera in particular. I present a veritable mad rush of great French singers, all possessed of personal poise and vocal appeal. Singers range from such classical artists as Mady Mesplé (whose recent passing we belatedly acknowledge), Régine Crespin, Janine Micheau, Germaine Cernay, Emma Calvé, Renée Doria, Jennie Tourel, Denise Duval, Andrée Esposito, Germaine Féraldy, Françoise Pollet (as well as exemplary Belgian sopranos Emma Luart and Fanny Heldy) to pop singers Joséphine Baker (French by adoption!), and Maurice Chevalier. We allow such non-French interlopers as Geraldine Farrar, Giuseppe di Stefano, Grace Bumbry, Mary Lewis, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Lisette Oropesa, and my beloved Shirley Verrett, many of whom also lived extensively in France, to make their contributions in song to this celebration. And who better than the late Jessye Norman to cap the episode with her rousing rendition of La Marseillaise, as she did in 1989 for the French Bicentennial?

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 19. Jennie Tourel Sings Rossini and Poulenc

January 26, 2020Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Needle Drop, Twentieth Century MusicÀ Grenade, Allen Rogers, Chanson de Zora, Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux, Dany Robin, Fiançailles pour rire, Francis Poulenc, Gioacchino Rossini, Jean Cocteau, Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Jennie Tourel, Julietta (1953), La petite bohémienne, Les Amants (1958), Louis Malle, Louise de Vilmorin, Madame de..., Max Ophuls, Péchés de vieillesse, Petite mélodie sur la gamme chinoise, Reto Müller, Sins of Old Age, The Earrings of Madame de..., Vittorio de Sicacountermelody

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The wondrous Russian-French mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel (1900-1973) had a storied career that lasted more than four decades and encompassed both opera and song. In the latter, she was particularly celebrated for her work in the Russian and French repertoire. The 1964 recording Jennie Tourel Sings Rossini and Poulenc features the singer, sounding remarkably fresh in her early sixties, singing songs by Rossini, primarily from his posthumous collection Péchés de vieillesse [Sins of Old Age], as well as Francis Poulenc’s extraordinary 1938 song cycle Fiançailles pour rire [Betrothal for Laughs]. In both series of songs, Tourel’s extraordinary musicianship and commitment to expression serve to illustrate her self-expressed artistic credo: “I wanted to bring my heart to the audience… sing out my heart.”

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