Tag Archives: Jésus Etchéverry

Episode 480. Bacquier Encore

July 14, 2026Art Song, Bel canto, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlfred de Musset, Almire Gandonnière, Ambroise Thomas, André Theuriet, Andrea del Sarto, Ariettes oubliées, Arrigo Boito, Camille Saint-Saens, Carlo Pepoli, Catherine Brilli, Cesar Franck, Claude Debussy, Daniel Lesur, Don Giovanni, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Edmont Gondinet, Édouard Lalo, Ernest Chausson, François Coppée, Gabriel Bacquier, Gabriel Faure, Gérard de Narval, Giuseppe Verdi, Hamlet, Hector Berlioz, Henri Duparc, Henri Gui, I Puritani, Jacques Mars, Jacques Offenbach, Jésus Etchéverry, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Jules Barbier, Jules Massenet, La Damnation de Faust, Lakmé, Le nozze di Figaro, Leconte de Lisle, Léo Delibes, Lorenzo da Ponte, Louis de Fourcaud, Louise Valmaggia, Manuel Rosenthal, Maurice Bouchor, Michel Carré, Otello, Paul Verlaine, Philippe Gille, Pierre Beaumarchais, Pierre Loti, Poème de l’amour et de la mer, Reynaldo Hahn, Roméo et Juliette, Sully Prudhomme, Victor Hugo, Vincenzo Bellini, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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Allons, enfants de la patrie! Let’s celeberate Bastille Day in style! And what better exemplar of the power and élan of French music than the great Gabriel Bacquier?! It was only about a year ago that I published an episode featuring Bacquier singing art song. Today’s episode combines Bacquier in his more familiar guise as an opera singer, with further (and even rarer) recordings of him singing mélodies. About a year ago I coughed up a lot of dough for a super-expensive and super-rare 2-LP set entitled Panorama de la Mélodie française in which Bacquier shared the vocal honors with a French coloratura soprano who is virtually forgotten today. Today we hear his contribution to that rare 1964 release featuring songs by the usual suspects: Fauré, Debussy, Duparc, and Hahn, alongside some less-familiar repertoire by Saint-Saëns, Massenet, and Lalo. It came out to not quite enough music for a full episode, so I have supplemented it with excerpts from a great, but nearly forgotten, triumph of Bacquier’s: his assumption of the title role of French composer Daniel-Lesur’s 1968 opera, Andrea del Sarto. (Astute listeners will remember that last week I played Alain Vanzo singing a selection from this same piece.) In addition, I offer selections from two different 1963 aria recitals by Bacquier, one in Italian, the other in French. This assortment of material reasserts Bacquier’s versatility, his solid technique, even the beauty of his voice at that point in his career. As his voice aged, Bacquier gradually assumed more bass roles and character parts but throughout the 1960s, his voice retained its youthful beauty even as his characterizations gained in precision and power. Along with a handful of other French singers during that era, Bacquier was the greatest of the great.

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 479. Get to Know Alain Vanzo

July 11, 2026Bel canto, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Tenors, Ileana Cotrubas, Listeners' Favorites, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAbbé Prevost, Alain Vanzo, Alfred de Musset, André Mauprey, Andrea Chénier, Andrea del Sarto, Andrée Esposito, Angelo Anelli, Anita Terzian, Auguste Barbier, Benvenuto Cellini, Bruno Amaducci, Cavalleria Rusticana, Charles Gounod, Daniel Lesur, Das Land des Lächelns, Don Giovanni, Don Procopio, Édouard Blau, Édouard Duprez, Édouard Lalo, Erasmo Ghiglia, Faust, Francesco Maria Piave, Franz Lehár, Frédéric Mistral, Fritz Löhner-Beda, Georges Bizet, Georges Pretre, Georges Sébastien, Giacomo Puccini, Giancarlo Amati, Gioachino Rossini, Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, Giovanni Verga, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Guido Menasci, Gustave Cloëz, Hector Berlioz, Henri Meilhac, Henri Murger, Ileana Cotrubas, Jean Marietti, Jésus Etchéverry, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Jules Barbier, Jules Gressier, Jules Massenet, L’italiana in Algeri, La Boheme, Le pays du sourire, Le Roi d’Ys, Léon Battu, Léon de Wailly, Lorenzo da Ponte, Ludovic Halévy, Ludwig Herzer, Luigi Illica, Mady Mesple, Manon, Manuel Rosenthal, Michel Carré, Michèle Le Bris, Mireille, Nino Bonavolontà, Paul Milliet, Philippe Gille, Pierre-Michel Leconte, Pietro Mascagni, Raymond Chevreux, Renée Doria, Reynald Giovaninetti, Rigoletto, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Serge Baudo, Suzanne Sarroca, Umberto Giordano, Victor Hugo, Victor Léon, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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I return to Countermelody‘s Salut à la France miniseries with a tribute to the Monaco-born French-naturalized tenor, Alain Vanzo (1923-2002). There was simply no more elegant a tenor (or any singer!) in the French operatic repertoire (and beyond) than Vanzo in his glory days in the 1960s and 1970s. I have chosen a setlist which presents him, in his core repertoire (Gounod, Massenet, Lalo), sounding truly exquise, but I also show him in music for which he was less-celebrated, but equally compelling, everything from Mozart, Rossini, and Puccini, to Mascagni and even Giordano, with even more delicious surprises along the way. Special thanks to my friend Olivier, for specifically requesting this episode. In preparing it, I became a Vanzo admirer to an all-out raving Vanzo fan girl. In listening to this, you may well find yourself in the same place that I did!

Episode 344. Mady Mesplé Revisited

March 24, 2025Bel canto, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Queer Pride, Rescue Mission, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlbert Roussel, Ariadne auf Naxos, Auguste Bosc, Chang-Chi, Charles Gounod, Claude Debussy, Dalton Baldwin, Erik Satie, ETA Hoffmann, Francis Poulenc, Franck Pourcel, Georges Millandy, Henri-Pierre Roché, Herbert Giles, Hugo von Hoffmansthal, Jacques Offenbach, Janine Micheau, Janine Reiss, Jean Cocteau, Jésus Etchéverry, Johann Strauss II, Jules Barbier, La Dame de Monte-Carlo, Lakmé, Léo Delibes, Léon-Paul Fargue, Louis Aragon, Mado Robin, Mady Mesple, Marius Constant, Marius Dillard, Maurice Ravel, Michel Carré, Nicolai Gedda, Paul Gravollet, Paul Verlaine, Philippe Capdenat, Pierre Dervaux, Pierre Varenne, René Dommange, Richard Strauss, Roger Désormière, Roméo et Juliette, Socrate, William Shakespearecountermelody

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This past March 7 would have been the 94th birthday of the great French coloratura soprano Mady Mesplé. This episode begins a new series of episodes devoted to “Queens of the Night,” the surprisingly wide variety of sopranos who at one time or another sang this role. After a sampling of Mesplé singing this role (in French), we also hear back to back comparisons with Janine Micheau (Mesplé’s teacher) and Mado Robin (one of Mesplé’s most famous predecessors); a Gounod duet with Nicolai Gedda; a stunning avant garde showpiece composed expressly for Mesplé; a series of mélodies by Debussy, Roussel and Ravel; a live late-career performance of Poulenc’s final composition, the dramatic monologue La Dame de Monte-Carlo; an effervescent live 1969 performance of Zerbinetta’s aria; and a deeply moving recording of La Mort de Socrate by Erik Satie. Further proof, if such were needed, of Mesplé’s versatility, virtuosity, and profound musicianship and humanity.

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 341. Robert Massard Revisited

March 14, 2025Bel canto, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Rescue Mission, VerismoA. Royer, Agnès Adam, Alain Vanzo, Alexandre Dumas, Andrea Chénier, Antonio Somma, Armand Bernard, Arrigo Boito, Bruno Amaducci, Camille du Locle, Camille Rouquetty, Carlo Cambiaggio, Carlo Pepoli, Cavalleria Rusticana, Cesare Sterbini, Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson, Don Carlos, Don Procopio, Édouard Duprez, Erasmo Ghiglia, Eugène Scribe, Falstaff, Faust, Francesco Maria Piave, Friedrich Schiller, G. Vaëz, Gabriel Bacquier, Gaetano Donizetti, Georges Bizet, Georges Pretre, Georges Sébastian, Giacomo Puccini, Gianfranco Rivoli, Gioachino Rossini, Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, Giovanni Verga, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Guido Menasci, Henri Meilhac, Henri Murger, Henry Brougham Farnie, I Puritani, Il barbiere di Siviglia, J.L. Caussou, J.Y. Lamare, Jacques Scellier, Jacques-François Ancelot, Jésus Etchéverry, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Joseph Méry, Joseph Xavier Saintine, Jules Barbier, La Boheme, Le Comte Ory, Ludovic Halévy, Luigi Illica, Maria Callas, Michel Carré, Michel Forel, Otello, Paul Ferrier, Paul Milliet, Peter Glossop, Philippe Gille, Pierre Beaumarchais, Pietro Mascagni, Prosper Mérimée, Renée Doria, Reynald Giovaninetti, Rip (Planquette), Robert Massard, Robert Planquette, Roberto Benzi, Umberto Giordano, Victor Hugo, Vincenzo Bellini, Vittorio Gui, Walter Scott, William Shakespearecountermelody

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A year and a half ago, I posted an episode on Robert Massard, the finest French baritone of his era, and one of the finest French baritones of all time. Today, in honor of his upcoming hundredth birthday later this year, I present him in a different repertoire (and therefore a different light). As was very much the custom of the day in French opera houses, Massard sang many of his non-French roles in translation. This was also very much the standard in German-language opera houses in the 50s and 60s. Massard’s recorded legacy includes Italian operas sung in the original language as well as in French translation. No matter what language he was singing in, Massard was a master of bel canto as well as buffo patter. This episode includes arias and duets from Il barbiere di Siviglia, I Puritani, Lucie de Lammermoor, Le Comte Ory, La Traviata, Don Carlos, Un bal masque, La bohème, Cavalleria rusticana, and Andrea Chénier, as well as extended scenes from both Rigoletto (in and out of French!) and Falstaff. I also include a clip of Massard’s contemporary and compatriot Gabriel Bacquier singing an excerpt of one of his greatest Verdi parts, Iago in Otello. Massard’s vocal colleagues in these excerpts include Alain Vanzo, Peter Glossop, and Renée Doria.

Episode 221. Robert Massard

November 1, 2023African American Singers, Bel canto, Canadian Singers, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Opera, VerismoAlbert Willemetz, Albert Wolff, Anatole France, André Messager, André Turp, Andréa Guiot, Andrée Esposito, Antonio Somma, Armand Bernard, Camille du Locle, Carlo Maria Giulini, Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana, Charles Gounod, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Darius Milhaud, Denise Duval, Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht, Édouard Blau, Édouard Lalo, Ernest Reyer, Eugène Diaz, Eugène Scribe, Franc-Nohain, Frédéric Mistral, Gabriel Faure, Gaetano Donizetti, Gaston Hirsch, Georg Solti, George Shirley, Georges Pretre, Georges Sébastian, Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, Giovanni Verga, Giuseppe Verdi, Guido Menasci, Gustave Flaubert, Hector Berlioz, Henri Grémont, Henri Meilhac, Henry Brougham Farnie, Hérodiade, Iphigénie en Tauride, Jane Rhodes, Jean Giraudeau, Jean Laforge, Jésus Etchéverry, Joseph Peyron, Jules Massenet, Jules Prével, L’heure espagnole, Léopold Marchand, Les Troyens, Louis Beydts, Louis Gallet, Louis Varney, Lucie de Lammermoor, Ludovic Halévy, Mady Mesple, Manuel Rosenthal, Marilyn Horne, Maurice Ravel, Michel Carré, Michel Hamel, Mireille, Nicolas-François Guillard, Nino Falzetti, Patricia Neway, Paul Claudel, Paul Ferrier, Paul Milliet, Philippe Gille, Pierre Dervaux, Pietro Mascagni, Prosper Mérimée, Regine Crespin, René Fauchois, Renée Doria, Reynald Giovaninetti, Rita Gorr, Robert Benedetti, Robert Massard, Robert Planquette, Shirley Verrett, Suzanne Sarroca, Thaïs, Un ballo in maschera, Walter Scottcountermelody

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This is an episode I have been planning for years now! This past August 15, the great French baritone Robert Massard turned 98 years old. As many of my listeners know, I have a thing for baritones in general, and I have devoted episodes to artists of the baritone persuasion from world-renowned to virtually unknown to somewhere in-between. Just think of it: Gérard Souzay, Jorma Hynninen, Eugene Holmes, Andrzej Hiolski, Gabriel Bacquier, Will Parker, Gilbert Price: these and many more have already been featured with more (Hugo Hasslo, Eric Sædén) on the horizon for next season. But I would be hard-pressed to think of a baritone who possessed a more beautiful natural voice, a more refined technique, or a more elegant artistry than did Robert Massard, who in his thirty-odd years of career chalked up approximately 2,500 performances, including 1,003 at the Paris Opéra alone (the same number, he himself points out, as Don Giovanni’s conquests)! Massard also sang an incredibly varied (though primarily operatic) repertoire, and this episode presents highlights from both the standard to the more obscure repertoire, from Gluck, Gounod, Verdi, and Massenet; to Reyer, Milhaud, Lalo, and Diaz (who?). These recordings are supplemented by a number of excerpts from French operetta (Planquette, Varney, Messager, and Beydts) which provide unalloyed melodic delight, the Massard voice heard at its absolute peak. And the colleagues who appear opposite Massard are like a Who’s Who of great opera singers (French and otherwise) of the era: Régine Crespin, Mady Mesplé, Denise Duval, Shirley Verrett (subject of next week’s episode!), Andréa Guiot, Jean Giraudeau, André Turp, Marilyn Horne, Renée Doria, Jane Rhodes, Andrée Esposito, Rita Gorr, and the falcon Suzanne Sarroca, who died last month at the age of 96. And if you listen very closely, you will also catch fleeting glimpses of favorites Patricia Neway and George Shirley. I know I say this too often, but if you only listen to one episode of Countermelody, make it this one!

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 147. The Young Gabriel Bacquier

June 3, 2022Art Song, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Mirella Freni, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Twentieth Century MusicAlain Vanzo, Alberto Erede, André Gide, André Rivoire, Ariettes oubliées (Debussy), Armand Silvestre, Arrigo Boito, Benjamin Godard, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Ciboulette (Hahn), Claude Debussy, Darius Milhaud, Don Giovanni, Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, Eugène Cools, Félix Nuvolone, Fernando Previtali, Francis Poulenc, Franz Lehár, Gabriel Bacquier, Gabriel Faure, Georges Bizet, Giuseppe Verdi, Henri Duparc, Jacques Houtmann, Janine Ervil, Jean Laforge, Jean Lahor, Jésus Etchéverry, Johann Strauss II, Johann Strauss Sr., Le nozze di Figaro, Les pecheurs de perles, Lorenzo da Ponte, Manuel Rosenthal, Maurice Maeterlinck, Maurice Ravel, Mirella Freni, Orphée et Eurydice, Otello (Verdi), Paganini (Lehár), Paul Morand, Paul Verlaine, Pelleas et Melisande, Renate Holm, Reynaldo Hahn, Robert de Flers, Robert Desnos, Serge Baudo, Sigmund Romberg, Silvio Varviso, The Desert Song (Romberg), Tosca (Puccini), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yvonne Gallcountermelody

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Two years ago last month, the great French (bass-)baritone Gabriel Bacquier died just four days short of his 96th birthday. At that time I offered a brief memorial tribute which opened my eyes to aspects of his artistry and voice with which I had been previously unfamiliar. Like his near-contemporary, the Italian baritone Tito Gobbi, Bacquier was one of the supreme actors of the operatic stage, whose voice coarsened somewhat over the course of his long career, even as his mastery as an actor and interpreter increased. By the time he retired, his repertoire consisted almost entirely of buffo parts. But in the earliest years of his career (and also like Gobbi), he possessed a baritone of velvety beauty that might surprise those who know only his later comic roles. This episode, which commemorates the second anniversary of Bacquier’s death as well as his (posthumous) 98th birthday, focuses on the three different musical genres in which, in those early years, from 1953 through 1968, he excelled in equal measure: opera, of course, but also mélodie and operetta. The operatic portrayals represented include the title roles in Don Giovanni and Orphée et Eurydice; Zurga in Les Pêcheurs de perles; the Count in Le nozze di Figaro; Iago in Otello; Golaud; and his incomparable Scarpia, which he sang opposite every great Tosca of the 1960s with the exception of Callas. Complementing these live and studio recordings are recordings of melodies by Duparc, Fauré, Debussy, Ravel, and Poulenc; and operetta arias by Sigmund Romberg, Franz Lehár, Johann Strauss II, and Reynaldo Hahn, all deliciously sung in French. Vocal guest stars include Mirella Freni; Alain Vanzo; Bernard Demigny; Janine Ervil; Yvonne Gall, with whom Bacquier studied at the Conservatoire de Paris; and the late Renate Holm, the renowned German soubrette who died in April at the age of 90. In all this repertoire, Bacquier, who insisted on the appellation “acting singer” rather than “singing actor,” displays his commitment to clear yet full projection of text, which serves as a mirror into the music and not the other way around.

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.