Tag Archives: John Milton

Episode 470. Peter Pears Plays Around

June 8, 2026Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersAlan Bush, Alois Jeittteles, Alun Lewis, An die ferne Geliebte, Claude Debussy, Fetes galantes, Heinrich Heine, John Milton, Justinius Kerner, Lily Bernhard, Ludwig van Beethoven, Michael Tippett, Murray Perahia, Noel Mewton-Wood, Paul Verlaine, Peter Blackman, Peter Pears, Sviatoslav Richter, Sydney Keyes, The Heart’s Assurance, William Blakecountermelody

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A year ago, I published as my final Pride 2025 episode, Pears Sings Not-Britten, which explored the voice and artistry of British tenor Peter Pears in repertoire other than that written for him by his partner Benjamin Britten. Today’s episode, a refurbished bonus episode originally published nearly a year ago has a new, catchy title that carries that theme even further, in that Britten is entirely absent, either as composer or as Pears’s usual accompanist. Today, I feature collections of songs by five different composers, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Claude Debussy, Robert Schumann, Alan Bush, and Michael Tippett, all featuring Pears accompanied by pianists other than Britten, including celebrated solo virtuosi Noel Mewton-Wood, Murray Perahia and Sviatoslav Richter; with composer Alan Bush himself accompanying Pears himself in the thornily difficult piano part of his self-described cantata Voices of the Prophets. Of today’s setlist, all but the Bush are either live or radio recordings which span three separate decades of Pears’s career, and show an artist who, whether in his vocal prime or in the inevitable decline of his later years (and even after Britten’s death), was fixated on expressing the finest shades of textual nuance and vocal color.

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 466. Baritones Both Butch and Bonnie

May 25, 2026African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Black History Month, Black History Month 2026, Broadway, Canadian Singers, Great Baritones, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Pop Icons, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Schubert, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersAdam Wiernik, Alexander Borodin, Alfred Drake, Alfred Grünwald, Allan Evans, Antonin Kubalek, Antonina Afanassieva, Antônio Maria, Apollo Granforte, Arne Dorumsgaard, Arthur Schwartz, Bernard Diamant, Bernard Ładysz, Bernd Weikl, Carlo Sabajno, Charles Mackerras, Christian Morgenstern, David Lutz, Doda Conrad, Edvard Grieg, Erik Bergman, Erik Sædén, Eva Knardahl, Franz Rupp, Franz Schubert, Frederick Fuller, Frederick Prausnitz, Fritz Löhner-Beda, Georg Kouroupos, George Forrest, George Frideric Handel, Gerhard Hüsch, Gustaf Fröding, Harald Andersén, Harve Presnell, Heinrich Heine, Heinrich Schlusnus, Henri René, Henrik Ibsen, Howard Dietz, Imre Földes, Irwin Gage, Jerzy Vidal, Johann Chrysostomus Senn, Johann Mayrhofer, Johann Rochlitz, John Bröcheler, John Milton, John Newmark, Kalervo Hortamo, Karl Gottfried von Leitner, Kismet, Knut Skram, Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov, Kurt Eichhorn, Lieder um den Tod, Lili Kraus, Luigi Dallapiccola, Luiz Bonfá, Manha de Carneval, Manuel de Falla, Marcel Camus, Margaret Kilpinen, Martti Talvela, Matti Lehtinen, Max van Egmond, Newburgh Hamilton, Norman Shetler, Otto Julius Bierbaum, Paul Abraham, Pentti Koskimies, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Ray Charles, Revenge with Music, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Robert Cornman, Robert Holl, Robert Schumann, Robert Wright, Salvatore Quasimodo, Samson, Seppo Nummi, Siegfried Lorenz, Siete canciones populares españolas, Spyros Sakkas, Stig Westerberg, Tan Crone, Tannhäuser, Thomas Stewart, Veikko Koskenniemi, Victor Braun, Viktoria und ihr Husar, Wiktor Maksymkin, Wilhelm Stenhammar, Yrjö Kilpinen, Yuri Mazurokcountermelody

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Today’s episode features baritones of all stripes (with the occasional bass-baritone) in a program focusing primarily on song in its various manifestations. Whether that be Broadway and pop tunes (sung by Alfred Drake, Allan Evans, and Harve Presnell); Schubert (performed by Doda Conrad, Bernard Diamant, Max van Egmond, Robert Holl, and Siegfried Lorenz); other German Lieder (with Victor Braun and Heinrich Schlusnus); Russian and Nordic song (sung by Matti Lehtinen, Yuri Mazurok, Erik Sædén, Martti Talvela, Knut Skram, and Gerhard Hüsch); or folk song (as recorded by Arne Dørumsgaard, John Bröcheler, and Spyros Sakkas), there’s something here for everyone. And to avoid accusations of prejudice against arias, I round off the episode with three arias: one from opera (Tannhäuser, sung – in Italian! – by Apollo Granforte), one oratorio (Handel’s Samson, with Thomas Stewart), and one operetta (from Viktoria und ihr Husar, performed by Bernd Weikl).

Episode 403. Roberta Alexander In Memoriam

October 18, 2025African American Singers, Art Song, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Broadway, Crossover, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Richard Strauss, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Spirituals, Twentieth Century Music, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAdolf Heyduk, Adolph Green, Alban Berg, Alec Wilder, Altenberg-Lieder, Andrew Davis, Ángel de Saavedra, Antonín Dvořák, Arthur Rimbaud, Benjamin Britten, Betty Comden, Brian Masuda, Bruce Hubbard, Charles Ives, Claron McFadden, Clifford Shaw, Colenton Freeman, David Porcelijn, David Triestram, Dick Hoogeveen, Du Bose Heyward, Edith Hemenway, Edo de Waart, Elinor Wylie, Francesco Maria Piave, Gabriela Preissová, Gaetano Delogu, Gary Miller, George Frideric Handel, George Gershwin, Giulio Cesare, Giuseppe Verdi, Hall Johnson, Hendrik Andriessen, Howard Haskin, Ira Gershwin, James Agee, Janet Williams, Jenůfa, John Dawson, John Greenleaf Whittier, John Henry McKay, John Milton, La finta giardiniera, La forza del destino, Langston Hughes, Laquita Mitchell, Leonard Bernstein, Leos Janacek, Les Illuminations, Loonis McGlohon, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Michael Tilson Thomas, Moses-Ibn-Ezra, Nicola Francesco Haym, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, On the Town, Peter Altenberg, Porgy and Bess, Randall Thompson, Reinild Mees, Riccardo Chailly, Richard Strauss, Roberta Alexander, Samuel Barber, Semyon Bychkov, Spirituals, Tan Crone, The Divan of Moses-Ibn-Ezra, Thomas à Kempis, Undine Smith Moore, Vaughan Schlepp, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Zigeunermelodiencountermelody

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This is an episode I never dreamed I would have to produce. But alas, the great Roberta Alexander has unexpectedly departed this earth this past Tuesday evening, on the three-week anniversary of my beloved mother’s death. Listeners to Countermelody know how much I revered her artistry, and how much I valued our special friendship. In fact, just last week as David and I escaped for a few days to the Netherlands for my birthday, I had been in touch with Roberta, hoping that we could see each other, but she was still recovering from a serious illness from last summer that, in the end, proved too much for her heart, no matter how kind and generous it was. I’m reminded that on the same day I published my first all-Roberta episode, in honor of her birthday in 2023, her dear friend and colleague Kenneth Montgomery died, also unexpectedly. Today’s episode is the fifth (but certainly not the last) time that I will honor Roberta, not only the kindest yet most straight-shooting, but also the least pretentious world-class singer I have ever known. For today’s tribute I have chosen music that, begging your indulgence, is for the most part, valedictory. Yet I also sought to foreground both her extraordinary versatility as well as her profound powers of communication, in music ranging from Handel to Bernstein, Mozart to Berg, Wilder to Janácek, all of it gloriously performed. Many of the recordings, as is my wont, are extremely rare, yet at the same time cherishable. There will be a bonus episode this weekend featuring many of the selections that ended up on the cutting room floor today. Roberta may no longer be with us, but on my podcast, she will always be prominently celebrated as the great singer, teacher, mentor, and friend that she was. Requiescat in pace, dear 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 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.