Tag Archives: Joseph von Eichendorff

Episode 196. Grace Bumbry In Memoriam

May 11, 2023African American Singers, Art Song, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Singers of ColorAdolf Heyduk, Antonín Dvořák, Beaumont Glass, Christian L’Egru, Christian Schubart, Erik Werba, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Rückert, Geoffrey Parsons, Georg Friedrich Daumer, Grace Bumbry, Hans Schmidt, Harry T. Burleigh, Heinrich Heine, Helmut Deutsch, Hermann Kletke, Hugo Wolf, Jakob Niklaus von Craigher, Johann Gabriel Seidl, Johann Georg Jacobi, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johannes Brahms, Joseph von Eichendorff, Julius Mosen, Leonard Hokanson, Lotte Lehmann, Matthias Claudius, Robert Schumann, Sebastian Peschkocountermelody

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This past week the world of opera was plunged in mourning at the news of the death of the unique, the irreplaceable Grace Bumbry (04 January 1937 – 07 May 2023), an artist equal parts daredevil and refined, whose artistry enchanted us for more than sixty years. In recent months many of us anxiously awaited news of her health after she suffered a stroke last October, from which she miraculously if temporarily rebounded. Though the news of her death was therefore not unexpected, it is both momentous and sombre in that it signals the end of an era. In October I produced a pair of episodes in her honor, the second of which, published exclusively on Patreon, celebrated her prowess as a Lieder singer. As such, she carried on the tradition and bore the mantel of the great Lotte Lehmann, her teacher and mentor; Bumbry said of her: “Lotte Lehmann will always remain for me the most important person in my entire musical life.” The episode features examples of Bumbry’s Lieder singing over the course of more than forty years, with a particular focus on her rare 1976 EMI release with pianist Geoffrey Parsons of Songs by Schumann and Schubert, which is heard in its entirety. Though I am bereft at her passing, I celebrate her mastery of a subtle and refined art form which formed the cornerstone of her artistry.

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 193. Alexander Kipnis

April 21, 2023Art Song, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, SchubertAlexander Kipnis, Alexander Pushkin, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Arrigo Boito, Arthur Bergh, Arturo Toscanini, Boris Godunov, Celius Dougherty, Clemens Schmalstich, Coenraad V. Bos, Der Rosenkavalier, Der Zauberflöte, Detlev von Liliencron, Dichterliebe, Emanuel Schikaneder, Erich Ortmann, Ernst Victor Wolff, Folk Song, Francesco Maria Piave, Frank Bibb, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Schiller, Georg Friedrich Daumer, Gerald Moore, Giuseppe Verdi, Gleb Yellin, Heinrich Heine, Hermann Lingg, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Hugo Wolf, Italienisches Liederbuch, J. Michel Diack, Johannes Brahms, Joseph von Eichendorff, Ludwig Rellstab, Michelangelo, Modest Mussorgsky, Nicolai Berezovsky, Paul Heyse, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Robert Schumann, Schwanengesang, Simon Boccanegra, Tristan und Isolde, Walter Heinrich Robert-Tornow, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Rosécountermelody

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If I were to indulge in the foolish task of dubbing certain artists the “Greatest Ever,” I would have little hesitation in naming Ukrainian-American bass Alexander Kipnis (1891–1978) “the greatest” in several categories: greatest Wagner bass, greatest low-voiced Lieder singer, just maybe even the greatest bass ever captured on recording. Though I am trying to wean myself of these designations, I have no difficulty in naming Kipnis my favorite bass. In this episode, his operatic impersonations, though legendary, are touched on but peripherally: the focus instead is on his contributions in art song, specifically Lieder. Despite his heavily-accented German (which to my ear only increases the power of his interpretations in songs like Schubert’s “Aufenthalt” or Wolf’s Michelangelo-Lieder), Kipnis was as keenly attuned to text and its musical setting than any singer of art song before or since. As usual of late in my episodes, I begin with several short contrasting examples that illustrate the “why” question: why was this artist so important, and why does he remain so? There follow a few all-too-brief examples of Kipnis in opera, including examples stretching back to his earliest recordings in 1916, when he was barely 25 years old. Then follow a further examination of Kipnis’s Lieder recordings, including a rare 1943 radio broadcast of Schumann’s Dichterliebe accompanied by Wolfgang Rosé, the son-in-law of Gustav Mahler, as well as recordings issued under the aegis of the Hugo Wolf Society and the Johannes Brahms Society, and his matchless early recordings of the songs of Franz Schubert, which were my introduction not only to Kipnis’s magisterial voice, but also the songs themselves. In all of this material, whether tender, ardent, humorous, or transcendent, Kipnis’s dignity and humanity shine through.

Episode 120. Bethany Beardslee

December 17, 2021Art Song, Happy Birthday, Holiday Music, Lieder, Needle Drop, Twentieth Century MusicAaron Copland, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Arnold Schoenberg, August Strindberg, Basil Reeve, Bethany Beardslee, Charles Baudelaire, Cheryl Seltzer, Claude Debussy, Das buch der hängenden gärten, David Epstein, e.e. cummings, Ernest Guiraud, Fred Lerdahl, Friedrich Rückert, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Godfrey Winham, Hermann Weigert, James Joyce, James Purdy, Joel Sachs, Johannes Brahms, John Hollander, Joseph von Eichendorff, Lois Shapiro, Lotte Lehmann, Mel Powell, Milton Babbitt, Murray Panitz, Otto Erich Hartleben, Paul Verlaine, Peter Altenberg, Philomel (Babbitt), Pierrot lunaire, Richard Goode, Robert Craft, Robert Helps, Robert Schumann, Theodor Storm, William Shakespearecountermelody

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Today’s episode celebrates a pioneer in the performance of twentieth century vocal music in anticipation of her 96th birthday on Christmas Day. Bethany Beardslee was a titan who set standards in the performance of the music of Arnold Schoenberg and Milton Babbitt in particular, but who also acted as muse to a host of mid-twentieth century avant garde composers whose work she premiered and often recorded. But she was also a member of the pioneering early music ensemble New York Pro Musica in the late 1950s and was an innovator in programming daring and diverse recital repertoire which combined Lieder and melodies with the contemporary music for which she was best known. This episode samples her recordings over the course of more than thirty years, and includes composers such as John Dowland, Robert Schumann, Claude Debussy, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, and Johannes Brahms alongside such twentieth century giants as Anton Webern, Ernst Krenek, Igor Stravinsky, Ben Weber, Mel Powell, Robert Helps, Fred Lerdahl, and Godfrey Winham, her second husband. Throughout the course of a career devoted to, to paraphrase the title of her autobiography, “singing the unsingable,” Bethany Beardslee combined rock solid-technique and silvery tone with peerless musicianship and interpretive acuity to set standards that have yet to be surpassed. Please join me in celebrating this great artist.

Episode 112. Barry McDaniel

October 24, 2021Art Song, Bel canto, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Queer Pride, Schubert, Twentieth Century MusicAgnes Giebel, Alfredo Kraus, Ariadne auf Naxos, Aribert Reimann, Arlene Saunders, Arthur Rother, Barry McDaniel, Brooks Smith, Carl Millöcker, Carl Orff, Carmina Burana, Christoph von Dohnányi, Claude Debussy, David Knutson, Der junge Lord, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Die schweigsame Frau, Eberhard Finke, Edita Gruberová, Enrique Beck, Ernest Lush, Ernst Haefliger, Ernst Krukowski, Évariste de Parny, Federico García Lorca, Ferdinand Leitner, Fidelio, Franz Schubert, Frederik Prausnitz, Friedrich Hebbel, Fritz Hoppe, Fritz Werner, Gerhard Unger, Gioacchino Rossini, Hans Werner Henze, Heinz Wallberg, Helmut Krebs, Hermann Reutter, Horst Stein, Hugo Wolf, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Ingeborg Bachmann, Italienisches Liederbuch, Ivan Sardi, Johann Gabriel Seidl, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Jacob Niles, Joseph von Eichendorff, Karl Böhm, Karl Hochreither, Karlheinz Zoeller, Kurt Böhme, Kurt Equiluz, La finta giardiniera, Lear (Reimann), Leopold Hager, Ludwig van Beethoven, Luigi Dallapiccola, Mack Harrell, Manfred Jungwirth, Manfred Röhrl, Matthäus-Passion, Maurice Ravel, Murilo Mendes, Pierre Pierlot, Richard Strauss, Robert Schumann, Robert Spillman, Stefan Zweig, Tristan L’Hermite, Wilhelm Müller, Winterreise, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Sawallischcountermelody

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This past week would have been the 91st birthday of Barry McDaniel (1930-2018), the great US-American Berlin-based lyric baritone whose artistry encompassed opera, oratorio (particularly the music of Bach), art song (particularly Lieder), and contemporary music, as well as delicious forays into operetta. This episode celebrates all aspects of this exceptionally fine singer, whose immediately recognizable voice, allied to a firm technique, superb diction, superior musicianship, and devotion to his craft yielded finely-hewn, distinctively inflected performances in a career which spanned nearly fifty years. The episode features him singing music of Strauss, Bach, Rossini, Schubert, Reimann, Ravel, Henze, Rossini, Mozart, Debussy, Millöcker and more. Vocal guest stars include Alfredo Kraus, Agnes Giebel, Kurt Böhme, Arlene Saunders, Mack Harrell (who was McDaniel’s teacher), and Edita Gruberová, to whom we pay especial tribute after her tragic death early last week.