Tag Archives: Julia Hamari

Episode 224. Handel’s Deutsche Arien

Art Song, Full-Figured Baroque, Happy Birthday, Holiday Music, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Queer Pride, Twentieth Century Music, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:17:10 — 90.2MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

This year for Thanksgiving I bring you Handel’s glorious Neun deutsche Arien composed in the year 1725 to meditative texts by Barthold Heinrich Brockes, who ten years previous had provided Handel with the text to his Der für due Sünden der Welt gemartete und sterbende Jesus (AKA simply the Brockes-Passion). The texts, Handel’s last settings of his native German language, are from a large collection of religious poems by Brockes, many of them referencing nature. The recordings I use, made between the years 1953 and 1990 are rooted in the “old fashioned” style of baroque singing, in which full-bodied vocalism is wedded to exquisite legato singing and pinpoint diction. The singers are among the most gifted of their eras, names both familiar (Edith Mathis, Yvonne Kenny, Hermann Prey, Arleen Augér, Robert Tear, and Júlia Hamari) and less well-remembered today (Adele Stolte, Margot Guilleaume, Catarina Ligendza). Each of the arias includes an instrumental obbligato, taken on these recordings by either violin, oboe or flute, and played by some of the greatest instrumentalists of their respective generations (Iona Brown, Eduard Melkus, and Helmut Winschermann, among others). Altogether a cornucopia of vocal and musical bounty which provides a fulsome accompaniment to the holiday. Coincidentally, two of this week’s featured singers (Júlia Hamari and Yvonne Kenny) celebrate birthdays this week.

The episode begins with a brief tribute to the late David Del Tredici.

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 171. November Birthday Gals

African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Canadian Singers, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Happy Birthday, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Operetta, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:24:15 — 89.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

Tomorrow morning I leave for three weeks and I’ve been desperately trying to come up with topics that would be a bit easier to produce while I’m away. What could be easier than birthdays for this month and next? Well… leave it to your intrepid producer to make that as complicated as it could be. But there’s a good reason: so many exceptional singers have birthdays this month and next! In fact, November is so chock full of such artists that I decided to focus exclusively on the Birthday Girls. And what a lineup! Iconic divas like Joan Sutherland and Victoria de los Ángeles; tragically short-lived singers like Saramae Endich and the beloved Lucia Popp; forgotten artists like Kjerstin Dellert, Caterina Mancini, and Geneviève Touraine; exceptional Black artists like Barbara Hendricks and Marietta Simpson: all are represented. And let’s not forget the pop divas, both celebrated (Tina Turner, Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt), and less well-remembered (Chi Coltrane, Bonnie Bramlett). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. So lift a glass, cut a piece of Geburtstagkuchen, and tune in to Countermelody in celebration of these exceptional women! [n.b. This episode was posted before the death of Ned Rorem, who will be properly commemorated in next week’s episode.]

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.