Tag Archives: Kim Borg

Episode 255. Art Songs for Holy Week

March 28, 2024Art Song, Canadian Singers, Great Baritones, Holiday Music, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Schubert, Voiceless WondersAlexander Kipnis, Antonín Dvořák, Benjamin Luxon, Biblical Songs (Dvorák), Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, Coenraad V. Bos, David Willison, Edith Mathis, Eduard Mörike, Ella O’Neill, Erik Werba, Franz Schubert, Friedrich von Schlegel, Gellert-Lieder (Beethoven), George London, Gerard van Blerk, Graham Johnson, Hugo Wolf, Ivan Moravec, Johannes Brahms, John Constable, John Newmark, Kathleen Ferrier, Kim Borg, Laurence Kilsby, Leo Taubman, Ludwig van Beethoven, Matti Lehtinen, Michelangelo-Lieder, Mörike-Lieder, Norman Bailey, Pentti Koskimies, Pierre Mollet, Robert Schumann, Věra Soukupová, Vier ernste Gesänge, Walter Berrycountermelody

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I return to you with one final episode for the month of March, again focusing on Holy Week. In this case, I present to you art songs on contemplative, Biblical, even Lenten themes. Composers represented include Dvorák, Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann, as well as Wolf and Brahms. The final works of both of these composers are song cycles, Wolf’s Michelangelo-Lieder and Brahms’s Vier ernste Gesänge. Both works are heard in their entirety in performances both celebrated and virtually unknown. Performers include, in order of vocal range, Edith Mathis, Věra Soukupová, Kathleen Ferrier, Pierre Mollet, Benjamin Luxon, Matti Lehtinen, Norman Bailey, Walter Berry, Kim Borg, George London, and Alexander Kipnis. Into the midst of this company enters also the young and extraordinarily gifted tenor Laurence Kilsby, not yet thirty but already displaying all the traits of great vocal artistry. Please enjoy this extra episode in the spirit in which it is given, with gratitude and love for the ongoing support of all of my listeners.

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 119. Christmas (Art) Songs

December 10, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, Great Baritones, Holiday Music, Lieder, Margaret Price, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Richard Strauss, Singers of Color, Voiceless WondersAafje Heynis, Arnolt Schlick, Benjamin Luxon, Claron McFadden, Dalton Baldwin, David Willison, Edita Gruberová, Eduard Mörike, Elias Arizcuren, Elisabeth Schumann, Elly Ameling, Elsie Houston, Emanuel Geibel, Felix Lavilla, Friedrich Haider, Genevieve Touraine, Geoffrey Parsons, George Frideric Handel, Gonzalo Soriano, Hermann Prey, Hugo Wolf, Irène Aïtoff, Irmgard Seefried, Irwin Gage, Janet Baker, Joaquín Nin, Joaquin Rodrigo, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johannes Koch, Jorma Hynninen, Joseph Canteloube, Joseph Marx, Justino Diaz, Karl Alwin, Katja Phillabaum, Kim Borg, Kurt Gaebel, Leonard Hokanson, Lois Marshall, Lotte Lehmann, Margaret Price, Martin Isepp, Maurice Ravel, Michael Head, Noël Lee, Norman Bailey, Norman Shetler, Novalis, Paul Heyse, Pentti Koskimies, Peter Cornelius, Peter Schreier, Peter Warlock, Rainer Maria Rilke, Ralf Gothoni, Richard Strauss, Rita Streich, Roger VIgnoles, Sarah Walker, Sergiu Celibidache, Teresa Berganza, Tom Krause, Victoria de los Angeles, Walter Gerwig, Weldon Kilburn, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Yolanda Marcoulescoucountermelody

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It’s time for my third annual Christmas show! Can you believe that Countermelody has been around that long already? This year I am reviving last year’s theme, Christmas-themed art songs, but with all-new material this time around as sung by some of my very favorite singers, including Elly Ameling, Teresa Berganza, Norman Bailey, Irmgard Seefried, Lois Marshall, Benjamin Luxon, Jennie Tourel, Jorma Hynninen, Janet Baker, Peter Schreier, Sarah Walker, and many, many more. It’s an absolutely chock-full episode which focuses upon seasonal songs by Hugo Wolf, Joaquín Nin, Richard Strauss, Peter Warlock, Paul Hindemith, Peter Cornelius, Joaquín Rodrigo, and Maurice Ravel, among others. Attention is devoted to many of the characters in the original Christmas story: the Virgin Mary, the Shepherds, the Magi, and the Baby Jesus himself, while also not neglecting songs that address the less joyous aspects of the holiday season. I guarantee that your spirits will be uplifted, however, when Lotte Lehmann “drops in” to recite two of the poems from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Marienleben cycle. In addition, the episode begins with a tribute to Justino Díaz, who this past week received a Kennedy Center Honor.

Episode 116. Pop Songs by Lieder Singers

November 19, 2021African American Singers, Behind the Iron Curtain, Broadway, Comic Relief, Crossover, Great Baritones, Mezzo Madness, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Singers of Color, Sylvia SassA Little Night Music, Allegro (Rodgers & Hammerstein), Andre Previn, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Andrzej Hiolski, Anna Moffo, Anne Sofie von Otter, Anneliese Rothenberger, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Astor Piazzolla, Barbara Hendricks, Brad Mehldau, Brigitte Fassbaender, Broadway, Bryn Terfel, Buddy DeSylva, Claude François, Cole Porter, Consuelo Velazquez, crossover, Dieter Reith, Donald Gramm, Duke Ellington, Eduard Künneke, Elly Ameling, Ennio Morricone, Evelyn Lear, Felicia Weathers, Franz Grothe, Frieder Weissmann, Fritz Wunderlich, George London, Gerard Souzay, Gloria Davy, Grace Bumbry, Guido Masanetz, Harold Arlen, Harry Warren, Heikki Sarmanto, Helen Donath, Hermann Prey, J. Fred Coots, Jacques Revaux, Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, Jean-Philippe Collard-Neven, Jerzy Harald, Johnny Green, Joni Mitchell, José Van Dam, Jule Styne, Jürgen Hermann, Karita Mattila, Kim Borg, Klaus Donath, Kurt Weill, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Lotte Lehmann, Louis van Dijk, Mack Gordon, Maxwell Anderson, Monty Alexander, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paul Bonneau, Paul Daniel, Peter Cetera, Peter Schreier, Péter Wolf, pop standards, Regine Crespin, Richard Rodgers, Richard Tauber, Robert Katscher, Roberta Alexander, Roland Shaw, Skitch Henderson, South Pacific, Stephen Sondheim, Sylvia Sass, Thomas Stewart, West Side Story, Willi Stech, Yip Harburgcountermelody

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This week I feature nearly a century’s worth of recordings of pop music by singers who also, and in some cases primarily, were great singers of art song. Many of my favorite singers figure into the mix, including Hermann Prey (who was the inspiration for this episode), Grace Bumbry, Helen Donath, Roberta Alexander, Elly Ameling, Peter Schreier, Lotte Lehmann, Gérard Souzay, Brigitte Fassbaender, Bryn Terfel, Richard Tauber, José van Dam, Peter Schreier, Leontyne Price, Donald Gramm, and many, many others. They perform everything from Broadway standards to jazz to Deutsche Schlager to tangos to the Great American Songbook to 80s power ballads. This episode was such a joy to put together and I hope that you will enjoy this cornucopia of vocal and interpretive bounty.