Tag Archives: La rondine

Episode 290. Ileana Cotrubaș Revisited

September 17, 2024Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Happy Birthday, Ileana Cotrubas, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartA Midsummer Night’s Dream, Achille de Lauzières, Ádám Fischer, Alexander Pushkin, Alexandre Dumas fils, Alfred Maria Willner, Alfredo Kraus, Antoni Ros-Marbà, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Arrigo Boito, Benjamin Britten, Bernard Haitink, Brent Ellis, Bruno Bartoletti, Camille du Locle, Christoph Friedrich Bretzner, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Eugene Onegin, Francesco Maria Piave, Friedrich Schiller, Gabor Ötvös, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Gottlieb Stephanie, Gregory Kunde, Heinz Reichert, Helmut Winschermann, Henri Murger, Hora Andreescu, Ileana Cotrubas, James Bowman, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Méry, La Boheme, La rondine, Luigi Illica, Luis Lima, Mabel Perelstein, Mark Ermler, Pagliacci, Peter Pears, Piero Cappuccilli, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Silvio Varviso, Simon Boccanegra, Trudy Hines, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Schöne, Yevgeny Onegincountermelody

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More than four years ago, I published my very first bonus episode on Patreon, which I offer here in a fancy new setting and with a wonderful new coda. When I first published an episode on the great Ileana Cotrubaș in honor of her 81st birthday, I promised a bonus episode which would offer further examples of this treasurable artist’s plangent and pathos-filled singing. This episode explores delves deeper into Cotrubaș’s artistic legacy, examining roles that she took on later in her career, including Elisabetta in Don Carlo, Nedda in Pagliacci, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, and Desdemona in Otello. In addition, I play excerpts of roles that lay somewhat outside of her normal repertoire, including Tatyana in Yevgeny Onegin, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This is followed by two extended live excerpts of her two greatest roles, Mimì in La Bohème and Violetta in La Traviata. The entire episode is capped with an exquisite example of Cotrubaș singing Bach, in anticipation of a new all-Bach episode at the end of the week.

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 262. Sylvia Sass Revisited

May 17, 2024Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Broadway, Crossover, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Tenors, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Richard Strauss, Sylvia Sass, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAdalbert von Chamisso, Alain Lombard, Aldo Ceccato, Alexandre Dumas fils, Alfred Grünwald, Alfred Maria Willner, András Kórodi, András Schiff, András Sebestyén, Andrea Maffei, Andrea Martin, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Béla Bartók, Béni Egressy, Charles Gounod, Cosi fan tutte, Cristina Brancato, Emmerich Kálmán, Endre Ady, Ervin Lukács, Ferenc Erkel, Ferenc Szőnyi, Fernando Previtali, Francesco Maria Piave, Frauenliebe und -leben, Gaetano Donizetti, Giacomo Puccini, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Giorgio Moroder, Giovanni Foiani, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Verdi, Gräfin Mariza, Heinz Reichert, Hunyadi László, I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata, Irene Cara, Iván Bradányi, János Kovács, Jesus Christ Superstar, José Carreras, Joseph von Eichendorff, Jules Barbier, Julius Brammer, Keith Forsey, La rondine, La Traviata, Lamberto Gardelli, Lili Áldor, Lorenzo da Ponte, Lucia di Lammermoor, Ludwig van Beethoven, Macbeth, Maria Grazia Piolatto, Michel Carré, Michel Plasson, Neil Shicoff, Nicola Ghiuselev, Patrizia Dordi, Péter Wolf, Richard Strauss, Richard Woitach, Robert Schumann, Roméo et Juliette, Rosanna Didonè, Ryszard Karczykowski, Salvadore Cammarano, Sylvia Sass, Temistocle Solera, Tim Rice, Tommaso Grossi, Tosca, Vier letzte Lieder, Walter Scott, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Zsolt Durkócountermelody

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Several summers ago I published my first episode celebrating the artistry of Sylvia Sass which primarily featured her 1984 album of pop songs sung in Hungarian. At the time I called it, without any irony, the finest crossover album of the 1980s and one of the best of all time. Sass is an artist who continues to engage discourse. Many of the opinions, theories, and input encountered therein are predicated on dissecting the reasons for her short international career. My objective with today’s episode, however, is simply to celebrate Sass’s singing in all its glory, extending from the standard Italian operatic repertoire with which she is most associated through the thorniest contemporary idioms to the subtlest art song to the most refined Mozart singing, with, once again, a nod to the pop material which initially drew me to her. I always say that I believe in giving flowers to our favorite artists when they are still around to receive them, and today’s bouquet is a stunning display full of color and variety humbly presented to one of my favorite divas.

Episode 261. Thom Baker Introduces Rosanna Carteri (Listeners’ Favorites)

May 8, 2024Bel canto, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, In Memoriam, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartArtur Rodzinski, Carlo Bergonzi, Cesare Valletti, Charles Gounod, Ettore Bastianini, Falstaff, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Francis Poulenc, Gabriele Santini, Gaetano Donizetti, Georges Pretre, Giacomo Puccini, Gilbert Bécaud, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe di Stefano, Giuseppe Gismondo, Giuseppe Taddei, Giuseppe Verdi, L’elisir d’amore, La Boheme, La rondine, La Traviata, Le nozze di Figaro, Leonard Warren, Madama Butterfly, Mario Rossi, Nicolai Gedda, Otello, Pierre Monteux, Pietro Mascagni, Rosanna Carteri, Serge Prokofiev, Thom Baker, Tullio Serafin, Vincenzo Bellezza, Vittorio Gui, William Shakespearecountermelody

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Today’s episode is one of my Listeners’ Favorites episodes, this one introduced by my wonderful friend Thom Baker. He had just written me about his enthusiasm for the Rosanna Carteri episode I posted in the fall of 2020 on the occasion of her death, just a few short weeks before her 90th birthday. Thom and I were both equally taken with this long-lived artist, who abandoned her performing career in 1966 when she was only 35 years old, brought her full-throated voice and impeccable artistry to operatic stages around the world for fifteen exceptional years. Carteri’s was a lyric yet full-bodied voice with facility that allowed her to undertake soubrette parts as well as some spinto roles. I feature extended examples of her versatility over the course of that entire career, including excerpts from La traviata, La bohème, La rondine, Guglielmo Tell, Falstaff, L’elisir d’amore, Madama Butterfly, Roméo et Juliette, Otello, Pietro Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz and Iris, Prokofiev’s War and Peace (the final version of which she created in Florence in 1954), the premiere recording of Poulenc’s Gloria and Gilbert Bécaud’s Opéra d’Aran (which she premiered in Paris in 1962). These operas represent just a fraction of her repertoire, in which are featured, among others, Giuseppe di Stefano, Nicolai Gedda, Leonard Warren, Carlo Bergonzi, Ettore Bastianini, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Giuseppe Taddei, Cesare Valletti, and Giuseppe Gismondo and conductors Tullio Serafin, Pierre Monteux, Vittorio Gui, Georges Prêtre, Gabriele Santini, and Artur Rodzinski. In other words, the crème de la crème of the operatic firmament in the 1950s and 1960s, in which company Carteri most emphatically belonged.

Episode 180. Anna Moffo Reappraised

January 20, 2023Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Crossover, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Richard Strauss, Twentieth Century MusicAdolf von Schack, Afro Poli, Alexandre Dumas, Alfred Grünwald, Anna Moffo, Anton Coppola, Anton Guadagno, Antonio Amurri, Arleen Augér, Berislav Klobučar, Billy Smith, Carlo Bergonzi, Carlo Felice Cillario, Charles Gounod, Don Giovanni, Emmerich Kálmán, Erich Leinsdorf, Falstaff, Fernando Previtali, Francesco Maria Piave, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Franco Ferrara, Franz Lehár, Friedrich Schiller, Fritz Löhner-Beda, Gaetano Donizetti, George Gershwin, Georges Bizet, Georges Pretre, Gerald Moore, Giacomo Puccini, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Gianni Ferrio, Gino Gorini, Giovanna d’Arco, Giuditta (Lehár), Giulio Fioravanti, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe di Stefano, Giuseppe Giacosa, Gräfin Mariza, Hans Carste, Hans Rosbaud, Heinrich Hart, Henri Meilhac, Henri René, I Puritani, Ira Gershwin, Jacopone da Todi, James King, Jane Berbié, John Orrick, Jules Barbier, Jules Massenet, Julius Brammer, Kurt Eichhorn, La rondine, La sonnambula, La Traviata, Lehman Engel, Leopold Stokowski, Lorenzo da Ponte, Lorin Maazel, Lucia di Lammermoor, Ludovic Halévy, Luigi Illica, Madama Butterfly, Manon, Mario Lanfranchi, Mario Rossi, Michel Carré, Miti Truccato Pace, Oliviero de Fabritiis, Oscar Straus, Paul Knepler, Peter Maag, Philippe Gille Abbé Prévost, Piero Piccioni, Piero Umiliani, Prosper Mérimée, Renato Simoni, René Leibowitz, Richard Fredericks, Richard Hundley, Richard Strauss, Roméo et Juliette, Rudolf Friml, Rudolf Schock, Salvadore Cammarano, Sergio Franchi, Sergio Lorenzi, Skitch Henderson, Temistocle Solera, The Chocolate Soldier, Tosca, Tullio Serafin, Turandot, Victor Herbert, Victorien Sardou, Vincenzo Bellini, Walter Scott, Werner Schmidt-Boelcke, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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The Italian-American lyric coloratura soprano Anna Moffo (1932-2006) is, for many, one of the great singers of the past century. My first exposure to this artist was one of two, frankly, disastrous recordings released in the mid-1970s, in which the voice was a mere shadow of its former self, and in which her vocal defects and mannerisms had overtaken the intrinsic beauty of her voice. But there are so many exceptional qualities to Moffo as an artist, musician, and media star, that I felt compelled to do a frank reappraisal of her contribution to the lyric art. And am I glad that I did! I discovered an artist of great integrity who, in her best work, attained a similar level to any of the other great singers performing during that period. Unlike any other opera singer that I can think of, she conquered three distinct markets with equal success: first in Italy (where she rose to overnight stardom in the late 1950s and went on in the 1960s to become the star of her own eponymous television series); then in the United States throughout the 1960s; and finally, in the late 1960s and 70s, in Germany. But hers is also a cautionary tale of “too much, too soon” and the potentially destructive power of the media which has significance also in today’s opera world. Throughout the episode, live and studio examples of Moffo’s work, both bad and (mostly) good over the course of more than twenty years, are offered to support my discussion of her importance and influence as an artist, one that continues to this day. Vocal guest stars include tenors Carlo Bergonzi, Rudolf Schock, Giuseppe di Stefano, and Sergio Franchi, and musical collaborators include Tullio Serafin, Gerald Moore, Lorin Maazel, Hans Rosbaud, Fernando Previtali, Lehman Engel, Oliviero de Fabritiis, René Leibowitz, Kurt Eichhorn, Berislav Klobučar, and Franco Ferrara. For those who love Moffo, for those who hate her, and for those who find themselves somewhere in between, this episode is (dare I say it?) required listening.

Episode 36. Glamour

May 24, 2020African American Singers, Crossover, Giuseppe Verdi, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop IconsAlice Faye, Anna Moffo, Annie Lennox, Bellini I Puritani, Bernard Herrmann, Betty Carter, Canzone di Doretta, Carol Neblett, Cassandra Wilson, Cesare Andrea Bixio, Charles Gerhardt, Citizen Kane, Das Wunder der Heliane, Dave Stewart, David Garvey, Diahann Carroll, Die tote Stadt, Dorothy Kirsten, Eleanor Steber, Eurythmics, Florence Quartararo, Franz Lehár, Fritz Wunderlich, George Gershwin, Gershwin Oh Kay!, Giacomo Puccini, Giuditta (Lehár), Giuseppe Verdi, Hana Janků, Harold Arlen, Harold Simpson, Harry Revel, Helen Traubel, Hercule Gilles de Fontenailles, Hilde Güden, Hildegarde, House of Flowers, I Lombardi, I Put a Spell on You, Il Trovatore, Ira Gershwin, Italian Street Song (Naughty Marietta), James Bland, Jeanne Dortzal, José Carreras, Jules Massenet, Karl Friedrich, Kiri Te Kanawa, Knickerbocker Holiday, Kurt Weill, La rondine, Landon Ronald, Leontyne Price, Liane Augustin, Lisa Kirk, Lorenz Hart, Lotte Lehmann, Mack Gordon, Maria Nemeth, Massenet Thaïs, Miguel Fleta, Montserrat Caballé, Moonlight in Vermont, Muddy Waters, My Funny Valentine, Naughty Marietta, Ned Rorem, Noël Coward, Richard Rodgers, Richard Strauss, Robert Gilbert, Robert Stolz, Rosa Ponselle, Teresa Żylis-Gara, The Incomparable Hildegarde, Truman Capote, Victor Herbert, Vier letzte Lieder, Vincenzo Bellini, Zarah Leandercountermelody

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The Oxford English Dictionary defines “glamour” as “magic; enchantment; spell” and “a magical or fictitious beauty attaching to any person or object; a delusive or alluring charm.” Further down in the entry are “charm; attractiveness; physical allure,” certainly the definition we most closely associate with the term. And yet, it’s fascinating to examine the concept of glamour from its spellbinding origins. In the first of my episodes on Glamour, I examine many singers both from the spell-binding sense of the term and the sense of vocal and personal allure. Among others, I examine such varied singers as Alice Faye, Eleanor Steber, Annie Lennox, Carol Neblett, Betty Carter, Diahann Carroll, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Liane Augustin, Dorothy Kirsten, Florence Quartararo, Hana Janků, Helen Traubel, Hilde Güden, Kiri Te Kanawa, Leontyne Price, Lisa Kirk, Lotte Lehmann, Anna Moffo, Maria Nemeth, Montserrat Caballé, Rosa Ponselle, Zarah Leander, and The Incomparable Hildegarde with an eye to what makes their work glamourous in all senses of the term. And the gentlemen are by no means excluded: I spend particular time on the seductive and dulcet tenor tones of Fritz Wunderlich, José Carreras, Karl Friedrich, and Miguel Fleta.

Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glories of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great classical and opera singers of the past and present with the help of guests from the classical music field: singers, conductors, composers, coaches, agents, and voice teachers. 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 interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/countermelody to pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford.