Tag Archives: Ludwig Tieck

Episode 372. Pears Sings Not-Britten (Pride 2025)

Full-Figured Baroque, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Queer Pride, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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Today may be my final episode for Pride Month 2025, but it is most certainly not my final episode celebrating and affirming Pride and all our glorious forebears who preceded us! Today’s episode is a belated birthday tribute to British tenor Peter Pears (22 June 1910 – 03 April 1986), most celebrated for his long-standing romantic and musical partnership with Benjamin Britten. However, as with my recent episode celebrating the artistry of Pierre Bernac apart from his performances of the music of Francis Poulenc, in today’s episode, there is not a note of Britten’s music to be heard. There is no question that Britten was a formative figure in Pears’ artistic development, but throughout their lives together, he performed a wide range of music, from Pérotin to Lutosławski as an independent and enormously versatile artist. In this episode, I offer selections by Webern, Handel, Copland, Couperin, Stravinsky, Dowland, Tippett, Mozart, Holst, Bach, Copland, Berkeley, Schubert, Walton, Schütz, Debussy, Handel, Nordheim, Schumann, and David Bedford, among others, to offer a surprising portrait of this fascinating singer. Even if you have not (yet) acquired a taste for this (sometimes) controversial singer, I urge you to give it a listen, for not only does it present Pears in all his varieties, it also highlights his musical partnerships with Joan Sutherland, Sviatoslav Richter, Murray Perahia, Dennis Brain, Viola Tunnard, George Malcolm, Martha Mödl, Gré Brouwenstijn, Imogen Holst, and Noel Mewton-Wood (as well as a few clips with with his life-partner Britten at the piano).

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 or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 292. Ian Partridge Revisited

Art Song, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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David and I leave tomorrow on a short jaunt to London, my first visit there in absolute ages. As a result, I have had my favorite British singers very much in mind. In 2023, the quintessential British tenor Ian Partridge celebrated his 80th birthday, and in hono(u)r of that occasion, I produced a pair of Countermelody episodes in tribute to his exquisite artistry. Today’s episode is a refashioning of the bonus episode I produced at that time, which I entitled “Evening with Partridge,” since all of the selections reference evening or nighttime in some fashion, with additional emphasis on the themes of moonlight and The Wanderer. One might also note how the clarity of Partridge’s voice and the precision of his diction make a marvelous contrast with the half-shades of the evening. I have put together an episode which features all types of song, in musical styles from Baroque to contemporary: orchestral song, songs with guitar and lute accompaniment, and art songs with piano in English, German, and French, one of them even self-accompanied! May this episode also bring joy and satisfaction to my devoted listeners and supporters, and encourage you to further explore this esteemed gentleman, one of my favorite singers of all time.

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.