Tag Archives: Mörike-Lieder

Episode 433. Lois Marshall Revisited

January 31, 2026Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Canadian Singers, Comic Relief, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Richard Strauss, Twentieth Century MusicA Shropshire Lad, A.E. Housman, Anne Wilkinson, Anthony Bernarad, Arthur Gold, Cantiones Mysticae, Chansons de Bilitis, Claude Debussy, Eduard Mörike, Edward Kudlak, Elmer Iseler, Emanuel von Geibel, Ernest MacMillan, Ezio Flagello, Folksong, Francis Poulenc, Gabora String Quartet, George Frideric Handel, Godfrey Ridout, Greta Kraus, Harry Freedman, Healey Willan, Hector Berlioz, Heinrich Schütz, Henry Purcell, Henryk Frydmann, Hugo Wolf, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, James Joyce, Jean Coulthard, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Alexander, John Donne, John Dryden, John Ireland, Karl Joseph Simrock, Kleine geistiche Konzerte, La Damnation de Faust, Leopold Stokowski, Lois Marshall, Luís de Camões, Manuel de Falla, Maureen Forrester, Maurice Ravel, Michael Carpenter, Mörike-Lieder, Moses Mendes, Newburgh Hamilton, Ophelia-Lieder, Oskar Morawetz, Pierre Louÿs, Richard Strauss, Robert Burns, Robert Fizdale, Robert Schumann, Robert Verebes, Roger Quilter, Ruben Gurevich, Samuel Barber, Seiji Ozawa, Shéhérazade, Siete canciones populares españolas, Solomon, Spanische Liebeslieder, Srul Anthony Glick, St. Matthew Passion, Stuart Hamilton, Taras Gabora, The Fairy Queen, Thomas Beecham, Tristan Klingsor, Weldon Kilburn, William Shakespeare, Yehudi Wynercountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:34:44 — 130.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

Yesterday, January 29th, was the 101st anniversary of the birth of the Canadian soprano (later mezzo) Lois Marshall. Marshall was in so many ways a unique and treasurable artist. Afflicted with polio as a young child, she spent much of her early life hospitalized. It was there that she discovered the expressive power of her singing voice. Following her training at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Marshall won two prestigious vocal competitions, including the Naumburg, she was taken on by such early mentors as Arturo Toscanini and Thomas Beecham and others. Audiences were captivated by both the spontaneity and directness of her artistry. Though she made occasional appearances in opera (and in particular televised opera, where her mobility issues could be more easily managed), she was primarily known as a concert singer. Recommended by the young Glenn Gould, she quickly became a favorite with Russian audiences and created the Canadian premieres of works by Poulenc and Britten, among others. This, the fourth Countermelody episode devoted to this artist, features her in a wide range of material, including in particular work by contemporary Canadian composers including Harry Somers, Oskar Morawetz, Srul Anthony Glick, Godfrey Ridout, Harry Freedman, and Jean Coulthard. The episode also emphasizes the purity and expressiveness of her singing in Baroque music, including Handel, Bach, Purcell, and Schütz as well as her unique way on the concert platform with both art song and folk song arrangements. Collaborating artists include Leopold Stokowski, Maureen Forrester, Glenn Gould, Seiji Ozawa, John Alexander, and Thomas Beecham. Once heard, Lois Marshall will never be forgotten.

Countermelody is the 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 author 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 429. A Smattering of Sopranos

January 16, 2026African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Black History Month, Broadway, Crossover, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Rescue Mission, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoAlbert Samain, Albert Wolff, Aleksey Pleshcheyev, Alfred Wallenstein, Amilcare Ponchielli, Ángel de Saavedra, Anne Roselle, Ariettes oubliées, Arrigo Boito, August Wenzinger, Barthold Heinrich Brockes, Billy Rose, Brockes-Passion, Carl Maria von Weber, Carlo Gozzi, Carlo Maria Giulini, Cecilia Gasdia, Cesar Franck, Charles Gounod, Charles Woodward, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Claire Watson, Claude Debussy, Claudio Scimone, Cyril Diederich, Darius Milhaud, Eduard Mörike, Edvard Grieg, Edward Eliscu, Elena Souliotis, Elena Suliotis, Elisabeth Grümmer, Elisabeth Rethberg, Erwin Halletz, Euripides, Euryanthe, Flore Wend, Florence Quartararo, Folk Songs, Francesco Maria Piave, Françoise Pollet, Frederick Stone, Gabriel Faure, George Frideric Handel, Gerald Moore, Gérard de Nerval, Germaine Martinelli, Giacomo Puccini, Giacomo Rossi, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Heinz Neubrand, Helmina von Chézy, Henrik Ibsen, Hubert Giesen, Hugo Dietz, Hugo Wolf, Inge Borkh, Iphigénie en Tauride, Ivan Filev, Jan Chęciński, Janine Micheau, Jarmila Novotna, Johannes Brahms, Joseph Keilberth, Jules Barbier, Klaus Groth, Krassimir Gatev, Kurt Nachmann, La forza del destino, La Gioconda, La Reine de Saba, Louis Fourcaud, Luigi Boccherini, Luigi Illica, Maggie Teyte, Maria Stader, Martha Mödl, Mathilde Wesendonck, Michel Carré, Mörike-Lieder, Nicolas-François Guillard, Noël Lee, Olive Moorefield, Pamela Coburn, Paria (Moniuszko), Paul Verlaine, Peer Gynt, Pentti Koskimies, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Phyllis Curtin, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Raina Kabaivanska, Renato Simoni, Richard Wagner, Rinaldo, Rita Shane, Rolf Olsen, Silvio Varviso, Stabat Mater, Stanisław Moniuszko, Stefania Woytowicz, Stefka Evstatieva, Stephen Simon, Suzanne Danco, Torquato Tasso, Tosca, Turandot, Victor Hugo, Victorien Sardou, Vincent Youmans, Wesendonck-Lieder, Witold Rowickicountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:46:12 — 145.8MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

Today’s episode reveals and celebrates the opera queen in me: it’s a program entitled “A Smattering of Sopranos” that features twenty-five different singers who “happen to be” sopranos and whom have not yet been featured in full episodes of the podcast. I love producing these “potpourri” episodes, which allow me to offer a marvelous sampling of singers in a wide-ranging repertoire from French, German, Italian, (and Polish!) opera to religious music to orchestral song to Deutsche Schlager to Lieder and melodies to Russian romances to the Great American Songbook. Singers heard include Suzanne Danco, Rita Shane, Raina Kabaivanska, Françoise Pollet, Maggie Teyte, Phyllis Curtin, Jarmila Novotná, Florence Quartararo, Janine Micheau, Stefania Woytowicz, Olive Moorefield, Elisabeth Rethberg, and the late Stefka Evstatieva, among many others and each one puts her distinctive stamp on the material.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:13:03 — 84.4MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

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 45. Muriel Smith (Crossover Classics I)

July 26, 2020African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, BHM2023WK4, Black History Month, Crossover, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Muriel Smith, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, SmithBHMWK4Angela Morley, April Olrich, Auyar Hosseini, Body and Soul, Carmen Jones, Charles Zwar, Franz Waxman, Georges Auric, Georges Bizet, Hoagy Carmichael, Hugh Martin, Hugo Wolf, Johannes Brahms, Julian Bream, Kenneth Leslie-Smith, Luther Saxon, Marc Blitzstein, Mörike-Lieder, Moulin Rouge, Muriel Smith, Ned Washington, Nimmersatte Liebe, Norman Gimbel, Oscar Hammerstein II, Ralph Blane, Reginald Burston, Richard Rodgers, Robert MacGimsey, Rodgers & Hammerstein South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein The King and I, South Pacific, Sweet Little Jesus Boy, The King and I, The Nearness of You, Wallace Stott, Wally Stottcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31:07 — 90.8MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

For the first of my Black History Month episodes back in February, I did a program featuring the extraordinary artist Muriel Smith, who in 1943, while still a student at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, created the title role in Oscar Hammerstein II’s Carmen Jones, which used George Bizet’s opera as the springboard for a hybrid musical featuring an all-Black cast. After several other Broadway appearances (including in a revival of Marc Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock, Muriel Smith moved to London, where she was featured in the “exotic” roles in the London premieres Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific and The King and I. For several years she was the toast of London, appearing on records, on radio, on television, and in concert, as well as singing Bizet’s gypsy in performances of Carmen at Covent Garden in 1957. Most of the currently extant examples of Smith’s singing are of popular music, which she performed with her unique blend of bel canto precision and pinpoint interpretive accuracy. I have recently gotten my hands on numerous rare 78s of Smith’s mid-1950’s pop records, as well as her 1953 EP, I’m in the Mood for Love, all of which are featured on this episode. I also share examples of her famous turns in musicals, capped with a rare recording of her singing Hugo Wolf’s “Nimmersatte Liebe.” Two excerpts from her 1955 Songs of Christmas 45 render this episode a veritable Christmas in July celebration! Musical guest stars include, among others, Marc Blitzstein, Georges Auric, Harvey Fuqua, Auyar Hosseini, Franz Waxman, Luther Saxon, Martin and Blane, Julian Bream, and the extraordinary Angela Morley.

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 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.

Episode 31. Janet Baker (Mezzo Madness II)

April 19, 2020Art Song, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Needle Drop, SchubertAnthony Lewis, Ariodante Dopo notte, Brahms Komm bald, Carmen, Che farò senza Euridice, Das Lied von der Erde, Die Götter Griechenlands, Dominick Argento, Dusty Springfield, Eduard Mörike, Edvard Grieg, Ernest Lush, Fauré Le Secret, Friedrich Rückert, From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, Gabriel Faure, Geoffrey Pratley, George Frideric Handel, Georges Bizet, Gluck Orfeo ed Euridice, Gustav Mahler, Handel Ariodante, Handel Tamerlano, Hugo Wolf, Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, Johann Mayrhofer, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Josef Krips, Kathleen Raine, Kerstin Meyer, London Bach Society, Mahler Das Lied von der Erde, Mahler Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, Mahler Rückert-Lieder, Mahler Von der Schönheit, Marjory Kennedy-Fraser, Martin Isepp, Matthäus-Passion, Maurice Ravel, Michael Tilson Thomas, Mörike-Lieder, Orfeo ed Euridice, Paul Hamburger, Paul Steinitz, Peter Aston, Rafael Kubelik, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ravel Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé, Raymond Leppard, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rückert-Lieder, Schubert Abendstern, Songs of Travel, St. Matthew Passion, Stan Vincent, Tchaikovsky Adieu forêts, The Maid of Orleans, Virginia Woolf, Wolf Verborgenheitcountermelody

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:06:12 — 136.8MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More

Few singers have more affected my life in a more fundamental way than the great Janet Baker. This episode seeks to pay humble tribute to that exceptional artist. I have sought long and hard to find repertoire and performances that my listeners might not have heard before. While this is not an exhaustive survey (methinks a second JB episode is lurking around the corner), I do touch on many of the cornerstones of her repertoire, including Ralph Vaughan Williams, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Gabriel Fauré, Dominick Argento, and Gustav Mahler. I also feature composers less often associated with her, including Edvard Grieg, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Hugo Wolf, and Peter Aston. Her musical collaborators represented in the episode include Martin Isepp, Paul Hamburger, Josef Krips, Rafael Kubelik, Colin Davis, Geoffrey Parsons, Anthony Lewis, and Michael Tilson Thomas, among others. I present to you The High Priestess of Song. (I also pay passing tribute to the Swedish mezzo-soprano Kerstin Meyer, who died this past week at the age of 92, and Dusty Springfield, whose 81st birthday we celebrated posthumously this week.)

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 support at whatever level you can afford.