Tag Archives: Mort Lindsey

Episode 305. Rage and Despair

November 9, 2024Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Broadway, Forgotten Divas, Great Baritones, Great Contraltos, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Queer Pride, Schubert, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlexez Zybtsev, Alfredo Catalani, Alonso de Mudarra, Arne Dorumsgaard, Banalités, Claudio Monteverdi, Dalton Baldwin, Die Zauberflöte, Edvard Grieg, Emanuel Schikaneder, Felicia Montealegre, Francis Poulenc, Franz Schubert, George Schick, Gerard Souzay, Gian Carlo Menotti, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Giovanni Francesco Busenello, Guillaume Apollinaire, Hartmut Höll, Irwin Gage, István Kertész, Jennie Tourel, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Judith Raskin, Judy Garland, Julia Ward Howe, Justinus Kerner, Kurt Weill, L’incoronazione di Poppea, La Wally, Leonard Bernstein, Lost in the Stars, Louis Aragon, Luigi Illica, Maria Callas, Martti Talvela, Maxwell Anderson, Mitsuko Shirai, Mort Lindsey, Narcisse Bonnet, Nikolaus Lenau, Nino Sanzogno, Oralia Dominguez, Pavel Lisitsian, Pilar Lorengar, Robert Schumann, Rufus Wainwright, The Consul, Thomas Schippers, Tullio Serafin, Virginia Zeani, Wilhelm Müller, Wilhelmine von Hillern, Winterreise, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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Before I traveled to my home state of Wisconsin this week, I had prepared an episode to post this weekend, but in my naïveté, I had not anticipated the catastrophe that happened to my country, and to the world, when the unthinkable occurred this past Tuesday. Since then I have barely had a moment’s rest, feeling gripped by a torrent of negative emotions, rage and despair primary among them. It became apparent to me that I had to give voice to those feelings in order to work through them, and in the process maybe even help my friends and listeners who are struggling with their own versions of this toxic emotional cocktail. So here is the episode I dearly wish I had not felt compelled to produce, one devoted to despair and to rage, as we attempt to convert them into resolve and determination to “stand our ground” and demand that our beloved country not go under, powerless though we may feel at this moment to prevent that from happening. I have chosen work by Poulenc, Mozart, Weill, Monteverdi, Menotti, Schumann, Schubert, and Bernstein, performed by such podcast favorites as Jennie Tourel, Judy Garland, Gérard Souzay, Maria Callas, Oralia Domínguez, Virginia Zeani, Judith Raskin, Pilar Lorengar, and others, to act as our music therapists as we struggle to regain our equilibrium, “Lost in the Stars” though we may feel at this moment.

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 195. Forgotten Broadway III

May 5, 2023African American Singers, Comic Relief, Crossover, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Twentieth Century MusicAdolph Green, Al Carmines, Albert Hague, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Beatrice Arthur, Ben Bagley, Benny Golson, Betty Comden, Bob Merrill, Bud McCreary, C.C. Courtney, Carol Burnett, Colin Romoff, David Baker, Diana Davila, Donald Pippin, Dorothea Freitag, Dorothy Fields, Frank Loesser, Fred Ebb, Frederick Dvonch, Galt MacDermot, Gary William Friedman, George David Weiss, Gilbert Price, Glenn Paxton, Gwen Verdon, Hal Hackady, Howard A. Roberts, Howard Hastings, Inga Swenson, Ira Siff, Jack Lawrence, James Stenborg, Jay Blackton, Jerry Bock, Jerry Herman, John Guare, John Kander, Judd Woldin, Judy Garland, Jule Styne, Karen Morrow, Keith Mansfield, Larry Grossman, Lisa Kirk, Liz Callaway, Liza Minnelli, Luther Henderson, María Irene Fornés, Marian Grudeff, Martin Charnin, Mary Tyler Moore, Melba Moore, Mike Preston, Mitch Leigh, Moose Charlap. Norman Gimbel, Mort Lindsey, Peggy Lee, Pembroke Davenport, Peter Link, Phyllis Robinson, Polly Bergen, Ralph Carter, Raymond Jessel, Richard Kiley, Richard Rodgers, Robert Brittan, Robert Goldman, Robert Weede, Salena Jones, Saul Schechtman, Sergio Franchi, Sheldon Harnick, Stan Freeman, Stanley Lebowsky, Stephen Sondheim, Susan Romann, Ty McConnell, Walter Willison, Will Holt, William Alfredcountermelody

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Last summer, I produced a miniseries of episodes on Countermelody entitled “Forgotten Broadway,” the third and final segment of which was originally published as a bonus episode for my Patreon supporters. This week, my last one for the moment in New York City, is a busy one, so I have decided to pay tribute to the city by publishing that third Forgotten Broadway episode for all of my listeners. As I was preparing the series last summer, I enlisted the input and expertise of my dear pal John Coughlan. Like the first two episodes in the sequence, this one is once again, a veritable potpourri of delights, vocal, interpretive, and musical. It begins with a tribute to birthday icon Carol Burnett, who, at the beginning of her career, appeared in two different Broadway musicals, the second of which, 1964’s Fade Out Fade In, is featured. Additional shows presented include, among many others, Salvation, Raisin, Mack and Mabel, Redhead, I Had a Ball, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Baker Street, performed by such favorites as Lisa Kirk, Melba Moore, Gwen Verdon, Robert Weede, Mary Tyler Moore, Rosemary Clooney, Liz Callaway, and Peggy Lee, alongside such lesser-known lights as Diana Davila, Walter Willison, Salena Jones, and Gilbert Price. In addition, there is the “added plus” [sic] of Bea Arthur delivering a comic monologue from the 1955 Shoestring Revue that will have you in absolute stitches. And just for the gays (and all those with equally good taste), Judy and Liza each stop by, Judy to deliver a Frank Loesser show-stopper, while Liza offers more of “A Quiet Thing,” from her first Broadway show Flora the Red Menace.

Episode 148. Judy Garland @ 100

June 9, 2022Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Twentieth Century MusicAdolph Green, Alan Jay Lerner, Arthur Schwartz, Barbra Streisand, Betty Comden, Bob Merrill, Bobby Cole, Bronislaw Kaper, Burton Lane, Carl Sigman, Carolyn Leigh, Charles Chaplin, Cole Porter, Cy Coleman, David Lee, Gene Palumbo, Geoffrey Parsons, George Forrest, Gilbert Bécaud, Gus Kahn, Harold Arlen, Harry Robinson, Howard Dietz, Ira Gershwin, Jack Yellen, Judy Garland, Jule Styne, Julia Ward Howe, Larry Conley, Liza Minnelli, Lorenz Hart, Max Meth, Milton Ager, Mort Lindsey, Norrie Paramor, Richard Rodgers, Robert Wright, Roger Edens, Ted Koehler, Tony Osborne, Walter Jurmann, Willard Robison, Yip Harburgcountermelody

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On Friday 10 June 2022, Judy Garland celebrates her 100th birthday. My Pride 2022 series kicks off with a close examination of Judy’s status as gay icon, as well as my claim that Garland was, is, and remains the world’s greatest entertainer of all time. As always with Countermelody, the proof is in the performances, and I share a generous sampling of recordings, primarily from the final years of Judy’s life, that bolster that claim. Included are performances of songs by Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, Ted Koehler, Ira Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Jule Styne, Burton Lane, Alan Jay Lerner, Cole Porter, Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh, Gilbert Bécaud, Wright and Forrest, Schwartz and Dietz, Charles Chaplin, and others, in live recordings from The Judy Garland Show, which ran for a single season in 1963-64; live concert performances from New York, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Philadelphia, and Copenhagen; and a smattering of rare studio recordings. I also discuss the impact of Judy’s enormous talent impact on my own life, as well as her still-substantial numbers of worldwide fans. Vocal guest stars include two other classic gay icons, Barbra Streisand, and Judy’s own daughter, Liza Minnelli.