Tag Archives: Peter Warlock

Episode 212. Ian Partridge

August 31, 2023Art Song, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century MusicArnold Bax, Arnold Schoenberg, Benjamin Britten, Brian Etheridge, Bruno Turner, Charles Spinks, Christopher Bishop, Christopher Wilson, Claudio Monteverdi, Colin Davis, Colin Tilney, David Willcocks, Detlev von Liliencron, Edward Shanks, Eric Crozier, Ernest Ansermet, Franz Schubert, Fredegond Shove, Frederick Delius, George Frideric Handel, Georges Bizet, Grayston Burgess, Hector Berlioz, Heinrich Schütz, Henry Purcell, Hermannus Contractus, Hugh Bean, Ian Partridge, Ivor Gurney, Jakob Lindberg, James Griffett, Janet Craxton, Jennifer Partridge, Jill Gomez, Johann Mayrhofer, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Jürgen Jürgens, Kevin Smith, Les Troyens, Louis Halsey, Michael Dussek, Moritz Horn, Nigel Rogers, Norman Walker, Ottavio Rinuccini, Paul Beier, Peter Warlock, Philip Heseltine, Philip Sidnely, Pierre Boulez, Pro Cantione Antiqua, Prunella Scales, Queen Victoria, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Richard Burnett, Roger Norrington, Russell Burges, Saint Nicolas, The Fairy Queen, Thomas Beecham, Thomas Betterton, Thomas Campion, Thomas Ford, Walter Scott, William Byrd, William Hunt, William Shakespearecountermelody

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Ian Partridge, the quintessential English lyric tenor, celebrated his 85th birthday in June. I may be a few weeks late in celebrating that event, but my enthusiasm and admiration for this singer has remained at a consistent level ever since I first discovered his voice on a recording of songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Partridge, in fact, has left a vast recorded legacy, including work as both a solo concert artist and recitalist and as a member of such distinguished choral groups as Pro Cantione Antiqua, the Wilbye Consort, and the Louis Halsey Singers. His solo repertoire ranged from 11th century plainsong to the thornier musical 20th century idioms of Schoenberg and Britten. This episode samples the vast array of that recorded legacy, including examples from the Baroque period by Bach, Schütz, Handel, and Monteverdi; through art songs by Schubert, Brahms, Fauré, Bax, Gurney, and Warlock. We also hear him live from Covent Garden in his sole operatic role, the Carthaginian poet Iopas in Berlioz’s Les Troyens, and in lute songs and consort music by Campion and Byrd. In all these performances the voice is produced with such ease, the tone so pure and ethereally beautiful, yet never faked or “finessed,” while the interpretations themselves, no matter the musical style, are full of depth, integrity, and subtlety. Here is an enormously satisfying artist who embodies integrity and dedication to his craft. Guest stars include Jill Gomez, Nigel Rogers, Pierre Boulez, Benjamin Britten, Colin Davis, Ernest Ansermet, Norman Walker, Prunella Scales, and the tenor’s sister, pianist Jennifer Partridge, with whom he gave over 400 song recitals.

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. Bonus episodes available exclusively to Patreon supporters are currently available and further bonus content including interviews and livestreams is planned for the upcoming season.

Episode 201. Britten – Pears (Pride 2023)

June 16, 2023Art Song, Comic Relief, Drag Performance, Great Tenors, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Queer Pride, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century OperaA Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Shropshire Lad, A.E. Housman, Aaron Copland, Adrian Mitchell, Alexander Pushkin, Anton Friedrich Reil, Benjamin Britten, Billy Budd, Charles Dibdin, Claudio Arrau, Colin McPhee, Curlew River, Death in Venice, Dichterliebe, E.M. Forster, Eric Crozier, Francis Quarles, Frank Bridge, Franz Schubert, Gabriel Faure, Georg Friedrich Daumer, George Crabbe, Glenda Jackson, Gustav Holst, Heather Harper, Heinrich Heine, Herman Melville, Humbert Wolfe, Johannes Brahms, Kanze Jūrō, La bonne chanson, Leslie Woodgate, Liebeslieder-Walzer, Meredith Davies, Michelangelo Buonarotti, Montagu Slater, Myfanwy Piper, On this Island, Paul Verlaine, Peter Grimes, Peter Pears, Peter Warlock, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Reginald Goodall, Richard Peaslee, Robert Schumann, Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Stevie Smith, Sumidagawa, Thomas Hardy, Thomas Mann, W.H. Auden, War Requiem, Wilfred Owen, William Butler Yeats, William Plomer, William Shakespeare, Winter Words, Yevgeny Onegin, Zorian String Quartetcountermelody

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Today’s episode explores the lives and loves of two of the most significant figures in twentieth century music: Benjamin Britten, the dean of British composers and the tenor Peter Pears, his partner, lover, inspiration and muse for nearly forty years. When as a lost young gay boy I first encountered their music-making I intuited that these two men were lovers, that they represented a way forward for me out of a lonely and forlorn childhood. Whether in the many songs and cycles that Britten fashioned for him or the operatic roles, beginning with the title role of Peter Grimes, that were tailor-made for him, Pears remains the ideal interpreter of his partner’s music, possessed as he was of a distinctive (some would say peculiar) voice, supple, reedy yet surprisingly powerful, along with pinpoint musical precision, plangent expressivity and dramatic aptitude. The episode features excerpts from many of Britten’s most explicitly gay compositions, surprising for a man living in Britain while sex between men was still illegal, including the operas Peter Grimes, Curlew River, Billy Budd, and Death in Venice and his settings of poetry by Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Auden, and Francis Quarles. We also hear Pears and Britten in live and recorded performance of songs and arias by other composers, including composers Britten revered (Schumann, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and Frank Bridge), and those of whose music he was much less fond (including Vaughan Williams and Brahms). The episode contains more biographical information than your typical Countermelody episode, and does not shy away from some of the thorniest questions that one must confront when discussing these two controversial figures. But in the end it is first and foremost a celebration of the music Britten and Pears made together and the love they shared for 40 years. The episode begins with a heartfelt (and heartbroken) tribute to the great Glenda Jackson, who died this week at the age of 87.

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 107. Norman Bailey and Friends

September 19, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, Broadway, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Pop Icons, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Twentieth Century MusicAlan Curtis, Alan Jay Lerner, Alban Berg, Alexander Gibson, Allegro (Rodgers & Hammerstein), Buddy Bregman, Burton Lane, Carlo Gaifa, Carmen Balthrop, Claudio Monteverdi, Cora Johnson, David Atherton, Die Liebe der Danae, Eduard Mörike, Friedrich Rückert, Geoffrey Parsons, Georges Pretre, Giuseppe Verdi, Jane Powell, Jeanette MacDonald, Johannes Brahms, John Constable, John DeMain, José Cáceres, Joseph Gregor, King Priam (Tippett), Kristine Ciesinski, L’incoronazione di Poppea, La sonnambula, La Traviata, Lulu (Berg), Maria Callas, Michael Tippett, Norman Bailey, Olivier Messiaen, Oscar Hammerstein II, Peter Warlock, Philip Langridge, Pink Martini, Reginald Goodall, Richard Rodgers, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Robert Schumann, Royal Wedding, Scott Joplin, Thomas Lauderdale, Treemonisha, Vier ernste Gesänge, Vincenzo Bellinicountermelody

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Death has had a busy month in the music world, especially this past week, when we lost the great British Heldenbariton Norman Bailey and the delectable Hollywood star Jane Powell. This past week was also the memorial service for the soprano Carmen Balthrop, who died of pancreatic cancer on September 5. My original intent was to devote the episode to Norman Bailey, but when Jane (with whom I had a personal relationship, having been her late husband Dick Moore’s personal assistant from 2009-2012) also died, I realized I had to do an omnibus episode of sorts. I begin with several selections each from both of the recently departed divas and then plunge headlong into an appreciation of the voice, technique and artistry of the great Norman Bailey, featuring him in opera excerpts not just by Wagner, in whose music he excelled, but also by Verdi, Richard Strauss, and Michael Tippett. He is also featured in recordings from the 1970s of songs by Schumann, Brahms, Hugo Wolf, and Peter Warlock. The episode concludes with a tribute to Maria Callas on the 44th anniversary of her death on September 16, 1977.

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.” Occasional guests from the “business” (singers, conductors, composers, coaches, and teachers) lend their distinctive insights. At Countermelody’s core is the interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. 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 including artist photos and episode setlists. And please head to my Patreon page at www.patreon.com/countermelody to pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available only to Patreon supporters are currently available.

Episode 66. Christmas (Art) Songs

December 20, 2020African American Singers, Art Song, Eileen Farrell, Happy Birthday, Holiday Music, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Needle Drop, Richard StraussAlexander Sander, Bernard Kruysen, Bernarda Fink, Bruno Seidler-Winkler, Carl Loewe, Charles Bressler, Charles Ives, Claude Debussy, Claudio Muzio, Dalton Baldwin, Denise Duval, Edvard Grieg, Eileen Farrell, Elizabeth Harwood, Elly Ameling, Engelbert Humperdinck, Erik Werba, Erkki Melartin, Francis Poulenc, Franz Rupp, Gabriel Faure, Genevieve Touraine, George Trovillo, Gerard Souzay, Gilbert Kalish, Hansjörg Albrecht, Helmut Deutsch, Hermann Prey, Hugo Wolf, Ian Partridge, Igor Gorin, Irmgard Seefried, Jan DeGaetani, Jennifer Partridge, Joaquín Nin, Joaquin Rodrigo, Johannes Brahms, John McCabe, John Wustman, Jorma Hynninen, Joseph Canteloube, Joseph Haas, Julius Severin, Karl Erb, Kathleen Ferrier, Leonard Hokanson, Lilli Paasikivi, Lorenzo Molajoli, Marian Anderson, Marianne Hirsti, Marilyn Horne, Marni Nixon, Maurice Emmanuel, Maurice Ravel, Max Gilbert, Noël Lee, Norman Del Mar, Norman Shetler, Olaf Bär, Paul Hindemith, Peter Cornelius, Peter Schreier, Peter Warlock, Phyllis Spurr, Ralf Gothoni, Regine Crespin, Richard Trunk, Roger VIgnoles, Rosario Bourdon, Rudolf Jansen, Ruth-Margret Pütz, Susan Dunn, Ulf Söderblom, Willem Pijper, William Primrose, Wolfgang Anheissercountermelody

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In preparation for the upcoming holiday, this week I offer a cross-section of art songs and arrangements of folk songs, not only from Germany, which is the epicenter of the Christmas Lied, but also France, Norway, the United States, Finland, England, and Spain The performers, recorded between 1927 and 2010, include Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Régine Crespin, Hermann Prey, Claudia Muzio, Elly Ameling, Marian Anderson, Ian Partridge, Karl Erb, Wolfgang Anheisser, Jan DeGaetani, Jorma Hynninen, Bernarda Fink, Olaf Bär, Susan Dunn, Kathleen Ferrier, and Bernard Kruysen, among many others, in songs by composers including, in part, Johannes Brahms, Joaquín Nin, Hugo Wolf, Peter Warlock, Claude Debussy, Charles Ives, and Paul Hindemith. The episode features several performances by my teacher, the esteemed accompanist John Wustman, who on Christmas Day celebrates his 90th birthday.

Links to my 2019 Christmas episodes:

Episode 13: Christmas with the Tenors (including everyone from Fritz Wunderlich to Georges Thill to Roland Hayes): www:countermelodypodcast.com/episode-13-christmas-with-the-tenors

Episode 14: Christmas Potpourri (including my choices for the six most depressing pop Christmas songs ever!): www.countermelodypodcast.com/episode-14-christmas-potpourri-ii-hard-try

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.” Occasional guests from the “business” (singers, conductors, composers, coaches, and teachers) lend their distinctive insights. 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. Bonus episodes available only to Patreon supporters are currently available, including a new extra episode further exploring today’s topic.