Tag Archives: Richard Bonynge

Episode 298. Verdi Duets

October 15, 2024African American Singers, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Forgotten Divas, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Singers of ColorAlceo Galliera, Alexandre Dumas, Anselmo Colzani, Arrigo Boito, Boris Khaikin, Edita Gruberová, Eleanor Steber, Falstaff, Francesco Maria Piave, Francesco Molinar-Pradelli, Franco Bonisolli, Friedrich Schiller, Giorgio Zancanaro, Giuseppe Verdi, Il Trovatore, Ingvar Wixell, Irina Arkhipova, Joan Sutherland, John Alexander, Judith Raskin, La Traviata, Leonard Bernstein, Leonard Warren, Lorin Maazel, Luigi Alva, Luisa Miller, Margherita Rinaldi, Mario del Monaco, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Montserrat Caballé, Otello, Regina Resnik, Riccardo Chailly, Richard Bonynge, Rigoletto, Rolando Panerai, Rosanna Carteri, Salvadore Cammarano, Sherrill Milnes, Thomas Schippers, Tullio Serafin, Victor Hugo, Vladislav Piavko, Walter Berry, Wilfrid Pelletier, William Shakespearecountermelody

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Last week, absorbed in preparations for my own birthday, I passed over the birthday of the great Giuseppe Verdi, born 10 October 1813. Two years ago I produced a pair of Verdi episodes, and today I feature the one first published as a bonus episode at that time, which features duets from Luisa Miller, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Otello, and Falstaff. In the spirit of my two recent episodes “Requiescat” and “In Pace,” I had the brilliant idea of highlighting great Verdi singers (and one conductor) who died in Octobers past, including: Joan Sutherland (October 10, 2010); Eleanor Steber (October 3, 1990); Montserrat Caballé (October 6, 2018); Vladislav Piavko (October 6, 2020); Rosanna Carteri (October 25, 2020); Leonard Bernstein (October 14, 1990); Walter Berry (October 27, 2000); Franco Bonisolli (October 30, 2003); Edita Gruberová (October 18, 2021); Ingvar Wixell (October 8, 2011); and Rolando Panerai (October 22, 2019). Heard alongside these musicians are the blazingly talented John Alexander, Sherrill Milnes, Leonard Warren, Irina Arkhipova, Mario del Monaco, Anselmo Colzani, Regina Resnik, Margherita Rinaldi, Giorgio Zancanaro, Luigi Alva, Judith Raskin, and Mattiwilda Dobbs. Live performances are featured alongside soundtrack recordings from three different operatic films, as well as a few rare studio recordings ensure that the great Giuseppe receives sufficient, if belated, accolades.

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 295. Requiescat

October 6, 2024Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Broadway, Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Pop Icons, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAntonio García Gutiérrez, Antonio Votto, April Cantelo, Benjamin Britten, Bob Wilson, Bruce Blunt, Carlo Pepoli, Celestina Casapietra, Christine Weidinger, Corneliu Murgu, Daphne, David Belasco, David Hemmings, David Willcocks, Deborah Roberts, Edo de Waart, Edward Heyman, Elena Mauti-Nunziata, Eric Crozier, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Fernández Shaw, Frank Eyton, Gaetano Donizetti, George Frideric Handel, Georges Bizet, Georges Rodenbach, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gregorio Allegro, Grigoire Iosub, Herbert Kegel, I Puritani, Il Trovatore, Ivor Gurney, Janis Paige, Jodie Devos, John Dryden, John Fletcher, John Luther Long, Johnny Green, Josef Gregor, Julius Korngold, Karan Armstrong, La jolie fille de Perth, La vida breve, Laurence Equilbey, Le nozze di Figaro, Lohengrin, Lorenzo da Ponte, Lucine Amara, Madama Butterfly, Manuel de Falla, Margaret Cable, Maria di Rohan, Max Rudolf, Miguel Gómez-Martínez, Nicolas Krüger, Paul Schott, Peter Phillips, Peter Warlock, Philip Heseltine, Pierre Beaumarchais, Reinhard Peters, Richard Bonynge, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Robert Sour, Rosemary Barnes, Roy Campbell, Ruth Hesse, Salvadore Cammarano, Sanda Şandru, Sesto Bruscantini, St John of the Cross, The Little Sweep, The Tallis Scholars, Vincenzo Bellini, Walter Scott, William Mathias, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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Today on Countermelody is the first of two memorial episodes paying tribute to singers that we’ve lost just in the past few months. Applying the completely arbitrary rubric of gender, today I am focusing on sopranos (with two mezzo-soprano interlopers); my next episode will carry the memorial torch for all the male singers who’ve recently died. Today’s subjects ranged in age from only 35 to nearly 102 at the time of their deaths, and from Broadway star to early music singer: Jodie Devos, April Cantelo, Lucine Amara, Celestina Casapietra, Christine Weidinger, Elena Mauti Nunziata, Deborah Roberts, and Sanda Şandru; lower-voiced interlopers include Janis Paige, Margaret Cable, and Ruth Hesse. If you know some of these names, you know that you will be some mellifluous serenading; if you don’t, prepare yourself for a wide range of music from Renaissance polyphony to American pop standards, with operatic selections ranging from Donizetti to Falla.

Episode 283. Betty Allen

August 25, 2024African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Black History Month 2024, Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Contraltos, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Opera in Translation, Singers of Color, Spirituals, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century OperaAdele Addison, Adolf Holst, Aida, Alexander Nevsky, Allen Ohmes, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Auguste Bey, Benjamin Matthews, Betty Allen, Carlo Pepoli, Carmen Balthrop, Charles Jennens, Charles Wendt, Christian Friedrich Henrici, David Garvey, Didier Gold, Ella Eure-Eaton, Eugene Ormandy, Four Saints in Three Acts, George Frideric Handel, Gertrude Stein, Giacomo Puccini, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Verdi, Gunther Schuller, Gwendolyn Bradley, Hildegard Hillebrecht, Horst Stein, I Puritani, Il tabarro, Israel in Egypt, Joel Thome, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Corigliano, John DeMain, John Ferrell, John Troutbeck, Joseph de Vaughn, Karl Forster, Karl Wagenfeld, Karl Weigl, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Matthäus-Passion, Nicolai Gedda, Nino Sanzogno, Paul Boepple, Picander, Praises and Prayers (Thomson), Richard Bonynge, Robert Mandell, Scott Joplin, Serge Prokofiev, St. Augustine, St. Matthew Passion, Treemonisha, Vincenzo Bellini, Virgil Thomson, Vladimir Lugovsky, William Penn, William Preucilcountermelody

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Betty Allen has been featured on countless omnibus Countermelody episodes, but it’s time for her to get her own episode! Born in Ohio on 17 March, 1927, she died at the age of 82 on 22 June 2009. Not only did Betty Allen possess a voice of significant power and amplitude, she was a superb musician who channeled her soul into her singing, using her superb technique to convey depth of meaning in all the music she sang. She also had a wide repertoire, excelling in opera, concert, and recital. Though her recorded legacy is relatively small, it is superb and significant. Today’s episode samples a cross-section of her recordings, both live and studio, and includes collaborations with Leonard Bernstein, Nicolai Gedda, Eugene Ormandy, Carmen Balthrop, Horst Stein, Leontyne Price, Virgil Thomson, John DeMain, Hildegard Hillebrecht, Richard Bonynge, and Adele Addison. She was a powerful force for good in the musical world, as an educator and advocate as well, succeeding Dorothy Maynor in leading the Harlem School of the Arts, where she served as both executive director and president. Many currently active singers have been touched by the stringent generosity of this fine artist, and it is my honor to pay tribute to her today.

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 227. A Golden Age Christmas

December 9, 2023African American Singers, Art Song, Great Tenors, Holiday Music, In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Renata Scotto, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Twentieth Century MusicAdolphe Adam, Alexis Contant, Alphonse Daudet, André d’Arkor, André Kostelanetz, Anton Guadagno, Arthur Bergh, Beverly Sills, Cesar Franck, Charles Gilibert, Clarence Dickinson, Dalton Baldwin, Dorothy Maynor, Douglas Gamley, Easthope Martin, Eddie Sauer, Elena Gerhardt, Elisabeth Schumann, Elly Ameling, Elsa Alsen, Erik Werba, Franz Xaver Gruber, Frederick G. Martens, George Frideric Handel, Giovanni Martinelli, Herbert von Karajan, Irmgard Seefried, Joan Sutherland, John Henry Hopkins Jr., John McCormack, Joseph Mohr, Leontyne Price, Lotte Lehmann, Louis H. Redner, Margarete Matzenauer, Martin Boelitz, Max Bloch, Max Reger, Nathaniel Shilkret, Olive Fremstad, Peter Cornelius, Phillips Brooks, Phyllis Curtin, Pietro Yon, Renata Tebaldi, Richard Bonynge, Richard Crooks, Richard Lert, Robert McGimsey, Rosario Bourdoncountermelody

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In the midst of our recent move, I came across a stash of old “mixtapes” (actually CDs and much other archival material. One such item which particularly moved me was one entitled “A Golden Age Christmas 2003” which I handed out to my colleagues and friends twenty years ago. Looking over the tracklist, I realized that this was a sort of early iteration of Countermelody: me sharing music that I particularly loved with people that I cared about. Today’s podcast uses as its basis that same CD (slightly trimmed in length) and features performances by a glorious group of singers ranging from Olive Fremstad, Charles Gilibert, and Margarete Matzenauer from the early years of the twentieth century to such later favorites as Elly Ameling, Beverly Sills, and Leontyne Price. I can’t guarantee that this episode will put you in the holiday spirit, but I sure hope it does!

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 206. Jerry Hadley

July 18, 2023Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Crossover, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Tenors, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlexander Borodin, Anthony Halstead, Arthur Rimbaud, Benjamin Britten, Candide, Carlo Rizzi, Charles Gounod, Charles Mackerras, Cosi fan tutte, Dawn Upshaw, Die tote Stadt, Die Zauberflöte, Edna Ferber, Elmer Rice, Emanuel Schikaneder, Eric Dalheim, Erich Korngold, Franz Lehár, Frederick Weatherly, Fritz Löhner-Beda, Gaetano Donizetti, George Forrest, Georges Bizet, Giuseppe Verdi, Gualtiero Negrini, Henry Lewis, James Levine, Jay Gorney, Jerome Kern, Jerry Hadley, John Mauceri, John McGlinn, Kismet, Kurt Weill, Langston Hughes, Leonard Bernstein, Les Illuminations, Lorenzo da Ponte, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paul Gemignani, Paul Knepler, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Richard Bonynge, Richard Wilbur, Robert Shaw, Robert Wright, Ruth Ann Swenson, Scott Bergeson, Seiji Ozawa, Sherman Edwards, Show Boat, Street Scene, William Boughton, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yevgeny Onegin, Yip Harburgcountermelody

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Jerry Hadley (16 June 1952 – 18 July 2007) is regarded by many as the most gifted American lyric tenor of the late 20th century. Last month he would have celebrated his 71st birthday. And today is the sixteenth anniversary of his untimely death. I knew Jerry well in the early 2000s when he was dating one of my best friends. Our friendship developed separately from that: in those years in which he was working at rebuilding his voice and career we worked together on a cross-section of his old and new repertoire. At the time of his death, he was no longer romantically involved with my friend, so he and I had drifted apart. Nevertheless, it hit me very, very hard, and I mourn his loss to this day. On that front, I have quite a few things to say about singers and mental illness, and the ruthlessness, implacability, and heartlessness of a profession which so often chews up the most vulnerable of us and spits them back out. When Jerry was at his best, his art sustained him, but the challenges ultimately became too much for him to face. But this episode is primarily a celebration: my primary objective is to present my friend at his exceptional best, in performances, both live and studio, which celebrate his voice, artistry, and spirit, performances which provided his public with some of the finest tenor singing they would ever hear, in that, or any other, era.

WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS A DISCUSSION OF SUICIDE AND SUICIDAL IDEATION.

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 171. November Birthday Gals

November 18, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Canadian Singers, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Happy Birthday, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Operetta, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAllen Rogers, Amelita Galli-Curci, André Kostelanetz, Andre Previn, Aniara (Blomdahl), Barbara Hendricks, Béla Bartók, Beverly Wolff, Bonnie Bramlett, Bonnie Raitt, Caterina Mancini, Chi Coltrane, Delaney Bramlett, Dora Leen, Dory Langdon Previn. kd lang, Emmerich Kálmán, Emmi Varasdy, Erik Linegren, Federico García Lorca, Felix Mendelssohn, Fernando Previtali, Francis Poulenc, Franz Schreker, Genevieve Touraine, Gerald Moore, Giuseppe Verdi, Gräfin Mariza, Harawi, Harry Martinson, Heinrich Heine, Henry Bishop, Irwin Gage, Jackson Browne, Jacques Offenbach, Joan Sutherland, Joaquín Valverde, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Prine, Joni Mitchell, Julia Hamari, Karl Engel, Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Kjerstin Dellert, La battaglia di Legnano, Lawrence Foster, Leon Russell, Louis Spohr, Lucia Popp, Malcolm Martineau, Mária Basilides, Maria Stader, Marie-Madeleine Petit, Marietta Simpson, Maurice Ravel, Michèle Command, Ned Rorem, Olivier Messiaen, Pierrette Alarie, Richard Bonynge, Robert Shaw, Salvatore Cammarano, Saramae Endich, Sylvester Stewart, Theodore Roethke, Tina Turner, Victoria de los Angeles, Werner Janssen, William Walton, William Wordsworth, Yvonne Kenny, Zoltán Kodálycountermelody

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Tomorrow morning I leave for three weeks and I’ve been desperately trying to come up with topics that would be a bit easier to produce while I’m away. What could be easier than birthdays for this month and next? Well… leave it to your intrepid producer to make that as complicated as it could be. But there’s a good reason: so many exceptional singers have birthdays this month and next! In fact, November is so chock full of such artists that I decided to focus exclusively on the Birthday Girls. And what a lineup! Iconic divas like Joan Sutherland and Victoria de los Ángeles; tragically short-lived singers like Saramae Endich and the beloved Lucia Popp; forgotten artists like Kjerstin Dellert, Caterina Mancini, and Geneviève Touraine; exceptional Black artists like Barbara Hendricks and Marietta Simpson: all are represented. And let’s not forget the pop divas, both celebrated (Tina Turner, Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt), and less well-remembered (Chi Coltrane, Bonnie Bramlett). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. So lift a glass, cut a piece of Geburtstagkuchen, and tune in to Countermelody in celebration of these exceptional women! [n.b. This episode was posted before the death of Ned Rorem, who will be properly commemorated in next week’s episode.]

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 91. Unforgotten (In Memoriam II)

May 30, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, Broadway, Comic Relief, Crossover, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mirella Freni, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Renata Scotto, Sylvia Sass, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersAl Jarreau, Anthony Payne, Antoine Hodge, Celia Cruz, Chick Corea, Christopher Plummer, Dmitri Shostakovich, Eleanor Parker, Giuseppe Verdi, Jane Manning, Jim Steinman, Joan Sutherland, Joan Weldon, Johnny Pacheco, Liza Lehmann, Lorenzo Anselmi, Maria Kouba, Mary Ellen Pracht, Mary Wilson, Maxim Shostakovich, Milva, Mirella Freni, Neal Davies, Oscar Hammerstein II, Pauline Tinsley, Pervis Staples, Renata Scotto, Richard Bonynge, Richard Haydn, Richard Rodgers, Robert Gard, Robert L. Larsen, Rudolf Kelterborn, Steuart Bedford, Sylvia Sass, The Staples Singers, Theodore Lambrinos, Veronica Dunne, Yevgeny Nesterenkocountermelody

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We continue our memorial tributes this week with the second of (at least) three episodes commemorating the recent deaths of singers and musicians who have helped make our existence a little more manageable, our world a bit more beautiful. From Milva to Rudolf Kelterborn, from Yevgeny Nesterenko to Mary Wilson, from Jane Manning to Antoine Hodge, may they all rest in peace and power. Above all, this episode is dedicated to George Floyd on the first anniversary of his murder.

The two Countermelody episodes from a year ago devoted to music of protest and emancipation:

www.countermelodypodcast.com/episode-37-no-more-slavery-chains

www.countermelodypodcast.com/episode-38-something-in-the-air

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.