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On February 10th, our beloved diva Leontyne Price celebrated her 98th birthday. Of course she is recognized for her performances of the operas of Verdi, but in my opinion, she was even more suited, uniquely so, to the music of Richard Strauss. Sadly, she only sang one operatic role by Strauss, but we can be grateful that she consistently programmed his Lieder over the course of her long career. I offer you as complete a selection of Leontyne Price (assisted by her able collaborative pianist David Garvey) singing Strauss as you are likely to find anywhere, including live performances from Salzburg, St. Paul, and Carnegie Hall from between 1975 and 1991, as well as excerpts from two of her most beautifully-sung studio recordings, one from 1959, the other from 1979. The episode is capped with two of her earliest (and finest) performances of two songs from the Vier letzte Lieder, both from March 1971, one in Chicago with Carlo Maria Giulini, and the other from Carnegie Hall with Stanislaw Skrowaczewski.
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.