Tag Archives: Richard Wilbur

Episode 416. Larry Kert (World AIDS Day 2015)

December 2, 2025Broadway, Canadian Singers, Comic Relief, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Interview, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Twentieth Century MusicAl Jolson, Alan Jay Lerner, Anita Ellis, Anthony Newley, Arthur Bell, Babes in Arms, Bob Merrill, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Burton Lane, Candide, Carol Lawrence, Charles Strouse, Chita Rivera, Cole Porter, Company, David Lewis, Doc Severinson, Donald Pippin, Edward Albee, Elliott Lawrence, Eric Stern, Fred Ebb, George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Harold Hastins, Harry Woods, Harvey Evans, Harvey Fierstein, Ira Gershwin, Jeff Leyton, Jerry Herman, John Kander, John Trivers, Johnny Carson, Johnny Mercer, La Cage aux Folles, La Strada, Larry Kert, Leonard Bernstein, Leslie Bricusse, Let ‘Em Eat Cake, Liza Minnelli, Lorenz Hart, Luther Henderson, Luther Rix, Madeline Kahn, Martin Charnin, Maureen McGovern, Michael Tilson Thomas, Mimi Hines, New York New York, Nymph Errant, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Paul Gemignani, Rags, Ralph Burns, Richard Rodgers, Richard Wess, Richard Whitmore, Richard Wilbur, Robert E. Swanson, Robert Urbanowicz, Shall We Dance, Spring Is Here, St. Louis Woman, Stanley Lebowsky, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, Stop the World – I Want to Get Off, Susan Browning, Teresa Stratas, The Goldwyn Follies, Truman Capote, West Side Story, Will Rogerscountermelody

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Today is World AIDS Day, if anyone needed to be reminded. Though I considered doing a compendium episode of broad scope commemorating a handful of the thousands upon thousands of musicians that succumbed to AIDS, I decided instead to focus on one, Broadway icon Larry Kert, who created the role of Tony in West Side Story and was subsequently an early Robert in Sondheim’s Company, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. On December 5, we observe his 95th birthday. In between these career highs, he was involved in a number of notorious Broadway flops (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, La Strada, and Rags) from each of which we hear rare recordings. And yet during his life, superstardom eluded him. It’s quite likely that some of this had to do with him having lived his life openly and unapologetically as a gay man in a time when most comparable figures were deeply in the closet. But Larry was also a familiar figure on television of that era, appearing as a guest star on popular series, on game shows, on commercials, and as a particular favorite of Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, in which he made 29 guest appearances. He also was often seen as a replacement in and on tours of popular musicals such as Cabaret, Two Gentlemen of Verona, I Can Get It for You Wholesale, and, finally, La Cage aux Folles, to name just a few. In that last show, his frail health meant that he had to miss significant numbers of performances, though he continued to make important appearances on stage and on recordings until just shortly before his death on June 5, 1991 at the age of 60. On the episode, we hear him with such legendary co-stars as Teresa Stratas, Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Madeline Kahn, Maureen McGovern, Mimi Hines, and Harvey Evans, as well as his WSS co-star Carol Lawrence. We also trace the support and influence he received over the course of his career from his trusted friend Martin Charnin, who played a sometimes surprising role in Kert’s career. Though Larry Kert felt that he never received the recognition he deserved, this episode demonstrates how he stood at the forefront of all Broadway tenors of his generation, as well as past and future ones.

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 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 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 51. Legitimate Broadway (Crossover Classics VII)

September 6, 2020African American Singers, Broadway, Crossover, Needle Drop, OperettaAlexander Borodin, Alfred Drake, Anderson), Anne Jeffreys, Barbara Cook, Bitter-Sweet (Coward), Blossom Time (Friml), Brenda Lewis, Brian Sullivan, Candide, Carol Brice, Claramae Turner, Cris Groenendaal, Dennis King, Edvard Grieg, Eleanor Steber, Elmer Rice, Erie Mills, Follies (Sondheim), Frank Loesser, Franz Allers, Franz Lehár, Fritzi Scheff, George Dvorsky, George Forrest, George Metaxa, Gian Carlo Menotti, Helen Goes to Troy, Helena Bliss, Helena Scott, Henry Calvin, Inia Te Wiata, Irra Petina, Jacques Offenbach, Jan Kiepura, Jarmila Novotna, Jeanne Lehman, Jerome Kern, Jo Sullivan, John Brownlee, John McGlinn, John Reardon, John Stanford, Kalem Kermoyan, Kismet, Kurt Weill, Langston Hughes, Lawrence Tibbett, Lee Venora, Leo Robin, Leonard Bernstein, Licia Albanese, Lotte Lenya, Lydia Fredericks, Marc Blitzstein, Marie Powers, Marta Eggerth, Maurice Abravanel, Mlle Modiste (Herbert), Noël Coward, Norman Cordon, Oscar Hammerstein II, Patricia Neway, Peggy Wood, Polyna Stoska, Rebecca Luker, Regina, Richard Banke, Richard Wilbur, Robert Rounseville, Robert Weede, Robert Wright, Rudolf Friml, Samuel Krachmalnick, September Song (Weill, Sigmund Romberg, Song of Norway, Stephen Sondheim, Street Scene, Sylvan Levin, Tandy MacKenzie, The Consul (Menotti), The Girl in Pink Tights, The Happiest Girl in the World, The Medium (Menotti), The Most Happy Fella, The New Moon (Romberg), The Vagabond King (Friml), Very Warm for May, Victor Herbert, Walter Cassel, Yip Harburgcountermelody

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Today’s topic is operetta and opera on Broadway. From the early days of the Great White Way, a large amount of the musical theatre repertoire was actually operetta. I begin with a discussion of the composers of such operettas (Victor Herbert, Rudolf Friml, and Sigmund Romberg, with a significant nod to Jerome Kern as well) and the singers who appeared in those works. Then I present an array of works adapted from the classical repertoire (primarily Wright and Forrest’s Song of Norway and Kismet), followed by examples of that curious hybrid, Broadway opera, including Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium and The Consul; Marc Blitzstein’s Regina; Frank Loesser’s The Most Happy Fella; Kurt Weill and Langston Hughes’s Street Scene; and Leonard Bernstein’s Candide. A wide range of singers is included, some celebrated (Lotte Lenya, Patricia Neway, Barbara Cook, Marta Eggerth, Lawrence Tibbett), some less so (Helena Scott, Lee Venora, Fritzi Scheff, Robert Rounseville), the careers of some of whom stretch back to the beginning of the century, but all singers which straddled the fence between musicals, operetta, and opera. But rest assured: this is no dry history lesson: it’s a fast-paced romp through a fun and fascinating topic!

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!