Tag Archives: Robert Katscher

Episode 270. Eleanor Steber Revisited

July 5, 2024Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Crossover, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Queer Pride, Rescue Mission, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAl Goodman, Al Vann, Alexandre Dumas fils, Alfred Bachelet, Allen Rogers, Augustus Toplady, Barron Smith, Bernard Zaslav, Brian Sullivan, Buddy DeSylva, Carlo Gozzi, Carlo Zangarini, Cesare Sterbini, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Claude Debussy, David Belasco, David Broekman, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Dimitri Mitropoulos, DuBose Heyward, Édouard Guinand, Edwin Biltcliffe, Eleanor Steber, Eugène Adénis-Colombeau, Francesco Maria Piave, Francis Scott Key, Frank Loesser, Frederick Flaxington Harker, Fritz Stiedry, George Gershwin, Giacomo Puccini, Gian Carlo Menotti, Giangiacom Guelfi, Gioachino Rossini, Giovanni Battista Guarini, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Verdi, Guelfo Civinini, Hector Berlioz, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Hugo Wolf, Igor Kipnis, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Ira Gershwin, James Melton, Jean-Philippe Rameau, John Stafford Smith, Juan López de Úbeda, Jussi Bjorling, L’enfant prodigue, La Fanciulla del West, La Traviata, Les nuits d’été, Lilla Kalman, Lohengrin, Maytime (Romberg). Harold Barlow, Nelson Eddy, Oklahoma!, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paul Heyse, Pembroke Davenport, Pierre Beaumarchais, Porgy and Bess, Renato Simoni, Richard Rodgers, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Rida Johnson Young, Robert K. Evans, Robert Katscher, Rosalind Elias, Rupert Brooke, Samuel Barber, Sigmund Romberg, Sonya Monsoff, Spanisches Liederbuch, Sterling Hunkins, Théophile Gautier, Thomas Hastings, Turandot, Vanessa (Barber), Where’s Charley?, Wilfrid Pelletier, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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I sat in my apartment in Berlin on the Fourth of July wondering how, after the events of this past Monday, I can possibly pay tribute to our nation as it “celebrated” its birthday. Then it hit me: since I would never in a million years produce an episode of patriotic musical material, why not pay tribute to a great American singer instead? I had already been planning an upcoming bonus episode on ELEANOR STEBER, the singer I consider to be one of the greatest (if not the greatest) soprano that our country has ever produced! Nearly two years ago, with the help of my dear friend Michelle Oesterle, who was Eleanor’s step-daughter, I produced an episode dedicated to her; today’s episode will not delve so much into the (still-controversial) person that Eleanor was, but rather offer a cross-section, over the course of more than 40 years, of the wide variety of styles and repertoire in which Steber excelled. Who else could traverse a range of repertoire from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Mozart, Rameau to Wagner, Berlioz to Romberg with such ease and joyful authority? Not only do I explore her longevity, I explore her unparalleled prowess as a vocal technician; as well as her well-documented bad treatment by the Metropolitan Opera and its then-general manager, Rudolf Bing. I also look at the recordings that Steber and her then-husband, Michelle’s father, produced on their own ST/AND label in the early sixties, and then hear Steber sing some quintessentially American music from classic musicals. Along the way, I consider some serious topics, including betrayal, alcoholism, and the power of embedded memory. Finally, I consider the possibility that Eleanor Steber’s celebrated portrayal of Minnie in La fanciulla del West might just offer a possible solution for the divisiveness and political turmoil in which our country currently finds itself. Featured guest singers on the episode include Nelson Eddy, Brian Sullivan, Rosalind Elias, and Jussi Björling; musical collaborators include Dimitri Mitropoulos, Igor Kipnis, Allen Rogers, Fritz Stiedry, and her frequent concert and radio collaborators Howard Barlow and Edwin Biltcliffe.

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 247. Sarah Pillow Introduces Eileen Farrell (Listeners’ Favorites)

March 5, 2024Art Song, Broadway, Comic Relief, Crossover, Eileen Farrell, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Richard Wagner, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century OperaAdolph Green, Alec Wilder, André Kostelanetz, Andre Previn, Betty Comden, Buddy DeSylva, Charles Fox, Claude Debussy, Depuis le jour, Die Walküre, Dory Langdon, Dory Langdon Previn, Dory Previn, Edvard Grieg, Eileen Farrell, George Gershwin, Gian Carlo Menotti, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustave Charpentier, Harold Arlen, Helen Traubel, House of Flowers, Ira Gershwin, James Agee, Johnny Mercer, Jule Styne, Knoxville Summer of 1915, La forza del destino, Leonard Bernstein, Londonderry Air (Danny Boy), Loonis McGlohon, Lorenz Hart, Luther Henderson, Marc Wagnon, Maurice Ravel, Milton Rogers, Mitchell Parish, My Funny Valentine, Norman Gimble, On the Town, Oscar Hammerstein II, Peer Gynt, Percy Faith, Peter DeRose, Renato Cellini, Richard Rodgers, Richard Wagner, Robert Farnon, Robert Katscher, Samuel Barber, Sarah Pillow, The Consul, The Lamp Is Low, Tony Green, Truman Capote, Victor Herbert, William Engvick, William Lawescountermelody

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My dear friend and colleague soprano Sarah Pillow introduces one of her favorite Countermelody programs, which I repost as the first of this month’s Listeners’ Favorites episodes. Since Sarah is herself an enormously eclectic singer, it’s entirely fitting that she should choose to foreground Eileen Farrell. The American dramatic soprano Eileen Farrell (1920–2002) was one of the finest and most versatile singers the United States has ever produced. Her singing career lasted more than fifty years, and this episode covers the entire chronological range of that career, from her early work as a radio singer in the 1940s to her final pop albums in the 1990s. While the episode focuses on her crossover work (and includes work by, among others, Harold Arlen, Jule Styne, Alec Wilder, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, as heard on two of her lesser-known pop albums with Percy Faith and the late André Previn), we also sample her opera and concert work, with examples from Verdi and Wagner to Debussy and Charpentier, to Barber and Menotti. A late reunion with her favorite conductor Leonard Bernstein caps the episode. In all her singing Farrell combines ease of delivery and a relaxed, insouciant response to the words and music with a vocal and interpretive precision that inevitably strikes a bullseye. Bow down to the Queen of Crossover, nay, the Queen of Song!

Episode 116. Pop Songs by Lieder Singers

November 19, 2021African American Singers, Behind the Iron Curtain, Broadway, Comic Relief, Crossover, Great Baritones, Mezzo Madness, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Singers of Color, Sylvia SassA Little Night Music, Allegro (Rodgers & Hammerstein), Andre Previn, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Andrzej Hiolski, Anna Moffo, Anne Sofie von Otter, Anneliese Rothenberger, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Astor Piazzolla, Barbara Hendricks, Brad Mehldau, Brigitte Fassbaender, Broadway, Bryn Terfel, Buddy DeSylva, Claude François, Cole Porter, Consuelo Velazquez, crossover, Dieter Reith, Donald Gramm, Duke Ellington, Eduard Künneke, Elly Ameling, Ennio Morricone, Evelyn Lear, Felicia Weathers, Franz Grothe, Frieder Weissmann, Fritz Wunderlich, George London, Gerard Souzay, Gloria Davy, Grace Bumbry, Guido Masanetz, Harold Arlen, Harry Warren, Heikki Sarmanto, Helen Donath, Hermann Prey, J. Fred Coots, Jacques Revaux, Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, Jean-Philippe Collard-Neven, Jerzy Harald, Johnny Green, Joni Mitchell, José Van Dam, Jule Styne, Jürgen Hermann, Karita Mattila, Kim Borg, Klaus Donath, Kurt Weill, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Lotte Lehmann, Louis van Dijk, Mack Gordon, Maxwell Anderson, Monty Alexander, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paul Bonneau, Paul Daniel, Peter Cetera, Peter Schreier, Péter Wolf, pop standards, Regine Crespin, Richard Rodgers, Richard Tauber, Robert Katscher, Roberta Alexander, Roland Shaw, Skitch Henderson, South Pacific, Stephen Sondheim, Sylvia Sass, Thomas Stewart, West Side Story, Willi Stech, Yip Harburgcountermelody

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This week I feature nearly a century’s worth of recordings of pop music by singers who also, and in some cases primarily, were great singers of art song. Many of my favorite singers figure into the mix, including Hermann Prey (who was the inspiration for this episode), Grace Bumbry, Helen Donath, Roberta Alexander, Elly Ameling, Peter Schreier, Lotte Lehmann, Gérard Souzay, Brigitte Fassbaender, Bryn Terfel, Richard Tauber, José van Dam, Peter Schreier, Leontyne Price, Donald Gramm, and many, many others. They perform everything from Broadway standards to jazz to Deutsche Schlager to tangos to the Great American Songbook to 80s power ballads. This episode was such a joy to put together and I hope that you will enjoy this cornucopia of vocal and interpretive bounty.