Tag Archives: Robert Sour

Episode 469. Muriel and Angela: Together Again for the First Time

June 6, 2026African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Black History Month, Black History Month 2026, Broadway, Forgotten Divas, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Listeners' Favorites, Muriel Smith, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAlan Franks, Alan Freed, Angela Morley, Auyar Hosseini, Ben Weisman, Bert Weedon, Bill Griffiths, Bill McGuffie, Bonnie Benjamin, Buddy De Sylva, Cole Porter, Dave Stephenson, David Climie, Dorothy Fields, Edward Heyman, Frank Eyton, Franz Waxman, Fred Wise, Géo Koger, Geoffrey Parsons, George Gershwin, George Weiss, Girl Crazy, Harry Noble, Harvey Fuqua, Haven Gillespie, Hoagy Carmichael, Hugh Martin, Ira Gershwin, J. Fred Coots, Jack Goddard, Jay Livingston, Jimmy McHugh, Joe Muddel, John Turner, Johnny Green, Julian Bream, Jürg Amstein, Kay Twomey, Kim Gannon, Loulou Gasté, Muriel Smith, Ned Washington, Norman Gimbel, Paul Burkhard, Paul Mann, Ralph Blane, Ray Evans, Robert Gilbert, Robert Sour, Ronald Cass, Sonny Miller, Stephan Weiss, Ted Thorne, The French Doll, Three’s a Crowd, Tommy Whittle, Tony Kinsey, Wally Stott, Ziegfeld Folliescountermelody

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Today’s Pride episode foregrounds trans pioneer Angela Morley (10 March 1924 – 14 January 2009), who achieved great fame in her native England as a composer, arranger and conductor of popular music, becoming the music director for the British division of Philips records in 1953. She transitioned in 1970 and went public with her new name in 1972. She subsequently moved with her second wife Christine to the United States, where she was deeply involved in creating and arranging music for some of the most highly acclaimed movies and television shows of that era. She was twice nominated for an Oscar (the first out trans person to be so acclaimed) and won three Emmy Awards. In her association with Philips, she was the arranger and conductor for all the pop records made by African American icon Muriel Smith (23 February 1923 – 13 September 1985), probably best known for creating the title role in Oscar Hammerstein’s musical Carmen Jones. Smith moved to the UK in the early 1950s and achieved enormous acclaim and recognition for her stage portrayals in the West End of the British premieres of South Pacific and The King and I before returning to the United States in the early 1960s. These recordings, made between 1953 and 1955, are noteworthy both for Smith’s unique way of connecting with her musical material as well as for Morley’s lush and varied musical arrangement. When I first discovered Muriel Smith during the first year of Countermelody, I made it a goal to collect all her elusive yet remarkable Philips recordings, promising to celebrate that accomplishment with my listeners once I finally attained it. Just last week, I finally secured my last Morley/Smith 78. So here, finally, is that very special episode, replete with Smith’s intensely personal song stylings backed by the evocative arrangements of Angela Morley (for once identified in these recordings under her post-transition name).

Countermelody is the 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 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.

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 267. A Cavalcade of Pop Contraltos

June 21, 2024African American Singers, Art Song, Black History Month 2024, Broadway, Crossover, Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Tenors, In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Queer Pride, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersAdolph Green, Alain Oulman, Alexandre O’Neill, Alice Faye, Amália Rodrigues, Angela Bofill, Annie Lennox, Astor Piazzolla, Barbara, Bertice Reading, Bessie Smith, Betty Carter, Betty Comden, Bob Cranshaw, Bonnie Bramlett, Bronislaw Kaper, Burt Bacharach, Castreo Mota, Cher, Chico Feltosa, Clarence Williams, Claudio Monteverdi, Connee Boswell, Cyrus St. Clair, Damia, Domingos Carmarinha, Donald Pippin, Dorothy Fields, Ed Allen, Edward Heyman, Eric Tappy, F. Suarez Paz, Felicia Sanders, Floyd Cramer, Fran Landeman, Françoise Hardy, Frank Eyton, Freddie Mercury, Frédéric Chopin, George Martine, Georges Auric, Gian Francesco Busenello, Guy Bontempelli, Gwen Avery, Hank Cochran, Harlan Howard, Harold Marbern, Harry Carroll, Hector Console, Helen Deutsch, Hélène Cambier, Henri Lapointe, Herbig Mann, Irma Valecillo, Irving Berlin, Irving Joseph, J.C. Johnson, James Purdy, Jeri Southern, Jimmie Grier, Jimmy Cox, Jimmy Jones, Jimmy McHugh, Jodie Devos, John Lennon, Johnny Green, Joseph McCarthy, Joss Baselli, Jule Styne, Karen Carpenter, Kate Smith, Kurt Weill, L’incoronazione di Poppea, Leon Russell, Libby Holman, Lisa Kirk, Louis Poterat, Luiz Carlos Vinhas, Luther Henderson, Maria Bethânia, Marlene Dietrich, Martinho d’Assuncao, Mary Watkins, Max Colpet, Max Greger, Maxwell Anderson, Melanie Safka, Michele Trejo, Milva, Pablo Ziegler, Patsy Cline, Paul Sperry, Pete Seeger, Peter Knight, Peter Schekeryk, Pierre Nicolas, Polly Bergen, Prince, Raymond Leppard, Richard Carpenter, Richard Hundley, Robert Sour, Roy McCurdy, Sarah Vaughan, Sotiria Bellou, Tatiana Troyanos, Ted Grouya, Tina Turner, Tommy Wolf, Vassilis Tsitsanis, Wal-Berg, William Engvickcountermelody

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My intention this week to produce a joyous new episode further celebrating contraltos, was undermined by multiple deaths this past week in the musical world, including French pop icon Françoise Hardy, Swiss tenor Eric Tappy, American art song icon Paul Sperry, and R&B diva Angela Bofill, capped by the tragic demise of young Belgian coloratura soprano Jodie Devos of breast cancer at the age of only 35. The episode, thus, begins with brief musical excerpts from all of these recently departed artists. In the main episode, I spread the contralto net even wider than last time, focusing on low-voiced doyennes of popular song. We hear jazz singers (Betty Carter, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae); stars of stage, screen, and radio (Marlene Dietrich, Polly Bergen, Connee Boswell, Alice Faye, Lisa Kirk, Kate Smith); purveyors of the Blues (Bessie Smith, Bertice Reading); French cabaret singers (Damia, Barbara); fado, rebetika, and tango artists (Amália Rodrigues, Milva, Maria Bethânia, Sotiria Bellou); and late-20th century pop icons (Cher, Tina Turner, Karen Carpenter, Annie Lennox); with a few delightful surprises along the way. I should also note, in honor of Pride Month, that more than a few of these artists flaunted societal norms regarding their affectional preferences, living either furtively or openly at a time when such expressions could have serious consequences. I love putting this kind of episode together and I hope that you enjoy the kaleidoscopic sounds that emerge from the throats of these deep-voiced pop divas.

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.