Tag Archives: Rued Langgaard

Episode 302. The Haunted Opera House, 2024 Edition



Two years ago for Halloween, I presented the first of my “Haunted Opera House” episodes. At the time, I had such a plethora of creepy musical material that I produced a bonus episode of material that otherwise would have ended up in the dung heap (like the body of Faust at the end of Schnittke’s Faust Cantata, which closes the episode). We also hear music from Damn Yankees featuring the red-hot Gwen Verdon; Dvořák’s Rusalka (a stunning duet with Teresa Stratas and Gwendolyn Killebrew); Respighi’s comic opera Belfagor (in which a devil [Lajos Miller] encounters his superior in a cunning young woman [Sylvia Sass]; Ernest Bloch’s Macbeth (in which Inge Borkh gives a luminous performance of Lady Macbeth’s Sleepwalking Scene); Willem Pijper’s strange musical drama based on the medieval legend of Halewijn, a Bluebeard of the Lowlands; La Chute de la Maison Usher, (the climax of Claude Debussy’s incomplete opera based on Edgar Allan Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher); and Antikrist, Rued Langgaard’s unique, indescribable, and nearly unstageable mystery play. But it is Iva Bittová’s gleefully deranged performance of Alfred Schnittke’s gruesome Faust tango which will, I predict, find its way into your nightmares!

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 209. Nordic Tracks I: Orchestral Songs



Inspired by my holiday in Denmark last week, today I inaugurate a new series on Countermelody called “Nordic Tracks,” featured music from Scandinavia and the Nordic countries. There has always been a wealth of vocal music from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland, and in this episode I focus exclusively on orchestral songs, a genre which I also featured in a special episode last fall. Of course there are the usual standbys by Grieg and Sibelius and Nielsen, but also featured is the work of less-celebrated composers, beginning with the romantics and post-romantics (Wilhelm Stenhammar, Ture Rangström) and through to the present day (Aulis Sallinen, the late Kaija Saariaho). The singers are some of the greatest ever to raise their voices in song, including Kirsten Flagstad, Soile Isokoski, Birgit Nilsson, Hugo Hasslo, Elisabeth Söderström, Eric Sædén, Karita Mattila, Anne Sofie von Otter, and many others. It’s highly likely that you will encounter singers (Gitta-Maria Sjöberg, Kirsten Schultz) and composers (Fartein Valen, Laci Boldemann, Poul Schierbeck) that you may have never heard before (I know I did!) Oh, yes, and it’s all topped off with a bit of Björk!

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.