Tag Archives: Thomas Bagwell

Episode 256. Mari Lyn’s Golden Treasury of Chutzpah (Alternate Universe Bel Canto III)

April 1, 2024Alternate Universe Bel Canto, Comic Relief, Forgotten Divas, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Interview, Needle Drop, Singers in Old Age, Verismo, Voiceless WondersBelgravia Philharmonia Symphonica Orchestra, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Golden Treasury of Song, Howard Salat, Mari Lyn, Marilyn Sosman, Natalia de Andrade, Thomas Bagwellcountermelody

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Many of my listeners look forward with eager anticipation to my annual April Fool’s episodes, and today’s packs a particularly powerful punch! A few months back my friend Thomas Bagwell, a perpetual friend of the podcast, told me he had a dub of a rare recording on Philips Records [sic] by the New York-based soprano Mari Lyn, well known as the Singing Hostess of the 1980s public access cable television program The Golden Treasury of Song. On the spurious LP she sings Verdi and Puccini arias accompanied (sort of) by her artistic collaborator Howard Salat (of the Local 802) leading the “Belgravia Philharmonia Symphonica Orchestra” [sic]. If any of you remember Ms. Lyn from my previous Alternate Universe Bel Canto episodes, you will know that she packs a vocal punch that can leave you reeling (and your ears ringing!) I actually convinced Thomas to get on the horn with me yesterday from Copenhagen and we recorded a spirited conversation in which we discuss everything from Easter bonnets to theater organs to cranky Unitarians to defective blenders to aging ingénues to Lee Press-On Nails to Oscar the Grouch to Queens, Europe to the power of parlando before we get down to the true business of the day: singing the praises of our alternate universe diva, Marilyn Sosman (known to vocal aficionados the world over as Mari Lyn), she of the indestructible vocal bands, lofty wigs, and life-affirming (and -altering) costume jewelry. This whimsical episode strips Mari Lyn of her wigs, gowns, and accountrements (in a figurative sense only) leaving her only with her most powerful asset: that legendary Sherman tank of a voice. Armed with that voice, she refashions some of the most popular arias of Verdi and Puccini, and, thanks to her imaginative use of the Italian language; her refusal to conform to the strait-jacket of the printed page; and her idiosyncratic use of pitch, rhythm, and vocal color; renders them unrecognizable in the process. Not only is the music transformed, but so are we, her fans, who listen on in horrified fascination at what she will think of next. Evviva Mari Lyn!

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 248. Thomas Bagwell Introduces Bernard Kruysen (Listeners’ Favorites)

March 8, 2024Art Song, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Baritones, Interview, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersBanalités (Poulenc), Bernard Kruysen, Charles d’Orléans, Claude Debussy, Edmond Rostand, Emmanuel Chabrier, Felix de Nobel, Francis Poulenc, Gabriel Faure, Guillaume Apollinaire, Heinrich Heine, Helmut Kahlhöfer, Helmut Winschermann, Jan Mul, Jean-Charles Richard, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Marx, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Ivanovich Grekov, Nikolaus Lenau, Noël Lee, Norman Treigle, Paul Heyse, Quirinus van Blankenburg, Robert Schumann, Stéphane Mallarmé, Tami Petty, Thomas Bagwell, Tristan L’Hermitecountermelody

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One of my best and truest friends in the business is the phenomenal pianist, coach, and conductor Thomas Bagwell. Our friendship really developed back in the days when we curated a series of recitals for the Lotte Lehmann Foundation, which Thomas also (brilliantly) accompanied. Since then we are both carving out different lives for ourselves on the other side of the pond, me as your intrepid Berlin-based podcaster, and Thomas as a valued coach and conductor on the music staff of the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen. Thomas is no doubt remembered by my listeners for his scintillating commentary on my Marni Nixon tribute episode last season. Years ago there was one a peculiar Facebook questionnaire about what would be the last thing you grabbed as you fled your burning home and Thomas answered, “My Bernard Kruysen records.” At that time, I knew the Dutch singer Bernard Kruysen (1933-2000) by name only but I had no clear idea of who he was as an artist. Because of Thomas’s enthusiasm, however, I began my own collection of Bernard Kruysen recordings, from which followed this episode, first heard in 2021, so it is only appropriate that Thomas should be reintroducing this episode today. Bernard Kruysen’s voice exemplifies that now nearly extinct vocal category, the baryton martin. I discuss just what constitutes a baryton martin and why in his prime Kruysen such was an ideal representative. I also discuss the larger question of the performance of the French art song, the mélodie, and why Kruysen was also exceptional in this regard, using as an example his 1960s recorded performances of three complete song cycles by Claude Debussy, Gabriel Fauré, and Francis Poulenc. I also feature the artist singing art songs by Schumann and Mussorgsky and works by Bach, Quirinus van Blankenburg, and Jan Mul. Thomas’s introduction is prefaced with a live recording from those Lotte Lehmann Foundation concerts back in 2011, this one featuring our phenomenal friend, spinto soprano Tami Petty.

Episode 202. William Parker (Pride 2023)

June 23, 2023Art Song, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Baritones, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Protest Songs, Queer Pride, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century OperaAaron Copland, Alan Marks, Anthony Dean Griffey, Anthony Martin, Bruce Lamott, Caligrammes, Charles d’Orléans, Charles Ives, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Claude Debussy, Dalton Baldwin, David Bergman, David Bowles, David Tayler, Dominick Argento, Donald Wheelock, Drew Hemenger, Elizabeth Blumenstock, Francis Poulenc, Gabriel Faure, Gerald Finzi, Gerard van Blerk, Gonzalo Ruiz, Guillaume Apollinaire, Helmine von Chézy, Henri Duparc, Jean de La Ville de Mirmont, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John B. Tabb, John Jacob Niles, John Musto, Kurt Ollmann, L’horizon chimérique, Lanford Wilson, Lee Hoiby, Lisa Weiss, Ludwig Hölty, Marc Shachman, Melvin Dixon, Ned Rorem, Nicholas McGegan, Old American Songs, Pierre Jean de Bélanger, Rafael Campo, Robert de Bonnières, Rudolf Jansen, Salomon August Andrée, Sarah Davol, Stephen Foster, Steven Lehning, Summer and Smoke, Susan Snively, Tennessee Williams, The Andrée Exposition, Thomas Bagwell, Thomas Hardy, Thomas Merton, William Huckaby, William Parker, Witter Bynnercountermelody

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Today’s episode celebrates the life and legacy of lyric baritone William Parker (05 August 1943 – 29 March 1993), the finest American recitalist of the late twentieth century and one of the most beautiful baritone voices I have ever heard. His mastery of the German, American (and, especially for me, French) song repertoire sends one scrambling back to the earlier days of recorded sound to find suitable parallels. Though we had many friends and colleagues in common, I never met him personally. But this week, at my request as I was preparing this episode, many who loved him have been in touch with me: family, friends, colleagues, lovers, and they have provided me with a wealth of beautiful reminiscences and memories of their beloved Will. I have also compiled a setlist for the episode which displays the full breadth and depth of his artistry. At the end of his life, Will, dying of AIDS, created an initiative called the AIDS Quilt Songbook, to which some of the greatest composers and poets of the day provided songs and texts. Like the AIDS Quilt itself, this is a living legacy which continues to expand and grow. There are numerous works from the Songbook in its various iterations, performed not just by Will, but also by Kurt Ollmann and Anthony Dean Griffey, which serve not only as a painful reminder of an entire generation lost to AIDS, but also as a moving reminder of the LGBTQ+ community’s ability to face down ignorance, hatred, prejudice, even death, and in the end not only to triumph, but to provide an example for present and future generations of our resilience.

Episode 189. Marni Nixon

March 24, 2023Art Song, Crossover, Full-Figured Baroque, In Memoriam, Interview, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century MusicAlan Jay Lerner, Alfred Newman, Allegro (Rodgers and Hammerstein), An Affair to Remember, Andre Previn, Andrew Gold, Anton Webern, Armen Guzelimian, Arnold Schoenberg, Arthur Gleghorn, Audrey Hepburn, Barbara Shik, Boomerang, Chants d’Auvergne, Charles Ives, Charles Prince, Cissy Houston, Claude Debussy, Daniel Roth, Deborah Kerr, Dorothy Remsen, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Emanuel Schikaneder, Ernest Gold, Frank Wedekind, Frederick Loewe, Gabriel Faure, Gary William Friedman, George Antheil, Harold Adamson, Harry Warren, Hildegard Jone, Igor Stravinsky, Jack Marshall, Jerome Kern, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Mauceri, John McCabe, Joseph Canteloube, Leo McCarey, Leonard Bernstein, Leonard Stein, Lincoln Mayorga, Lionel Newman, Lotte Lehmann, Louis Untermeyer, Mace Barrett, Margaret Whiting, Marni Nixon, Mary Poppins, Maurice Maeterlinck, Melissa Errico, My Fair Lady, Natalie Wood, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paul Verlaine, Pierrot lunaire, Richard Dehmel, Richard M. Sherman, Richard Rodgers, Robert B. Sherman, Robert Craft, Robert Stolz, Sheila Smith, Stan Keen, Stephen Sondheim, Susan Egan, Ted Thurston, The King and I, The Sound of Music, Thomas Bagwell, Tiger Haynes, Tutti Camarata, Vera Schwarz, Victor Griffin, Wesley Kuhnle, West Side Story, Will Holtcountermelody

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Today, in another of my Women’s History Month episodes, I present to you the extraordinarily versatile, even chameleon-like singer and actor Marni Nixon (22 February 1930 – 24 July 2016), who is no doubt best-known today as the so-called “Ghostess with the Mostest.” Born into a musical family in California, she became involved from an early age with the movies, and by a marvelous set of circumstances became The Voice for a number of Hollywood actresses not known for their singing voices, among them Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. Her skill in matching the vocal and speech characteristics of each of these performers is exceptional, but she was so much more than that. She pioneered the work of many 20th century giants, including Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Charles Ives, and Anton Webern. She hosted a local Seattled children’s television program called Boomerang that netted her four Emmy Awards. She performed on opera stages and concert platforms around the world. She recorded widely, everything from Mary Poppins to Pierrot Lunaire, and in the mid-1970s was the first singer to perform and record Schoenberg’s cabaret songs, his so-called Brettl-Lieder, works that are now standard repertoire. She studied with Viennese soprano Vera Schwarz as well as the iconic Lotte Lehmann, and actively performed and recorded for more than 50 years. Her late career saw an extraordinary return to the musical stage, where she starred in both new work and revivals both on and Off-Broadway. Guiding us along the trajectory of her career is my good friend Thomas Bagwell, currently a coach and conductor at The Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen, who was a colleague and good friend of Marni Nixon’s for the last 25 years of her life. His anecdotes and reminscences are interspersed with examples (often familiar, more often rare) of Marni’s vast recorded legacy, which give testament not only to her versatility, but to her flawless musicality and depth of expression.