Tag Archives: William Grant Still

Episode 260. Robert McFerrin Revisited

May 2, 2024African American Singers, Black History Month 2024, Claudia Muzio, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, SpiritualsAida, Alfred Hay Malotte, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Avery Robinson, Bobby McFerrin, Giuseppe Verdi, Hall Johnson, Harry T. Burleigh, Marl Young, Norman Johnson, Robert McFerrin, Spirituals, Sylvia Olden Lee, Vincenzo Bellezza, William Grant Still, William Lawrencecountermelody

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In the very first season of Countermelody I presented an episode which featured both Lawrence Winters and Robert McFerrin, two of the most significant baritones of the twentieth century, and both trail-blazing African American singers. Last week I revisited the life, career, and recordings of Lawrence Winters, and this week, as a companion to that episode, I present today his contemporary Robert McFerrin (19 March 1921 – 24 November 2006), the first African American male to sing at the Metropolitan Opera. He made his first appearance with the company as Amonasro in Aida on Thursday January 27, 1955, twenty days after Marian Anderson’s legendary debut there. McFerrin sang only ten performances of three roles under the banner of the Met, eight of them in the house, and two on tour. His final performance there, also as Amonasro, took place almost exactly two years after his debut there. Five months later in June 1957, McFerrin went into the studios of Riverside Records, and, accompanied by the pianist Norman Johnson, and over the course of two days, recorded this legendary album of spirituals, his only solo album, which is heard in its entirety in this episode. I am not alone in considering this a classic of the genre. My presentation of all fourteen tracks of this album is supplemented by three recordings that McFerrin made in 1946 for the short-lived Sunbeam Records label, the brainchild of composer and arranger Marl Henderson Young, who provides the accompaniments. At the other end of the spectrum is a guest appearance that McFerrin, Sr. made on a 1990 recording by his son, superstar singer, composer, and arranger Bobby McFerrin. I also feature a recently unearthed live recording of McFerrin singing Amonasro live in Napoli in 1956, as well as a moving recording of McFerrin performing live in Washington DC in 1995, after having suffered a debilitating stroke that left him virtually unable to speak. Nevertheless, the song, however compromised, was still in his heart.

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 259. Lawrence Winters Revisited

April 27, 2024African American Singers, Art Song, Black History Month 2024, Broadway, Crossover, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Schubert, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, VerismoAaron Copland, Anacreon, Andrea Chénier, Anny Schlemm, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Armand Silvestre, Carlo Pepoli, Charles F. Keary, Cole Porter, Der Bajazzo, Francesco Cimmino, Francesco Maria Piave, Franz Schubert, Franz von Bruchmann, Frederick Delius, Gabriel Faure, George Frideric Handel, Gerhard Gregor, Giacomo Rossi, Giovanni Battista Guarini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustave Flaubert, Hans-Arno Simon, Harry Hermann, Henri Grémont, Hermann Spitz, Hermann von Gilm, Hérodiade, I Puritani, Il Trovatore, János Kulka, Jerome Kern, Jules Massenet, Julius Rudel, Karl Henckell, Koanga, Langston Hughes, Lawrence Winters, Luigi Illica, Oscar Hammerstein II, Pagliacci, Paolo Tosti, Paul Milliet, Pietro Metastasio, Richard Rodgers, Richard Strauss, Rida Johnson Young, Rigoletto, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Salvadore Cammarano, Show Boat, Sigmund Romberg, South Pacific, Stanford Robinson, Troubled Island, Umberto Giordano, Verna Arvey, Victor Hugo, Vincenzo Bellini, Walter Martin, Wilhelm Schüchter, William Grant Still, Willy Hoffmanncountermelody

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During the first season of Countermelody I presented the great African American baritone Lawrence Winters in an episode which paired him with his contemporary Robert McFerrin. Today Winters (born Lawrence Whisonant in South Carolina on 12 November 1915 and died of cancer in Hamburg at age 49 on 24 September 1965) returns center stage to Countermelody in a program which focuses on his prowess in standard operatic repertoire and art song. After vocal study with Todd Duncan at Howard University, Winters toured for several years with the Eva Jessye Choir before enlisting as a member of the Armed Forces. Upon returning to the US, he appeared in Harold Rome’s Broadway musical revue Call Me Mister. In 1948 he debuted at New York City Opera, the first Black male singer to perform there; he performed there for seven seasons, returning for a single performance as Porgy in 1962. He made his first trip to Europe in 1949 and in 1950 joined the roster of the Royal Swedish Opera, with whom he sang for two seasons. Thereafter, he joined the ensemble of the Hamburg Opera and later, the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He also performed at the Wiener Staatsoper and the San Francisco Opera. He returned to the Broadway stage in 1960, garnering a Tony nomination for his appearance opposite Joya Sherrill in the play The Long Dream. In the last year of his life he also appeared in Germany in the title role of Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones. He made a large number of recordings for Philips, Deutsche Grammophon and other labels, as well as a slew of radio recordings, many of the latter of which are featured on this episode. A certified star in Germany, Winters was often featured in pop music that appealed to the German public of the time but which, frankly, was not always worthy of his talent. In this episode I present him in repertoire that reveals him as one of the primarily Verdi and verismo baritones of his era, even when he was singing those roles in German translation. We also hear Winters in excerpts from two operas in which the protagonists are specifically Black: Frederick Delius’s Koanga and William Grant Still’s Troubled Island.

Episode 78. Twentieth Century Pioneers (Black History Month 2021 VI)

February 28, 2021African American Singers, Art Song, Black History Month, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (Bernstein & Lerner), A Picnic Cantata (Bowles & Schuyler), Adele Addison, Adolph Green, Alan Jay Lerner, Amadou Moustapha Wade, Andre Previn, Arthur Gold, Barbara Hendricks, Betty Comden, Carl Sandburg, Carol Brice, Charles Chaynes, Charles Holland, Chester Kallman, Christiane Eda-Pierre, Colin Davis, David Del Tredici, David Garvey, David Robertson, Dennis Russell Davies, Eberhard Wächter, El Cimarrón (Henze), Elisabeth Höngen, Emma Lazarus, Franz Kafka, Gian Carlo Menotti, Gilbert Amy, Gloria Davy, Hall Johnson, Hans Werner Henze, Helen Thigpen, Howard Swanson, Igor Stravinsky, James Schuyler, Jessye Norman, Jill Gomez, John Nelson, Josephine Barstow, Judith Weir, Julius Rudel, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Kathleen Battle, Langston Hughes, Lawrence Winters, Lee Hoiby, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Lewis Carroll, Lukas Foss, Mareda Gaither, Margaret Bonds, Martha Flowers, Martina Arroyo, Maya Angelou, Ned Rorem, Nelly Sachs, Olive Moorefield, R. Nathaniel Dett, Raimund Herincx, Robert Fizdale. Paul Bowles, Robert Tear, Roberta Alexander, Shulamit Ran, The Knot Garden (Tippett), The Old Maid and the Thief (Menotti), The Ordering of Moses (Dett), The Rake’s Progress (Stravinsky), Thomas Carey, Toni Morrison, Troubled Island (Still), W.H. Auden, William Grant Still, William Levi Dawson, William Pearson, Yvonne Mintoncountermelody

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To round off #BlackHistoryMonth2021, I bring you an array of artists singing a wide range of 20th Century repertoire. Included are singers who have previously been featured in full episodes (including Lawrence Winters, Gloria Davy, Charles Holland, and Carol Brice), legendary favorites (including Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo, Roberta Alexander, and Barbara Hendricks), important concert singers (including Adele Addison and Betty Allen), lesser-known artists (including Helen Thipgen, Martha Flowers, William Pearson, Mareda Gaither, and Olive Moorefield), and iconic singers (including Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, and Christiane Eda-Pierre) for whom important new work was created by Judith Weir, André Previn, and Charles Chaynes. The range of composers represented is equally vast and includes Leonard Bernstein, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Virgil Thomson, Michael Tippett, Lee Hoiby, Shulamit Ran, Gian Carlo Menotti, Judith Weir, Paul Bowles, Lukas Foss, and David Del Tredici. with special attention given to African American composers Margaret Bonds, Howard Swanson, William Grant Still, Hall Johnson, and Robert Nathaniel Dett. In other words: something for everyone and just a foretaste of future Countermelody programs that will continue to celebrate the contributions of African American singers.

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. 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 including artist photos and episode setlists. And please head to my 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.