PODCAST

Countermelody

DANIEL GUNDLACH

Countermelody devoted to the glories of the human voice raised in song.

music music commentary

All Episodes

1:04:25

Episode 18. Elisabeth Söderström Sings Everything

Countermelody ·

2020/01/16

Elisabeth Söderström, the elegant, vibrant, vulnerable, musically scrupulous, dramatically committed, Swedish soprano (7 May 1927 – 20 November 2009) is celebrated in this episode with an airing of her rare 1972 vocal recital for Swedish EMI which features her in a wide range of musical styles from early Baroque opera to the Swedish composer Ture Rangström, with side trips to Mozart, Gluck, and Debussy. These works buttress vocally sumptuous, dramatically-charged performances of extended scenes from

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1:10:31

Episode 17. O Sole Mio – Peter Schreier

Countermelody ·

2020/01/12

The highly-regarded German tenor Peter Schreier, who died in Dresden on Christmas Day after a lingering illness at the age of 84, was particularly celebrated worldwide for his deeply musical performances of Bach, Mozart, and German Lieder. What many might not realize is what a significant popular icon Schreier was, particularly in the former East Germany. This episode celebrates his contribution to die leichte Muse with his 1979 release on Amiga, the pop division of the East German record label

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1:20:37

Episode 16. Souvenirs – Elly Ameling and Dalton Baldwin

Countermelody ·

2020/01/05

We begin 2020 with a new series of episodes. For the next eight weeks, I will present selections dubbed exclusively from LPs, few if any of which have ever been re-released on CD and which remain barely available on any listening platform for today's audience. Today's entry in the Needle Drop series is the marvelously engaging and entertaining 1979 Columbia Masterworks release Souvenirs (M 35119), which features the Dutch soprano Elly Ameling, renowned for her peerless work as an art song

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2:10:56

Episode 15. Hail and Farewell

Countermelody ·

2019/12/30

We set our sights on the New Year, at the same time giving a backward glance, in mostly reverse chronological order, to those singers and other musicians, whose contributions have immeasurably enhanced our lives. I've prepared a whopper of an episode that traverses many genres and styles, but which, as always, remains faithful to the mission of the podcast: to bring you the most interesting and communicative singers. From João Gilberto to Marcello Giordani, from Sanford Sylvan to Rolando Panerai,

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1:31:23

Episode 14. Christmas Potpourri II: Hard/Try

Countermelody ·

2019/12/21

Another week of Christmas music! The first part of the episode is a continuation of last week's All-Tenor Extravaganza. We hear from Farrold Stephens, Luther Saxon, Roland Hayes, James Melton, Brian Sullivan, Richard Crooks, Raoul Jobin, Jussi Björling, Richard Verreau, Fritz Wunderlich (with an assist from Hermann Prey), Rudolf Schock, René Kollo, John McCormack, Peter Schreier, and Mel Tormé (with an assist from Judy herself!) And for those who have ambivalent feelings about this holiday, the

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1:05:39

Episode 13. Christmas with the Tenors

Countermelody ·

2019/12/15

This week is the first of two episodes featuring Christmas music. I decided to feature tenors, but with a difference: none of The Three Tenors will put in an appearance. In compensation, this week I feature a panoply of superb tenors (including Fritz Wunderlich, Georges Thill, Richard Lewis, Roland Hayes, Tino Rossi, Franco Corelli, Ernst Haefliger, Richard Tauber, Karl Erb, and Matthew Swensen) in repertoire ranging across the spectrum (Handel, Adam, Gounod, Bach, Berlin, and traditional

en-US

1:14:20

Episode 12. Gérard Souzay @ 101: A modern-day troubadour

Countermelody ·

2019/12/08

The French baritone Gérard Souzay was born Gérard Tisserand on 8 December 1918 and died in Antibes on 17 August 2004. This episode celebrates his 101st birthday by exploring his recorded legacy, with particular emphasis on his earliest recordings. Repertoire by Jaime Ovalle, César Franck, Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert, Maurice Ravel, Henry Purcell, and Claude Debussy (including an excerpt from his 1955 radio performance of Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande). We also hear performances by his teachers

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51:00

Episode 11: Janet Williams Interview III. Der ganze...

Countermelody ·

2019/12/01

In the third and final part of our interview, recorded in July 2019, Janet Williams and I discuss how we reunited in 2004 (several years after our Merola connection); about her vocal studies with Régine Crespin, Denise Duplex, and David Jones; about some of the roles she sang during the illustrious career which took her around the world; and about her current activities with her newly-formed Leistung & Performance Vokal Akademie here in Berlin, where singers gain invaluable professional training in

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59:41

Episode 10: Régine Crespin. Un doux privilège

Countermelody ·

2019/11/24

Régine Crespin, whose Metropolitan Opera debut as the Marschallin in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier occurred exactly 57 years ago this week, is featured on this week’s episode. I give an overview of her major roles, with a few surprises, both monumental and insouciante, tossed in. Because of her enormous range and versatility, I will have to return to my subject in the near future in order to do full justice to this great artist. Countermelody is a new podcast devoted to the glories of the

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59:00

Episode 9: Janet Williams Interview Part II:...

Countermelody ·

2019/11/18

Episode 9: Janet Williams Interview Part II: Serendipity @ Merola. In this episode, Janet relives her early career experiences, including time that both she and Daniel spent at the Merola Opera Program of the San Francisco Opera. She describes the continuing influence and tutelage of Camilla Williams; tells about her study in Paris with the great Régine Crespin, the mentorship of Marilyn Horne, and the inspiration of Harolyn Blackwell and Kathleen Battle; and elucidates how she was hired for a

en-US

1:07:40

Episode 8: Williams and Williams

Countermelody ·

2019/11/10

Episode 8: Williams and Williams. As a supplement to the first part of my interview last week with Janet Williams, I offer a cache of rare studio recordings by Camilla Williams, supplemented by live material sung by Janet Williams from the artist’s private archives. Among other material featured are excerpts from Camilla’s rarely-heard album of spirituals on the MGM Records label, and a concert given by Janet Williams in her home town of Detroit in 1989, capped by a stunning rendition of Undine

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1:08:04

Episode 7: Janet Williams, Part I: No Accidents

Countermelody ·

2019/11/03

Episode 7: Janet Williams, Part I: No Accidents. I am particularly excited to present the first of a three-part interview with the distinguished American soprano and pedagogue Janet Williams, who also happens to be one of my dearest friends. We met when we were both apprentice artists at the Merola Opera Program of the San Francisco Opera. Since then Janet established herself as one of the premiere lyric coloratura sopranos of her generation and is now highly respected as a pedagogue, clinician, and

en-US

49:57

Episode 6: Shirley Verrett II: La Regina del Bel Canto

Countermelody ·

2019/10/28

Episode 6. Shirley Verrett II: La Regina del Bel Canto. In this episode in my Shirley Verrett miniseries, I explore a wide range of the artist’s bel canto roles, including the roles of Neocle in Rossini’s L’assedio di Corinto, Elisabetta in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, Leonora in La Favorita, Sinaïde in Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto and the French version Moïse et Pharaon, and finally, the roles of Adalgisa and, finally, the title role in Bellini’s Norma, surely one of her greatest creations. Musical

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52:53

Episode 5: Shirley Verrett I: La Nera Callas

Countermelody ·

2019/10/20

Episode 5: Shirley Verrett: La Nera Callas I. Falcon or Verdi soprano? This episode is the first of two on one of my favorite singers, the Zwischenfachsängerin Shirley Verrett. Renowned in the United States for her performances of Verdi mezzo-soprano parts, particularly Azucena in Il Trovatore and Eboli in Don Carlo, the late singer commanded an enormous repertoire, comprising bel canto and French roles, on which she left her indelible stamp. I focus in particular on the French roles she performed

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53:18

Episode 4: Jessye and Her Forebears

Countermelody ·

2019/10/13

Due to a last minute change of plans, I have decided to bring you the first in what I hope will be a series of episodes devoted to excerpts from LP recordings in my collection which have either never been reissued on CD or have had only limited availability. This first episode includes a tribute to the late Jessye Norman, with a nod to some of the great African American singers who paved the way for her in her career. In addition, my special guest the theatre scholar David Savran speaks about the

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46:35

Episode 3: Creating Magic, Interview with Nicholas...

Countermelody ·

2019/10/06

Episode 3. Creating Magic (Interview with Nicholas Tamagna, Part 2) In the second part of our interview Nicholas discusses his early experiences with music, names three of his favorite singers, and riffs further on the themes of language and communication. Musical excerpts include a performance by Leather and Lace, the rock group that featured Nicholas’s mother and aunts, and Nicholas’s youthful stage performances as Oliver and Fagin in the musical Oliver! Nicholas is also featured in recordings of

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44:12

Episode 2: A Countertenor for the 21st Century: An...

Countermelody ·

2019/09/29

Episode 2: A Countertenor for the 21st Century: An interview with Nicholas Tamagna (Part 1). Nicholas sat down with me this past June to discuss many different aspects of countertenordom, including in-depth discussions of several recent productions of Handel and Monteverdi operas in which he has recently been involved and the challenges in performing a range of musical styles and dramatic contexts. We also discuss the circuitous path by which Nicholas discovered his countertenor voice, the joys of

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44:49

Episode 1: Welcome to Countermelody

Countermelody ·

2019/09/12

Episode 1: Welcome to Countermelody, or Claudia and Zazà. Our first episode answers the question on everyone’s lips: “Where did the logo and the theme music come from?” We discuss the legendary Italian diva Claudia Muzio whose series of iconic recordings, particularly those recorded shortly before her premature death in 1936, are so extraordinary that they have kept her reputation intact to this day. We consider in particular her November 1920 recording of an aria from Ruggero Leoncavallo’s

en-US

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