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Countermelody

DANIEL GUNDLACH

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

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  • 20 episodes
  • a few times a week
  • Avg 1 hr 36 min
  • English

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  • S7 · E487
    August 21 · 1 hr 49 min

    Episode 487. Jill Gomez In Memoriam

    Jill Gomez, the brilliant, intrepid Trinidadian-British soprano, known for the last fifteen years of her life as Jill Carnegy, Countess of Northesk, died on August 11, just a few weeks short of her 84th birthday. She is a singer that I have loved and followed for decades, and one whose recordings I collected assiduously and that I had earmarked for a special celebratory episode, one that, like with Ben Luxon a few years ago, is instead being offered as a posthumous tribute. Not nearly as universally known as her younger colleague Felicity Lott, who died this spring, Gomez was a similarly eclectic, adventurous artist. Her accomplishments covered the gamut from the classiest, most pristine singer of Baroque music, to the most deep-delving recitalist, from the most playful purveyor of crossover material to the creator of roles in challenging contemporary operas including Michael Tippett’s The Knot Garden in 1970 and Thomas Adès’s Powder Her Face 25 years later. She also sang a wide range of operatic parts (primarily in the UK) from Mozart to Massenet. This episode, which includes collaborations with Robert Tear, Pierre Boulez, Franz Grundheber, John Constable, Ria Bollen, Felicity Palmer, and Benjamin Luxon, presents as wide-ranging a portrait in sound as you are ever likely to encounter anywhere, including excerpts from all the works mentioned above, to music by Ravel, Donizetti, Turina, Mahler, Schumann, Rameau, Wolf, Monteverdi, Debussy, Pergolesi, and Britten. The icing on the cake is an intimate and exquisite rendition of Satie’s “Je te veux” that will remain in your mind’s ear long after the episode is over. 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.

  • S7 · E486
    August 14 · 1 hr 41 min

    Episode 486. The Other Maureen Forrester

    This episode celebrates one of the twentieth century’s great contraltos, Canadian icon, Maureen Forrester, an exceptionally versatile, profoundly communicative artist. This past July 25 would have been her 96th birthday. It would be a nearly insurmountable challenge to present all aspects of her artistry in a single episode, so today I have chosen to bestow upon her a title which might surprise you: I am crowning her Queen of Crossover. Clearly both Eileen and Eleanor might look askance at such a claim, but among Forrester’s fellow Canadians, I don’t think anyone can challenge Queen Maureen’s title. Central to this episode is a delicious 1982 issue on Canadian RCA entitled The Other Me, which features la nostra regina canadese in a delectable assortment of pop favorites, ranging from standards from the Great American Songbook (Berlin, Porter, Gershwin, Arlen, Schmidt and Jones, Loesser). In addition, I’ve included a generous sampling of her 1987 recording with pianist John Arpin entitled From Kern to Sondheim: Great American Theatre Songs, as well as a smattering of the folk song arrangements (mostly of Canadian material arranged by Canadian composers) which formed such a vital part of her programs. Her fellow grande dame of Canadian song, soprano Lois Marshall, even joins her in duet on one of those folk songs. I dedicate today’s episode to the memory of my friend Tom Muraco, who collaborated frequently with Maureen and positively adored her. 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.

  • S7 · E485
    August 8 · 1 hr 39 min

    Episode 485. Anneliese Rothenberger singt Stolz und Lehár

    The theme of today’s episode is “escapism,” a valuable and even necessary pursuit in the world in which we find ourselves currently existing. What more glorious escapism could there be then Operettenlieder by composers Robert Stolz and Franz Lehár as performed by beloved German soprano Anneliese Rothenberger (1919 – 2010). She was one of the most prominent and glamorous musical figures in Germany by virtue of her resplendent voice and splendidly vivid performances, as well as her ubiquitous presence on German-language television in the 1970s. For today’s episode I draw primarily on two EMI releases,1969’s Anneliese Rothenberger singt Robert Stolz and 1970’s Anneliese Rothenberger singt Franz Lehár, the latter a compilation released in honor of Lehár’s 100th birthday, all recorded at various points in the 1960s. Along the way, I consider the lives and careers of both composers, and contrast Stolz’s authentic heroism during the Nazi era with Lehár’s sometimes egrerious opportunism. And yet, in keeping with today’s theme of escapism, the music of both of these composers provides us with a temporary respite from today’s cares, especially as performed by the resplendent Rothenberger. 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.

  • S7 · E484
    August 1 · 1 hr 38 min

    Episode 484. Bubbles on the Nile, Handel Edition

    Today’s episode is the second of my so-called “Bubbles on the Nile” series, performances by Beverly Sills (and a host of other divas) in unexpected roles. While the first episode drew on the contents of a 1985 release on the Legendary Recordings label with the same title, today’s episode focuses exclusively on the music of George Frideric Handel with an entirely Gundlach-generated setlist. Sills is featured not as Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, the role that made her a star, but in two other Handel roles which she only rarely performed: Ginevra in Ariodante, and the title role in Semele. There follow nearly two dozen additional singers singing unexpected Handel roles, beginning with Alma Gluck all the way back in 1916. Other singers include Claudia Muzio, Elisabeth Rethberg, Lotte Lehmann, Florence Quartararo, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Hanne-Lore Kuhse, Christa Ludwig, Ileana Cotrubaș, Christiane Eda-Pierre, Shirley Verrett, Martina Arroyo, Grace Bumbry, Victoria de los Ángeles, and Reri Grist. There is a special section featuring six unexpected performers of the role of Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare: Renata Tebaldi, Leontyne Price, Montserrat Caballé, Renata Scotto, Onelia Fineschi, and Virginia Zeani. Other Handel works represented include Rinaldo, Hercules, Alcina, Atalanta, Amadigi, Judas Maccabaeus, and Radamisto. Hearing these singers take a determinedly “old school” approach to Handel’s music is fascinating, diverting, challenging, sometimes amusing, and always revelatory. And overseeing it all is our beloved Bubbles! 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.

  • S7 · E483
    July 24 · 1 hr 28 min

    Episode 483. Adele Addison @ 101

    Today beloved African American soprano Adele Addison, still “sharp as a tack” according to one of her close friends, celebrates her 101st birthday. And today, just as I did four years ago in honor of her 97th birthday, I celebrate this trailblazing icon with a wide-ranging program which focuses on her specialties: baroque and contemporary music, with a few additional surprises along the way. Thus alongside key works by Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, we also hear work that Addison pioneered and recorded by composers such as Noël Lee, Harold Schramm, Lester Trimble, Richard Donovan, Benjamin Lees, Paul Hindemith, Marc Bucci, Aaron Copland, Francis Poulenc (whose Gloria she sang in its Boston world première), and Lukas Foss, assisted by conductors Charles Munch, Leonard Bernstein, Robert Shaw, Milton Katims and Frederic Waldman, fellow soprano Saramae Endich, and a plethora of the greatest instrumentalists of the era. Throughout Addison displays her bright, clear timbre, subtle text pointing, and radiant connection to whatever style of music she was singing. I am particularly honored to present to you once again a singer who I encountered over and over in my early listening experience and who continues to provide a glowing inspiration through her legendary recordings. 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.

  • S7 · E482
    July 21 · 1 hr 19 min

    Episode 482. Georges Thill: French Twist

    A further celebration of great French singers today, featuring one of the greatest of them all, tenor Georges Thill (1897 – 1984). But as always with Countermelody, there’s a difference: Most of Thill’s recordings are, indeed, in French, and he is such a masterful purveyor of the language that it is always a delight to hear him sing in his native tongue. However, and here’s the “French Twist” of the episode’s title, though Thill sings entirely in French in this episode, at no point is he singing music that was originally set in French. Whether the original language be German (Wagner, Flotow, Lehár, Schubert), Italian (Verdi, Puccini, Leoncavallo), even English and Russian: it’s all sung here in French translation. It makes for a fascinating program and proves that Thill was just as effective a Verdian and Wagnerian as he was in the French operatic repertoire. Vocal guest stars include the Belgian baritone José Beckmans and the exceptional French soprano Germaine Martinelli. 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.

  • S7 · E481
    July 18 · 1 hr 29 min

    Episode 481. The Young Eleanor Steber

    Today, July 17, 2026, is the one-hundred-and-twelfth birthday of Eleanor Steber, in the opinion of many, the finest American soprano that ever lived. Her combination of technical prowess, (which allowed her to blend vocal power with seamless coloratura facility), faultless diction, vocal beauty, musical versatility, and complete and utter sincerity of expression, were combined in one exquisite artistic entity who now is fully acknowledged and appreciated for the great artist that she was. Since I have already done numerous (nearly countless) episodes on this paragon, today I have chosen to take a slightly different approach: I am focusing on performances from the earliest years of her career. I have divided my setlist into several sections: first, a pair of stunningly-vocalized opera arias; then favorites from operettas and musicals; followed by a group of powerful performances of oratorio arias of Brahms, Bach, Mendelssohn, Haydn, and Rossini; concluding with light classical favorites such as would have been heard in her radio and television appearances on The Voice of Firestone. In keeping with the best Countermelody tradition, many of today’s selections are quite rare; all of them will provide my listeners with a satisfaction that can only come from a vocalist of the very highest skilll and achievement. 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.

  • July 14 · 1 hr 43 min

    Episode 480. Bacquier Encore

    Allons, enfants de la patrie! Let’s celeberate Bastille Day in style! And what better exemplar of the power and élan of French music than the great Gabriel Bacquier?! It was only about a year ago that I published an episode featuring Bacquier singing art song. Today’s episode combines Bacquier in his more familiar guise as an opera singer, with further (and even rarer) recordings of him singing mélodies. About a year ago I coughed up a lot of dough for a super-expensive and super-rare 2-LP set entitled Panorama de la Mélodie française in which Bacquier shared the vocal honors with a French coloratura soprano who is virtually forgotten today. Today we hear his contribution to that rare 1964 release featuring songs by the usual suspects: Fauré, Debussy, Duparc, and Hahn, alongside some less-familiar repertoire by Saint-Saëns, Massenet, and Lalo. It came out to not quite enough music for a full episode, so I have supplemented it with excerpts from a great, but nearly forgotten, triumph of Bacquier’s: his assumption of the title role of French composer Daniel-Lesur’s 1968 opera, Andrea del Sarto. (Astute listeners will remember that last week I played Alain Vanzo singing a selection from this same piece.) In addition, I offer selections from two different 1963 aria recitals by Bacquier, one in Italian, the other in French. This assortment of material reasserts Bacquier’s versatility, his solid technique, even the beauty of his voice at that point in his career. As his voice aged, Bacquier gradually assumed more bass roles and character parts but throughout the 1960s, his voice retained its youthful beauty even as his characterizations gained in precision and power. Along with a handful of other French singers during that era, Bacquier was the greatest of the great. 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.

  • S7 · E479
    July 11 · 1 hr 31 min

    Episode 479. Get to Know Alain Vanzo

    I return to Countermelody‘s Salut à la France miniseries with a tribute to the Monaco-born French-naturalized tenor, Alain Vanzo (1923-2002). There was simply no more elegant a tenor (or any singer!) in the French operatic repertoire (and beyond) than Vanzo in his glory days in the 1960s and 1970s. I have chosen a setlist which presents him, in his core repertoire (Gounod, Massenet, Lalo), sounding truly exquise, but I also show him in music for which he was less-celebrated, but equally compelling, everything from Mozart, Rossini, and Puccini, to Mascagni and even Giordano, with even more delicious surprises along the way. Special thanks to my friend Olivier, for specifically requesting this episode. In preparing it, I became a Vanzo admirer to an all-out raving Vanzo fan girl. In listening to this, you may well find yourself in the same place that I did! 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.

  • S7 · E478
    July 7 · 1 hr 23 min

    Episode 478. Martial Singher: Un recueil de mélodies

    Today is the first in a series of episodes honoring our Gallic friends, who this month also celebrate their independence day, call it what you will, Bastille Day or Le Quatorze Juillet. Our featured singer is French baritone Martial Singher (1904-1990). His career extended from opera to concert to recital and back again, but the main focus on this episode is on the wide range of French song that he performed in recital. I present in its entirety an ultra-rare 1950 recording entitled A Treasury of French Songs, which samples everything from parlor songs by Reynaldo Hahn, Charles Gounod, and Herman Bemberg; to deliciously treacly religious songs from Henri Büsser and Jean-Baptiste Faure (yes, “The Palms” in its original French!); to masterpieces of mélodie by Fauré, Duparc, and Chabrier. The episode is anchored by performances of Ravel and Poulenc songs recorded by Singher in 1934 and 1975, including Poulenc’s fervent “Priez pour paix,” recorded by Singher at the age of 70. 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.

  • July 5 · 1 hr 37 min

    Episode 477. American Orchestral Song [Queer Edition]

    I know, I know, I said that we were done with Pride for 2026. But honestly, given the tenor of the times (no pun intended), we have to continue foregrounding Pride every day we tread this increasingly precipitous path that is earth. And that is the United States of America. For as I write this. Even as our nation squeezes out what should be a momentous birthday celebration, our very queer existence is threatened. And one way of resisting the animosity and cruelty is to celebrate our history and our solidarity and our resilience and our creativity and our ingenuity and originality. All of these traits come to the fore in this episode: American Orchestral Song, Queer Edition. All of the composers fall somewhere on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, as do many of the poets as well as the performers. It’s interesting how many of the performances today center around the US Bicentennial in 1976, a time when spirits were much higher than they are today. Of course the most familiar figures are here: Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Ned Rorem, Virgil Thomson, Gian Carlo Menotti, but also Charles Tomlinson Griffes, John Corigliano, Mark Adamo, and David Del Tredici. Perhaps even more important are figures less renowned or perhaps completely forgotten such as Julia Perry, Robert Helps, John La Montaine, Ben Weber, and the elusive Frank Ahrold, whose compisitions all reveal a bold and individual voice. Remembering these figures keeps them alive and provides us with courage to keep forging on, against the current as need be, yet always toward justice, inclusion, and equity. 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.

  • S7 · E476
    June 30 · 1 hr 36 min

    Episode 476. Getting a Handle on Henriëtte Bosmans

    The final official #Pride2026 episode on Countermelody introduces the Dutch composer, pianist, and critic Henriëtte Bosmans (1895 – 1952), a fascinating figure of extraordinary contrasts and contradictions. Both of Henriëtte’s parents were professional musicians; her father, a cellist in the Concertgebouw Orchestra, died while she was in infancy. Her mother, Sarah Bosmans-Benedicts was a professional pianist and piano teacher at the Amsterdam Conservatory as well as her daughter’s piano instructor. Bosmans received her initial renown as a concert pianist, also beginning to compose music, initially primarily instrumental works. Henriëtte led her life openly as a bisexual woman, numbering among her relationships long-standing love affairs with Dutch cellist, conductor, and freedom fighter Frieda Belinanfante (1904 – 1995) and French mezzo-soprano Noémie Pérugia (1903–1992). She was also engaged to the violinist Francis Koene (1899 – 1934), who died tragically and prematurely of a brain tumor. At his death, Bosmans ceased composing for a number of years. During the war, her mother’s Jewish heritage became a threat to both her and her daughter’s lives. In fact, Sara was deported and sent away to the Westerbork concentration camp. Through some mysterious and miraculous machinations (possibly involving the intervention of conductor Willem Mengelberg, with whom mother and daughter had previously collaborated), Henriëtte was able, against all odds, to secure her mother’s release. During the war, prevented from public appearances, Bosmans began performing in clandestine concerts known “Black Evenings,” private musical events which were often invaded by the SS. Henriëtte herself, however, was never apprehended, and through these performances was able to earn a meager living. In the closing days of the war, she began to compose again, including songs of patriotism and hope. Upon meeting Pérugia in 1948, Henriëtte began to write music again in earnest, almost all songs composed for Noémie, with whom she performed and recorded some of the most distinctive and original of this repertoire. In the final years of her life, Bosmans suffered grievously from stomach cancer, a diagnosis which, however, was kept hidden from her, and she died at the age of only 56 on July 2, 1952. Instead of being forgotten, these days Henriëtte Bosmans has re-emerged as one of the most important Dutch compositional voices. Todays’ episode features rare radio recordings from the early 1950s by Bosmans and Pérugia, as well as later recordings by some of the most renowned Dutch singers, including Bernard Kruysen, Tania Kross, Julia Bronkhorst, Rachel Ann Morgan, Irene Maessen, Bettina Smith, and Max van Egmond. It is entirely appropriate that we commemorate Henriëtte Bosmans especially now, on the 74th anniversary of her death, and at the end of Pride Month. 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.

  • S8 · E475
    June 26 · 1 hr 40 min

    Episode 475. A Queer Boy’s Favorite Pop Divas

    We are still in the midst of our summer holiday. And oh, what a sweltering summer it is turning out to be! Because of this, rather than producing a brand-new episode today, I’m bringing you an episode from nearly six years ago which celebrated a landmark birthday of mine, which is a playlist of a few of my favorite pop divas, my association with some of whom stretches all the way back to my childhood. But what a motley assortment it is! Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Edith Piaf, Barbara Cook, Eartha Kitt, Juliette Gréco, ABBA, Barbra Streisand, Bonnie Raitt, Cyndi Lauper, Billie Holiday, Eurythmics, Jackie DeShannon, Dolly Parton, Laura Lee, Rosemary Clooney, Yma Sumac, the recently departed Nicole Croisille, Linda Ronstadt, Freda Payne, Joey Heatherton, Dinah Washington, Dalida, Aretha, and of course my beloved Dusty. This is a playlist worthy of any diva-loving late-middle aged homosexual that any lover of occasionally good music and usually fantastic singing can enjoy. The episode begins with a memorial tribute to the late Erie Mills. 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.

  • S7 · E474
    June 23 · 1 hr 33 min

    Episode 474. Brigitte Fassbaender sings Brahms

    Pride 2026 at Countermelody continues with an episode devoted to the towering German mezzo-soprano Brigitte Fassbaender, not only one of the great opera stars of the late twentieth century (her Octavian, for instance, was, is, and remains, hors concours), but also one of the greatest Lieder singers of all time. Today I choose to focus on her performance of the songs of Johannes Brahms, whose music is ideally suited to her dark-timbred, urgently projected voice and artistry. She’s heard in these selections with four of the primary pianists with whom she collaborated and recorded in the songs of Brahms: Erik Werba, Irwin Gage, Karl Engel, and the great Georgian pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja, with whom she made her final recordings and performances in the early 1990s, just before her sudden departure from the opera and concert stage. I read a portion of her memoirs (translated into English) in which she candidly discusses the reasons for that choice. Fassbaender has always lived her life openly and matter-of-factly, never foregrounding her sexuality while also never denying or hiding it. For her, music and the theater have always been the focal points in her public life, and her unique artistry has placed her at the forefront of the great musical artists of our time. There are few vocal artists I esteem as highly. 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.

  • June 18 · 1 hr 16 min

    Episode 473. Renata Scotto and the Opera Queens

    We are quickly approaching the third anniversary of the death of Renata Scotto, and that sad commemoration, combined with my desire to produce an episode celebrating Opera Queens, prompted this episode, which features a rare live LP that I once owned a few decades ago and recently returned to my collection. It features live performances of “our diva” from the stage of Carnegie Hall on two different occasions in the mid- to late-1970s: the first, a gala concert on September 12, 1975 with Eve Queler leading the Opera Orchestra of New York on which Scotto performed Rossini (the bravura rondo from Armida) and Donizetti (the mad scene from Anna Bolena). She also sang “Tu che invoco” from Spontini’s La Vestale on that concert, and though it was not included on that record, I have unearthed a live recording of that exact performance, which is also included on the episode. The second concert featured on that LP took place on October 31, 1979 under the baton of Lorin Maazel leading the Cleveland Orchestra, and includes a rare performance of Scotto singing from Cherubini’s Medea as well as the mad scene from Bellini’s Il pirata. In all of these, Scotto is in sterling vocal form, which allows her to fully explore the expressive bel canto possibilities of this music. Since Scotto was also widely accused of being anti-Callas, I also dispute that view with some comments that Scotto made in an interview about Callas’s importance as the high priestess of bel canto. I also intone a few more nasty reviews and comments from those who do not hold Scotto in the same high esteem that I (we!) do. For I, too, am one of those opera queens that we are celebrating today. I just happen to have better taste than those that are dissing our diva! 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.

  • S7 · E472
    June 15 · 1 hr 54 min

    Episode 472. Ben Bagley Revisited: Lies Come True

    A year ago I published an episode entitled “Gay Eccentrics,” which featured a number of the most delightfully peculiar personalities sprinkled across queer music history. The third of those characters, theatrical and record producer Ben Bagley, reappears on today’s episode. This time I feature selections from his record albums featuring two more gay eccenctrics, Lorenz Hart and Cole Porter! Bagley’s recordings uncovered and/or resuscitated trunk songs and other material by some of the most important Broadway composers and lyricists sung by a fascinating hodge-podge of some of the most prominent singers and actors of the era. In this episode alone we hear Tony Perkins, Gloria Swanson, Blossom Dearie, Charlotte Rae, Bobby Short, Sandy Stewart, Carmen Alvarez, Dorothy Loudon, Karen Morrow, David Allyn, Dolores Gray, Johnny Desmond, Ann Hampton Calloway, and Danny Meehan. These recordings were inevitably against all odds, seemingly tossed together, and on a shoestring budget, but the results were almost always surprisingly polished (and if not polished, at least fascinating!) One of the most notorious aspects of these releases was Bagley’s outrageously campy (and sometimes simply outrageous) liner notes, from which I quote extensively. I also read a 1974 profile of Bagley in which he espouses his ongoing credo of stretching the truth in order to make seemingly impossible dreams come true. 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.

  • S7 · E471
    June 12 · 1 hr 45 min

    Episode 471. Joan Caplan In Recital

    Today we visit the rare recorded output my beloved teacher, Joan Caplan (15 October 1932 – 19 April 2025), live performances made during her active years as a song recitalist and as an opera and oratorio singer. We hear her complete performances of Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Peggy Glanville-Hicks, the Cinco canciones negras by Xavier Montsalvatge, and the Zigeunerlieder of Johannes Brahms, as well as songs by Gustav Mahler from the German folk poetry collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn and arias by Handel, Vivaldi, Hasse, and Donizetti. This episode constitutes the continuation of a promise that I made to Joan before she died that I would do my utmost to ensure that she never be forgotten for the great teacher and singer that she was. The episode also includes a memorial tribute full of insights and anecdotes that I recorded in her memory last year. 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.

  • S7 · E470
    June 8 · 1 hr 36 min

    Episode 470. Peter Pears Plays Around

    A year ago, I published as my final Pride 2025 episode, Pears Sings Not-Britten, which explored the voice and artistry of British tenor Peter Pears in repertoire other than that written for him by his partner Benjamin Britten. Today’s episode, a refurbished bonus episode originally published nearly a year ago has a new, catchy title that carries that theme even further, in that Britten is entirely absent, either as composer or as Pears’s usual accompanist. Today, I feature collections of songs by five different composers, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Claude Debussy, Robert Schumann, Alan Bush, and Michael Tippett, all featuring Pears accompanied by pianists other than Britten, including celebrated solo virtuosi Noel Mewton-Wood, Murray Perahia and Sviatoslav Richter; with composer Alan Bush himself accompanying Pears himself in the thornily difficult piano part of his self-described cantata Voices of the Prophets. Of today’s setlist, all but the Bush are either live or radio recordings which span three separate decades of Pears’s career, and show an artist who, whether in his vocal prime or in the inevitable decline of his later years (and even after Britten’s death), was fixated on expressing the finest shades of textual nuance and vocal color. 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.

  • S7 · E468
    June 1 · 1 hr 50 min

    Episode 468. Deutsche Orchesterlieder: Beyond Mahler and Strauss

    Today’s lengthy episode (I probably should’ve divided it in half!) is another devoted to orchestral song, in this case Deutsche Orchesterlieder. But, in a twist, you will not be hearing any music by either Mahler or Strauss today. (Their orchestral songs have already been amply represented on Countermelody. No, today I am featuring songs ranging from the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century. Some of the composers presented – Alban Berg, Max Reger, Hugo Wolf, Arnold Schoenberg – will be familiar to listeners; others – Alexander Zemlinsky (pictured), Hans Pfitzner, Paul Hindemith, Hans Werner Henze, Franz Schreker – perhaps more as names familiar for musical historical reasons than for their actual compositions. Still others – Ernst Toch, Wolfgang Fortner, Joseph Marx – may be new discoveries altogether. What links them is that they are all fascinating composers whose works run the gamut from lush post-romanticism to exotic orientalism to Neue Sachlichkeit clarity. Texts include the great German lyric poets; anonymous Italian folk poetry; German translations of American poets such as Walt Whitman and major figures of the Harlem Renaissance; and translations of ancient Chinese poetry and the verse of Rabindranath Tagore. Similarly varied are the singers (Elisabeth Söderström, Friedrich Schorr, Edith Mathis, Willard White, Elly Ameling, Irmgard Seefried, Roberta Alexander, Barry McDaniel, Christine Brewer, Christa Ludwig, Helen Donath) and conductors (Michael Tilson Thomas, Riccardo Chailly, Rafael Kubelik, Sergiu Celibidache, Erich Leinsdorf, Carl Schuricht, Hermann Scherchen), heard. Settle in for a ride across a varied, surprising, and always engaging musical landscape. 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.

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