PODCAST · music
Countermelody
by DANIEL GUNDLACH
Countermelody devoted to the glories of the human voice raised in song.
Episodes
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Episode 459. The Art of Steven Blier
There was only one way to follow up my interview with the iconic, the unique Steven Blier published earlier this week, and that is with an episode dedicated to his dazzling at the keyboard and his accomplishments as the co-founder and artistic director of NYFOS, the New York Festival of Song…
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Episode 456. John Wustman in Memoriam
I had hoped not to be bringing this episode to my listeners until many years hence. Alas, my dear teacher and mentor John Wustman, one of the most influential, pathbreaking, and inspired of all accompanists (a term he far preferred to “collaborative pianist”) died this past Thursday at the age of...
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Episode 455. Back in the Saddle
Greetings to all from your recently Venetianized podcaster, now (as the title of today’s episode indicates) once again back in the saddle and bringing you the fourth and final of my vacation (or holiday, if you prefer) episodes featuring great sopranos and tenors of the 1960s and 1970s, as…
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Episode 454. Gone Fishing
David and I are still on holiday in the magical city of Venice; it’s my first vist here in nearly forty years and it has been beguiling and enchanting (as well as exhausting)! Before we left, I put together yet another episode of great sopranos of the 1960s and 1970s in stunning live performances...
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Episode 453. Out of Commission
Next up in my series of Countermelody “vacation episodes,” here’s the tenor counterpart of the soprano episode I published at the beginning of the week. This is the Historical Recording Enterprises mid-1970s release of the first of two issues of “Ten Top Tenors in Ten Live Performances.” Included...
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Episode 452. Out of the Office
Hello, fans and listeners! I am “Óut of the Office” for the next two weeks, hence the tongue-in-cheek title of this episode, the first of four recycled potpourri episodes bringing you four records issued on the pirate label Historical Recordings Enterprises in the 1970s. Two of them (including...
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Episode 451. Norman Bailey Sings Three Song Cycles
I have twice featured the great British bass-baritone Norman Bailey (who also sang both regular baritone and, later in his career, regular bass roles) on my podcast. The first time was on the occasion of his death in the fall of 2021 at the age of 88. The second time was a 2025 episode entitled...
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Episode 450. Onelia Fineschi Sings the Undoing of Women
Onelia Fineschi (1921 – 2004) was one of the finest Italian lyric sopranos of her era. Probably most famous today for having provided the singing voice of Gina Lollobrigida in a 1948 filmed version of Pagliacci, she had a wide-ranging repertoire and an up-and-down career trajectory that lasted,...
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Episode 449. Adele Stolte and Margot Guilleaume Sing Handel
On my recent Edith Mathis episode, I played her singing one of Handel’s Neun deutsche Arien, a group of religious songs set to German texts by pietist poet Berthold Heinrich Brockes. A number of years ago, I created another episode featuring all nine of the arias sung by a magnificent assembly of...
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Episode 448. Get to Know Germaine Cernay
Today’s featured artist is, I hope, a name that some of you will at least have heard of: the French mezzo-soprano Germaine Cernay, born Germaine Pointu in Le Havre in 1900 and dying tragically young of an epileptic event in war-torn Paris at the age of only 43. Here is an artist who strikes a...
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Episode 447. Júlia Hamari in Song
The rich-voiced and expressive Hungarian mezzo-soprano Júlia Hamari celebrated her 83rd birthday last November, and in honor of that event, I produced an episode which originally appeared only on Patreon, but which I bring to you today as a belated birthday tribute. I’ve put together a program…
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Episode 446. Christiane Eda-Pierre and Teresa Żylis-Gara: Hyphenated Rarities
Two of the greatest and most versatile sopranos of the late 20th century, Christiane Eda-Pierre and Teresa Żylis-Gara, both departed within a year of each other in the early 2020s. They also happened to have hyphenated last names and also both bear certain artistic similarities to last week’s...
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Episode 445. Simply Radiant: Edith Mathis In Memoriam
Today a belated memorial tribute to the beloved Swiss soprano Edith Mathis, who died in Salzburg thirteen months ago, two days before her 87th birthday. One of the most highly regarded lyric sopranos of the 1960s and 1970s, Mathis began her career in the late fifties, retiring more than 40 years...
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Episode 444. Renata Scotto: Casta Diva
Today’s episode serves numerous purposes: first, as a belated tribute to the great Renata Scotto and in particular her controversial assumption of the title role Vincenzo Bellini’s bel canto masterpiece, Norma. Second, as a memento of International Womens’ Day and Women’s History Month. The...
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Episode 443. Meet Klesie Kelly
As a pendant to, and continuation of, my Black History Month 2026 series on Countermelody, I am pleased and honored to present to you the exquisite African American lyric soprano Klesie Kelly, who, as with numerous other singers that we have explored together this month, has made her life…
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Episode 442. Henry Wright Revisited
Last week I published an episode about Black Pop Singers who emigrated to Europe in the 1950s and 1960s. Most of these gentlemen settled in the German-speaking countries, where there was a ready market for the “otherness” and exoticism that they embodied. The one outlier on that episode was Henry...
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Episode 441. A Cavalcade of Spirituals
As the last official entry in Countermelody’s Black History Month 2026 series, I bring you a potpourri episode that has long been a dream of mine: one dedicated entirely to the Spiritual, that distinctly American musical form that was born in adversity (specifically enslavement, murder, torture,...
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Episode 440. Black Baritone Expats
As the penultimate episode in my 2026 Black History Month series, I revisit the stories of African American performers who, for a variety of reasons, including seeking to improve their increase their opportunities as artists of color, made their way to Europe in the 1950s and 1960s. Today the…
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Episode 439. Grace Bumbry, Proud Soprano [Studio Edition]
As we hurtle toward the third anniversary (in May already!) of Grace Bumbry’s death, I have had her very much on my mind. It’s true that I consider her greatest achievement to have been as a Liedersängerin. Others opine that her operatic roles as a mezzo (Carmen, Eboli, Amneris among others)...
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Episode 438. Leontyne Price Sings Richard Strauss Heroines
Last week the opera world joined in unanimous celebration as Leontyne Price celebrated her 99th birthday. Though I’m a trifle late to the party, I do have a Price episode today, and one with a twist, featuring the beloved diva in a repertoire she only occasionally performed: the operas of Richard...
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Episode 437. Get to Know Faye Robinson
Today’s Black History Month episode serves also as a belated birthday tribute to the exceptional African American soprano Faye Robinson, who was born in Houston on 2 November 1943. Robinson has a voice that transcends genre, encompassing both lyric-coloratura roles at one end and pure dramatic...
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Episode 436. Adelaide Hall, Sophisticated Lady
Adelaide Hall (1901 – 1993), entertainer extraordinaire, really had it all: voice, talent, beauty, dancing chops, charisma, joie de vivre and sophistication. She was the first Black performer to attain international stardom, even before Joséphine Baker, with whom she shared a number of…
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Episode 435. Tina and the Expats
I first published this episode two and a half years ago in June 2023, in commemoration of the death of the great Tina Turner. As always when I take on such an iconic figure, I try to give a different perspective on the artist in question than one would normally encounter. For this reason, I chose...
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Episode 434. Inez Matthews Sings Schubert (and More!)
To kick off Black History Month 2026 (which, contrary to the current US administration, is still a thing, and not just on Countermelody, either!), I present to you another Zwischenfach singer, the (mezzo-)soprano Inez Matthews. She was born in Ossining, NY on 23 August 1917 and died in the Bronx…
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Episode 433. Lois Marshall Revisited
Yesterday, January 29th, was the 101st anniversary of the birth of the Canadian soprano (later mezzo) Lois Marshall. Marshall was in so many ways a unique and treasurable artist. Afflicted with polio as a young child, she spent much of her early life hospitalized. It was there that she discovered...
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Episode 432. Dan Picks YET AGAIN!
One of the things about my podcast that brings me the greatest joy is when I can introduce my listeners to a wide range of singers that need to be better-known. Back when I was preparing birthday episodes in October, I chose literally hundreds of tracks that I wanted to share with my listeners.…
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Episode 431. Hermann Prey singt Schubert Orchesterlieder
I’m sure many of you balked when you saw the title of this episode: “But Daniel: Schubert wrote no orchestral songs!” And of course you would be correct. And yet, what about when other composers orchestrate his songs? Therein lies the content of today’s episode. Historical evidence from some of...
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Episode 430. Soukupová in Song
Here’s a rare sampling of Countermelody favorite, the refulgent Czech contralto Věra Soukupová, in song repertoire, accompanied by both piano and full orchestra. The featured works are two song cycles of the so-called “late Romantic era,” one by Antonín Dvořák (his 1894 Biblical Songs), and one…
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Episode 429. A Smattering of Sopranos
Today’s episode reveals and celebrates the opera queen in me: it’s a program entitled “A Smattering of Sopranos” that features twenty-five different singers who “happen to be” sopranos and whom have not yet been featured in full episodes of the podcast. I love producing these “potpourri”…
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Episode 428. Alfreda Hodgson Sings Brahms
The English contralto Alfreda Hodgson (07 June 1940 – 16 April 1992) has been featured numerous times on Countermelody and when I recently acquired a copy of her 1980 solo recital recording originally released on Pearl Records, I decided that the time was right to do a full episode on this...
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Episode 427. Representative Andrew Gray [AK] (Countermelody Conversations)
In the past I have featured interviews with wonderful guests (including Ira Siff, Janet Williams, Nicholas Tamagna, August Ventura, David Savran, and others), but they have been few and far between. The vast majority of my episodes consist of me talking solo about whatever singer or topic I am...
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Episode 426. Teresa Stratas [Season Seven Premiere]
I wanted to start off the year (and the new season of the podcast) with something momentous, and who better to take us there than one of the great operatic artists of the twentieth century: Canadian soprano Teresa Stratas. I have not yet done a full episode on this artist, though she provided me...
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Episode 425. Mady Mesplé chante l’Opérette viennoise
For the final episode of 2025, and of Season Six of the podcast, I present pure frothy escapism from the delectable Mady Mesplé, the finest French coloratura of her generation. My original intention was to feature her exclusively in operetta repertoire, and I’ve stuck to that. But as I began to...
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Episode 424. The Happy Prince
A holiday gift for my beloved listeners. In the past year I have done Countermelody episodes featuring both soprano April Cantelo and mezzo-soprano Maureen Lehane. Cantelo in particular sang roles in numerous operas by the Australian composer Malcolm Williamson, On a sojourn to New York in 2024…
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Episode 423. Christmas 2019 Redux: Hard/Try
Another episode of Christmas music! The first part is a continuation of the previous All-Tenor Holiday Extravaganza. We hear from Luther Saxon, Roland Hayes, James Melton, Brian Sullivan, Richard Crooks, Raoul Jobin, Jussi Björling, Richard Verreau, Fritz Wunderlich, Rudolf Schock, René Kollo…
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Episode 422. Christmas with the Tenors [2019 Throwback]
This week I present two episodes featuring Christmas music which I originally produced six years ago, in the earliest days of Countermelody. Both episodes zero in on tenors; I’ll be republishing them both this week. This first episode features a panoply of superb tenors (including Georges Thill,...
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Episode 421. Elly Sings Schubert [Jane’s Divas III]
Today, December 19, would have been my late mother’s 90th birthday. These past three months since her death have been so emotionally draining for me, and would have been even without the shitshow that the world has become in that time. On the other hand, I have been able to appreciate more fully...
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Episode 420. Art Song Gal Pals Celebrate Mary
Today I was torn between bringing you an episode with trashy secular holiday songs or taking the high road with the Christmas portion of Paul Hindemith’s Das Marienleben cycle, featuring recordings by Jennie Tourel and Erich Itor Kahn (in the songs) preceded by Lotte Lehmann, reading from the...
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Episode 419. Wunderlich in Duet
Anytime I do an episode on Fritz Wunderlich, the sun breaks through the clouds, emotionally speaking. Possessor of a bright-timbred voice of such exquisite beauty anchored by a profoundly satisfying musical sensibility, he and his legacy inspire rather than sadden me. Today I’ve chosen a duet...
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Episode 418. Christmas Art Songs with Bär and Schreier
This episode celebrates the artistic accomplishments of two of the finest twentieth century singers to come from the environs of Dresden, Peter Schreier and Olaf Bär. Both were former child choristers in the Dresdner Kreuzchor (albeit from two different generations). Both went on as adults to…
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Episode 417. Hail, Queens!
Okay, I confess that the title of this week’s episode is intentionally misleading, but if I told you what it actually was outright, you might not listen, and that would be a great loss! On Monday I celebrated Larry Kert for World AIDS Day, and today, I have made a selection of musical settings of...
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Episode 416. Larry Kert (World AIDS Day 2015)
Today is World AIDS Day, if anyone needed to be reminded. Though I considered doing a compendium episode of broad scope commemorating a handful of the thousands upon thousands of musicians that succumbed to AIDS, I decided instead to focus on one, Broadway icon Larry Kert, who created the role of...
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Episode 415. Our Feathered Friends (Stage Edition)
As I sat yesterday pondering all my friends, family, and compatriots celebrating Thanksgiving, my thoughts turned to the turkey, the traditional sacrificial creature for this event. And whatever the avian counterpart of a rabbit hole is, that’s where my thoughts turned as I realized that a…
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Episode 414. Sass Returns!
Every hundred or so episodes, I feel compelled to pay a return visit to beloved Hungarian diva Sylvia Sass, for there’s always something new and delicious to discover! I’ve cleaned up another former bonus episode and expanded it with a half-dozen extra tracks, from Verdi to Mozart, from her...
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Episode 413. Get to Know Geraint Evans
This past September 19th, we observed the anniversary of the death in 1992 of the great Welsh bass-baritone Geraint Evans at the age of 70. A vivid actor and a skilled singer, he both began and ended his career at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, but was a treasured guest at opera houses all...
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Episode 412. Luciano and Mirella Go Home Again
Today some real meat and potatoes Italian opera. Oh, wait, perhaps we should call it spaghetti alla bolognese rather than meat and potatoes. So often on the podcast I bring singers to the fore that are not as well known as some of the biggest stars in opera. But today I bring you both Luciano...
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Episode 411. Orchestral Song [International Edition]
An old LP of Tōru Takemitsu’s Coral Island and a conversation with a new friend about American Exceptionalism inspired today’s episode, the “International Edition” of my ongoing series on Orchestral Song. Coral Island is still here, although I ended up using a later (and better) recording than…
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Episode 410. Magda Olivero Revisited
If we have to live in a world of extremes, I want it to be a world in which Magda Olivero reigns supreme. Her artistry combined both integrity (personal, vocal, and artistic), alongside originality and fearless risk-taking. She was never afraid to go out on a limb and it was this quality…
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Episode 409. Arie antiche [Schirmer Edition]
Today’s potpourri episode is a special one for anyone who has ever studied voice in a college, university or conservatory. One of the primary sources of repertoire for instructors of singing has been a book first published by G. Schirmer in 1894 entitled Twenty-Four Italian Songs and Arias,...
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Episode 408. Rachel Yakar, Artiste Lyrique Française
The great French soprano Rachel Yakar died on 24 June 2023 at the age of 87. As she frequently performed opposite our last subject, Swiss tenor Eric Tappy, this episode makes a suitable pendant to that one. Celebrated for her transcendent performances of Baroque music, (Monteverdi and the French...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Countermelody devoted to the glories of the human voice raised in song.
HOSTED BY
DANIEL GUNDLACH
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Countermelody have?
Countermelody currently has 461 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Countermelody about?
Countermelody devoted to the glories of the human voice raised in song.
How often does Countermelody release new episodes?
Countermelody publishes regularly with 461 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Countermelody?
You can listen to Countermelody on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Countermelody?
Countermelody is created and hosted by DANIEL GUNDLACH.
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