Countermelody
Countermelody is a new podcast devoted to the glories of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great classical and opera singers of the past and present with the help of guests from the classical music field: singers, conductors, composers, coaches, agents, and voice teachers. 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 interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. Please also visit the Countermelody website for updates, additional content, and to pledge your support. www.countermelodypodcast.com
- Update frequency
- every 3 days
- Average duration
- 91 minutes
- Episodes
- 323
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
Episode 174. Song of Songs
This week is a continuation of my memorial tribute to my dear friend and colleague Susan May Schneider, who died last week after a long struggle with cancer. Susan’s husband Gary, a composer and cond…
01:21:39 |
Thu 08 Dec 2022
Episode 173. Orchesterlieder I
This week is the first of a series of episodes focusing on songs with orchestral accompaniment. The genre is almost a contradiction in terms: the intimacy and textual focus of art song with the somet…
01:33:23 |
Fri 02 Dec 2022
Episode 172. Ned Rorem In Memoriam
Greetings to all from my former home of Manhattan! Upon landing here a week ago, I was greeted by the news of the death of Ned Rorem, the man previously known as “America’s Greatest Living Composer,”…
01:21:52 |
Fri 25 Nov 2022
Episode 171. November Birthday Gals
Tomorrow morning I leave for three weeks and I’ve been desperately trying to come up with topics that would be a bit easier to produce while I’m away. What could be easier than birthdays for this mon…
01:24:15 |
Fri 18 Nov 2022
Episode 170. Oralia Domínguez
Earlier this year, in an episode entitled “Women of Color Sing Mahler,” I provided many of my listeners to their first exposure to the Mexican contralto Oralia Domínguez (25 October 1925 - 25 Novembe…
01:11:21 |
Fri 11 Nov 2022
Episode 169. Grace Bumbry
Though the great diva Grace Bumbry has often been featured on Countermelody, I have not yet done a full episode on this incomparable artist. Today’s episode seeks to remedy that, and to celebrate a s…
01:29:02 |
Fri 04 Nov 2022
Episode 168. The Haunted (Opera) House
This week’s episode celebrates Halloween while at the same time initiating my new ongoing series on Twentieth Century Opera. From Dvořák’s Rusalka, premiered in Prague in 1901, through Corigliano’s T…
01:09:02 |
Fri 28 Oct 2022
Episode 167. Denise Duval
Denise Duval, whose 101st birthday we posthumously commemorate on October 23, will forever be associated with the music of Francis Poulenc, and specifically his operas, in which the lead soprano role…
01:23:31 |
Fri 21 Oct 2022
Episode 166. Dan’s Picks
This week I celebrated my birthday, so today is the second of this month’s birthday celebrations. A number of my listeners have been asking me for a while to post an episode featuring my favorite sin…
01:27:28 |
Fri 14 Oct 2022
Episode 165. Giuseppe Verdi: A Libran Birthday Tribute
The great Giuseppe Verdi was born this week in 1813. Since his birthday occurs in the same week as mine, and since I firmly believe that I was a Verdi soprano in a former life, I am paying tribute to…
01:35:44 |
Fri 07 Oct 2022
Episode 164. Mabel Mercer (Season Four Premiere)
Welcome to Season Four of Countermelody! My long-time listeners know a few things things about the podcast. First, the most important quality in a singer is not voice, but communicative skills. Secon…
01:25:44 |
Fri 30 Sep 2022
Episode 163. Season Four Preview
Today Countermelody is in limbo: balanced between Seasons Three and Four. Over the past few months I’ve been planning the course of the upcoming season and this episode consists of musical tidbits (b…
01:24:28 |
Fri 23 Sep 2022
Episode 162. NYCO Divas: An Introduction
Today is the final regular episode of Season Three of Countermelody, as well as the last of my summer series documenting musical life in New York City during the years 1950 through 1975. I am thrille…
01:23:56 |
Fri 16 Sep 2022
Episode 161. Janet Baker: Subject of the Queen
The world changed yesterday with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, whose subjects in the United Kingdom just this summer celebrated the 70th year of her reign. How do I, as a progressive (and non-Brit…
01:05:53 |
Fri 09 Sep 2022
Episode 160. Donald Gramm
Dear ones, I present to you today the extraordinarily versatile bass-baritone and my fellow native Milwaukeean Donald Gramm (1927-1983), one of the central house singers at both the Metropolitan Oper…
01:11:53 |
Fri 02 Sep 2022
Episode 159. Forgotten Broadway II
The follow-up episode to my previous Forgotten Broadway episode is an epic one, chock full of fascinating composers, lyricists, performers and shows. We begin with a tribute to birthday boy Leonard B…
01:31:37 |
Fri 26 Aug 2022
Episode 158. Russell Oberlin
Hearing the voice of countertenor Russell Oberlin (1928 – 2016) as a soloist with the Robert Shaw Chorale was one of the formative experiences of my early life. I doubt that I would ever have become …
01:15:28 |
Fri 19 Aug 2022
Episode 157. Forgotten Broadway I
Today I begin Forgotten Broadway, a new miniseries within my summer series “Musical Life in New York City 1950-1975.” This wildly eclectic (some might say chaotic) program, the first of three, concer…
01:14:36 |
Fri 12 Aug 2022
Episode 156. Barely Sang at the Met II
This week is the conclusion of my presentation on world-class singers who made a minimal number of appearances at the Metropolitan Opera. My arbitrary parameters for this episode were singers who app…
01:30:52 |
Fri 05 Aug 2022
Episode 155. Barely Sang at the Met I
Today’s brain teaser: What do world-class singers Irmgard Seefried, Virginia Zeani, Piero Cappuccilli, birthday girl Gundula Janowitz, Galina Vishnevskaya, Giangiacomo Guelfi, Felicia Weathers, Elisa…
01:19:51 |
Thu 28 Jul 2022
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