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 134. Legacy (Black History Month 2022 Postlude)
This is the second part of my final episode of Black History Month 2022, continuing the exploration of the legacies of more than two dozen mostly underrecorded African American artists. Each piece of…
01:49:50 |
Fri 04 Mar 2022
Episode 133. Never Forget (Black History Month 2022)
I bid a lingering farewell to Black History Month 2022 with the first of a two-part episode featuring singers, each of whom left a relatively small but invaluable recorded legacy. I begin with solois…
01:29:33 |
Sat 26 Feb 2022
Episode 132. Brock Peters (Black History Month 2022)
How often it happens that, even when an artist produces an august and varied body of work, that they are remembered only for a tiny fragment of their output? Such is the case with Brock Peters (1927 …
01:37:35 |
Wed 23 Feb 2022
Episode 131. Happy Birthday, Reri Grist! (Black History Month 2022)
The great African American coloratura Reri Grist was born on leap year 1932. We celebrate her upcoming 90th birthday with a tribute featuring many of her greatest roles and recordings. After appearin…
01:42:45 |
Fri 18 Feb 2022
Episode 130. Hutch (Black History Month 2022)
Leslie Hutchinson (1900-1969), known universally as Hutch, rose from his beginnings in Grenada, to become the biggest music star in London in the 1930s. Though he is but little remembered today, he p…
01:31:28 |
Wed 16 Feb 2022
Episode 129. Leontyne Price in Concert (Black History Month 2022)
The great Leontyne Price, soprano par excellence and beacon to a world that desperately needed (and still needs) her, turned 95 this week. In celebration of her birthday, I chose to offer a less well…
01:35:02 |
Fri 11 Feb 2022
Episode 128. Leslie Uggams (Black History Month 2022)
I would bet (though I can’t guarantee it) that I was one of a very small number of white 8-year-old Wisconsin boys who, on Sunday nights in the summer of 1969, tuned in faithfully to watch every sing…
01:39:22 |
Wed 09 Feb 2022
Episode 127. Maria Ewing in Memoriam (Black History Month 2022)
The exceptional, distinctive Maria Ewing died of cancer on January 9 at her home outside of her native Detroit at the age of 71. Even before her death, I had been planning an episode on Maria Ewing, …
01:47:13 |
Fri 04 Feb 2022
Episode 126. Canadian Singers of Art Song (Great Canadian Singers)
After two weeks of so-called “deep dives” into the careers and recordings of Lois Marshall and Jon Vickers – two of the greatest Canadian singers – this week I offer a potpourri episode of great Cana…
01:46:01 |
Fri 28 Jan 2022
Episode 125. Jon Vickers (Great Canadian Singers)
Our series saluting great Canadian singers continues with a tribute to one of the greatest singers I have ever seen in performance, the Saskatchewan-born tenor Jon Vickers. Not only was he a profound…
01:39:00 |
Fri 21 Jan 2022
Episode 124. Dave’s Picks
Today’s special episode is in honor of my best friend, partner-in-crime and Corona-lockdown buddy, the distinguished theater scholar and author David Savran, who this week once again celebrated anoth…
01:46:28 |
Fri 14 Jan 2022
Episode 123. Lois Marshall (Great Canadian Singers)
Today is my first episode of the New Year, and the first in my three-part series this month on Great Canadian Singers. It is my contention that my first subject, Lois Marshall (1925-1997), is one of …
01:42:32 |
Fri 07 Jan 2022
Episode 122. Auld Acquaintance II
Part Two of my “Auld Acquaintance” mini-series on Countermelody continues the exploitation of even more artists who have already been featured on the podcast, but in rare recordings that have only re…
01:32:28 |
Thu 30 Dec 2021
Episode 121. Auld Acquaintance I
This special episode, the first of two year-end celebrations, presents artists who have already been featured on Countermelody in rare recordings that have recently become available to me. A few of t…
01:40:27 |
Thu 23 Dec 2021
Episode 120. Bethany Beardslee
Today’s episode celebrates a pioneer in the performance of twentieth century vocal music in anticipation of her 96th birthday on Christmas Day. Bethany Beardslee was a titan who set standards in the …
01:42:51 |
Fri 17 Dec 2021
Episode 119. Christmas (Art) Songs
It’s time for my third annual Christmas show! Can you believe that Countermelody has been around that long already? This year I am reviving last year’s theme, Christmas-themed art songs, but with all…
01:33:52 |
Fri 10 Dec 2021
Episode 118. Stephen Sondheim & Joséphine Baker
Two titans of culture were in the news this past week for very different reasons. Just as I was publishing last week’s episode came the news that Stephen Sondheim had died at the age of 91 a few hour…
01:45:54 |
Fri 03 Dec 2021
Episode 117. Buffy Sainte-Marie
In observation of US-American “Thanksgiving,” known to its Indigenous population as a day of mourning, I wanted to provide a platform for that great Indigenous singer, composer, educator, and activis…
01:38:17 |
Fri 26 Nov 2021
Episode 116. Pop Songs by Lieder Singers
This week I feature nearly a century’s worth of recordings of pop music by singers who also, and in some cases primarily, were great singers of art song. Many of my favorite singers figure into the m…
01:47:17 |
Fri 19 Nov 2021
Episode 115. Jules Bledsoe
This week I present an important African American artist who has been nearly forgotten by history: the bass-baritone Jules Bledsoe (1897-1943). He is most remembered for creating the role of Joe in J…
01:37:54 |
Fri 12 Nov 2021
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