Countermelody

Today we commemorate the quarter century since 9/11, an event that sent shockwaves throughout the world as it was transpiring (and who can forget where they were in those first awful hours?) And yet the aftermath has been so much worse than one could even imagine at the time, and with no end in sight (witness the right-wing populism and divisiveness which have become the order of the day). My heart and spirit cry out in pain every single day and the only consolation, the only balm, my soul receives these days is through art, and particularly for me, as for many of us, music. 2026 has also seen an inordinate number of deaths of people who made a different in the world. As I struggled to come up with a theme and a setlist for today’s episode, one figure kept reappearing at the door: Belgian bass-baritone José van Dam, who died last February at the age of 85. Though I was a lifelong admirer of the singer, and was deeply saddened by his death, I have not yet presented a suitable memorial tribute in his honor. His voice exuded a warmth and humanity that gave his performances and portrayals a particular glow. So I have chosen to present him today singing music appropriate to this solemn occasion: songs of Ravel, Schubert, Gounod, Schumann, Fauré, Brahms, Ibert, Wolf, Mahler, and Trenet; supplemented by arias and scenes by Verdi, Massenet, Landowski, and Messiaen. I’m keeping chatter to a bare minimum on this episode, letting the music, the texts, and van Dam’s voice and artistry, create a patina of consolation for all the complicated emotions raised by this day of mourning and meditation.

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.

On August 30 we observed (posthumously) the 104th birthday of the unique, the phenomenal Regina Resnik, who died in 2013 just a few short days before her 91st birthday. This commemoration, combined with my recent acquisition (at the flea market in my Berlin neighborhood) of the LP of her single operatic recital recording, provided the impetus for this long-overdue Countermelody celebration of an exceptional career that spanned nearly 50 years and encompassed exceptional portrayals on the world’s operatic stages, Broadway, and the concert platform. This episode presents Resnik in the very earliest days of her career as a soprano singing arias from Macbeth, Zazà, and La Reine de Saba, then following her vocal trajectory downward into the dramatic mezzo fach in which she celebrated her greatest career triumphs. Excerpts from her “On the Wings of Opera” operatic recital offer a fuller picture of her in that repertoire, in arias of Saint-Saëns, Wagner, Verdi, and Tchaikovsky. Then we dip into a rare 1968 recording of art song with pianist Richard Woitach, which offers a dazzling program of French, Geman, Russian, and Spanish song, amply sampled. The program ends with Resnik in three Broadway selections, including live stage performances of both Cabaret and A Little Night Music. I’m thrilled to pay tribute to this iconic New Yorker whose incandescent artistic sensibility turned everything she touched into gold.

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.

Ileana Cotrubaș, the exquisite Romanian soprano, departed this earthly plane last week at the age of 87. She was one of the operatic artists I most revered and respected, both for her musical and artistic integrity and for her constant search for greater dramatic truth in her portrayals. Her characterizations of Violetta, Mimì, Gilda, Adina, Susanna, and Pamina, among others, were peerless. As her career developed, she assumed “bigger” repertoire, in which, on her own terms, she was frequently as successful as her earlier repertoire. This episode, wrung straight from my mourning heart, celebrates all aspects of her operatic repertoire, including late career additions such as Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Desdemona in Otello, and Charlotte in Werther, the role in which she took her farewell from the operatic stage. In seeking a framework in which to commemorate her, I chose duets exclusively. And, oh, the singers with whom she is partnered: José Carreras, Vladimir Atlantov, Giacomo Aragall, Franco Bonisolli, Alfredo Kraus, Luis Lima, Barry McCauley, Janet Baker, Brigitte Fassbaender, Frederica von Stade, James Bowman, Ruth Welting, Renato Bruson, Tom Krause, José van Dam, Christian Boesch, Matteo Manuguerra, Leo Nucci: the absolute crème de la crème of the great singers of that era. She will be forever remembered and held dearly in the hearts of all who loved her singing and artistry.

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.

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.

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.