Podcast Episodes

Ian Partridge

Season 4 Episode 212

Ian Partridge, the quintessential English lyric tenor, celebrated his 85th birthday in June. I may be a few weeks late in celebrating that event, but…

2 years, 10 months ago

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Episode 211. Janet Baker @ 90

This past week the opera world was plunged into mourning over the sudden death of Renata Scotto. Originally I had intended this week’s episode to be …

2 years, 10 months ago

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Episode 210. The Mystery of Anita Cerquetti

Anita Cerquetti (13 April 1931 – 11 October 2014), the subject of today’s episode, possessed a one in a million voice, enormous, but with prodigious …

2 years, 10 months ago

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Nordic Tracks: Orchestral Songs

Season 4 Episode 209

Inspired by my holiday in Denmark last week, today I inaugurate a new series on Countermelody called “Nordic Tracks,” featured music from Scandinavia…

2 years, 11 months ago

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Episode 208. Happy Birthday, Gundula Janowitz!

From a very young age I was interested in today’s birthday celebrant, the great Gundula Janowitz, at least partially because of a similarity between …

2 years, 11 months ago

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Henry Wright and Pals

Season 4 Episode 207

Today’s episode is first and foremost a tribute to a forgotten African American trailblazer, the pop singer Henry Wright, born in 1933, who, in the l…

2 years, 11 months ago

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Jerry Hadley

Season 4 Episode 206

Jerry Hadley (16 June 1952 – 18 July 2007) is regarded by many as the most gifted American lyric tenor of the late 20th century. Last month he would …

2 years, 11 months ago

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Episode 205. Eileen Farrell: Bach/Pop

Eileen Farrell (13 February 1920 – 23 March 2002) was one of the finest and most versatile singers that the United States has ever produced. She bega…

2 years, 11 months ago

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Episode 204. Roberta Alexander Sings America

Posting a few days early in celebration of the Fourth of July and in further recognition of the beloved American soprano Roberta Alexander, whose bir…

3 years ago

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Jobriath and Jackie Shane (Pride 2023)

Season 4 Episode 203

Today’s Pride 2023 episode focuses on two pathbreaking pop artists from the 1960s and 1970s, who were undervalued or even reviled at the time in whic…

3 years ago

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