Podcast Episodes

Trauer und Trost

Season 4 Episode 215

This week’s episode offers music of both mourning and consolation performed by treasured artists, many of whom celebrate significant anniversaries th…

3 years ago

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Ellabelle Davis

Season 4 Episode 214

Today I begin a series of interim episodes which will lead up to the debut of Season Five of the podcast in January 2024. These episodes will be shor…

3 years ago

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Episode 213. Julia Varady

A week ago the extraordinary Hungarian-German soprano Julia Varady turned 82. As she is one of my favorite sopranos, I have presented her a few times…

3 years ago

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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…

3 years 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 …

3 years, 1 month 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 …

3 years, 1 month 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…

3 years, 1 month 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 …

3 years, 1 month 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…

3 years, 2 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 …

3 years, 2 months ago

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