Episode 495. A Birthday Potpourri II (Sneak Preview Edition)
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Welcome to the second of my birthday potpourri episodes! I recorded this the day before we left on vacation, in other words, exactly a week ago. The focus this week is on Coming Attractions for the rest of the year and the new season (Season Eight already!) of Countermelody coming in January. We begin with a tribute to Dutch bass-baritone John Bröcheler, who died on September 30 at the age of 81. I have been collecting his recordings for a couple years now and will do a full memorial tribute in the months to come. I’m also planning a series on songs by important twentieth century composers, including Karol Szymanowski (sinuously represented here by Polish soprano Halina Łukomska), Jean Sibelius (powerfully voiced by Finnish soprano Ritva Auvinen) and Miriam Gideon (performed here by the exceptional Greek-American tenor Constantine Cassolas, one of the composer’s favorite collaborators). I’m also planning a special episode on creators of Richard Strauss operas, and as a foretaste we hear an excerpt from Arabella featuring the controversial soprano Viorica Ursuleac and baritone Alfred Jerger. My series of recordings in the Opernabend series on the Eterna label also continues, and the “placeholder” here is Bulgarian heldentenor Spas Wenkoff, heard in an excerpt from Parsifal. I’m also putting together an episode on great German sopranos singing Verdi in German, as represented here by the great Margarete Teschemacher. This will be in tandem with an episode on international Verdi baritones, as exemplified by one of the greatest ever, the Greek Kostas Paskalis. I’ll also be doing individual episodes on singers I’ve been collecting for some time now, including the pathbreaking African American tenor Roland Hayes, the versatile Swedish bass-baritone Erik Sædén, the fearless French-Italian spinto Adriana Maliponte, and two Black mezzos: the velvet-voiced Hilda Harris and the pioneering Trinidadian Sandra Browne. Finally, a pair of episodes paying tribute to the countertenor voice, one entitled “Our Countertenor Forebears,” represented by the heroic-voiced John Angelo Messana. The other, which has been planned and promised for years now as Episode 500, will feature yours truly, Daniel Gundlach, in an episode to be called “Dansplaining,” which will feature sound recordings unearthed from the ashes of my own archives. So, my friends, much to look forward to on Countermelody in the seasons, months, and years to come.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
César Franck, Joséphine-Blanche Colomb [after the Gospel of Matthew]: Soyez heureux. Ô justes que mon Père envoie (Les Béatitudes). John Bröcheler, Paul Hofstede, Kenneth Montgomery, Omroeporkest [Hilversum Radio Orchestra] [live Holland Festival 14.VI.1977]
Karol Szymanowski, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz: Allah, Akbar, ja wiem, ja dobrze wiem [Allah Akbar, well I know] (Pieśni muezina szalonego [Songs of the Lovesick Muezzin], Op. 42/1). Halina Łukomska, Jerzy Sulikowski [1971]
Traditional Spiritual: Dry Bones. Roland Hayes, Reginald Boardman [recorded 16.I.1955]
Charles Ives, John Keats: Like a Sick Eagle. Erik Sædén, Sten Envik [1966]
Jean Sibelius, Johan Ludvig Runeberg: Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte, Op. 37-5. Ritva Auvinen, Pentti Koskimies [1981]
Joaquín Rodrigo, Teodoro Llorente: Cançó del Teuladí [Song of the Sparrow]. Sandra Browne, Michael Isador [1978]
Agostino Steffani, Ortensio Mauro [after Virgil]: Oh grandi, oh sacri abitator… Là tra le Furie (Amor vien dal destino). John Angelo Messana, Newell Jenkins, Frederick Hammond, Orchestra del Teatro Accademico di Castelfranco Veneto [1981]
Charles Gounod, Victor Hugo: Sérénade, CG 437. Daniel Gundlach, Scott Gilmore [live New York spring 2002]
Richard Wagner: Amfortas! Die Wunde! (Parsifal). Spas Wenkoff, Heinz Fricke, Staatskapelle Berlin [1977]
Richard Strauss, Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Das war sehr gut, Mandryka (Arabella). Viorica Ursuleac, Alfred Jerger, Clemens Krauss, Orchester der Staatsoper Berlin [1933]
Giuseppe Verdi, Francesco Maria Piave [after Ángel de Saavedra; German translation by Franz Werfel]: Endlich, endlich, teurer Engel [Ah, per sempre, o mio bell’angiol] (Die Macht des Schicksals [La forza del destino]). Margarete Teschemacher, Walther Ludwig, Hans Udo Müller, Orchester der Staatsoper, Berlin [1934]
Giuseppe Verdi, Francesco Maria Piave, Andrea Maffei: Perfidi! All’anglo contro me v’unite!… Pietà, rispetto, amore (Macbeth). Kostas Paskalis, Leonidas Zoras, Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra [1989]
Pietro Mascagni, Luigi Illica: Un dì (ero piccina) (Iris). Adriana Maliponte, Alfredo Silipigni, Orchestra of the New Jersey State Opera [live Newark 14.II.1988]
Margaret Bonds, Langston Hughes: The Negro Speaks of Rivers. Hilda Harris, Rudolf Jansen [live Den Haag 26.II.75]
Miriam Gideon, Alkman [English translation by Willis Barnstone]: Rest (Voices from Elysium, No. 7). Constantine Cassolas, Da Capo Chamber Players [André Emilianoff, Laura Flax, Joel Lester, Patricia Spencer, Joan Tower] [1984]