Episode 350. Young Singers I Admire
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Today we celebrate 350 episodes of Countermelody since the inception of the podcast in the fall of 2019. Given that this is a momentous occasion (probably mostly to me, just for sticking with this thing!), I wanted to do something special today. For some time I have been promising an episode on Young Singers I Admire. This is different than the usual Countermelody fare because I almost always focus on great singers of the past. The world of the “opera singer” is very different today than when I was trying to carve out a professional career as a countertenor more than 30 years ago. I would say the huge difference is the way that social media has become such a prominent tool in shaping and maintaining a career. Even today, however, it is possible to do both of these things, to be a singer primarily focused on her technique and expressing the integrity of the music, as well as focusing on their marketing and their identity, whether that be queerness, Blackness, glamour, physical fitness, or whatever. Every single singer I feature today displays a solid and viable vocal technique and a profound connection to the music that they are singing while also, in most cases, deftly managing their online presence. Listen to these young singers and see if you don’t agree: sopranos Lisette Oropesa, Sabine Devieilhe, Nicole Car, and Vera-Lotte Böcker; contralto Jasmin White; mezzo-soprano Rachael Wilson; baritone Huw Montague Rendall; and countertenor Maayan Licht. Midway through constructing this episode, I realized that I had enough material for two episodes, so a pendant to this episode will be published next Easter Monday. It thrills me to celebrate these young artists: all possessors of gorgeous voices, fine technique, superb communicative powers, and a much, much better sense of entrepreneurship than I ever had!
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
George Frideric Handel [libretto after Silvio Stampiglia]: Ombra mai fu (Serse). Maayan Licht, Sexteto IBF [Pablo Guijarro, Caterina Coma, José Alvarado, Dariusz Wasiota, Daniel Oyarzabal] [live Gran Canaria IX.24]
Erich Korngold, Paul Schott [pseudonym for Erich Korngold, Julius Korngold, after Georges Rodenbach]: Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen (Die tote Stadt). Huw Montague Rendall, Ben Glassberg, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie [2024]
Léo Delibes, Edmond Gondinet, Philippe Gille [after Théodore Pavie, Pierre Loti]: Air des clochettes (Lakmé). Sabine Devieilhe, Raphaël Pichon, Pygmalion [live Paris, Opéra-Comique, Fall 2022]
Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Modest Tchaikovsky [after Aleksandr Pushkin]: Podrugi milie (Pique-Dame). Jasmin White, Gary Matthewman [live Queen Sonja Singing Competition, Norway VIII.23]
Margaret Bonds, Countee Cullen: To a Brown Girl Dead. Jasmin White, Philippe Riga [live Festival de l’Été Mosan, Belgium 16.VII.23]
Carl Maria von Weber, James Planché [translated Theodor Hell]: Arabien, mein Heimatland (Oberon). Rachael Wilson, Ivor Bolton, Orchester der Bayerischen Staatsoper [live München 2017]
Robert Stolz, Fritz Grünbaum, Wilhelm Sterk: Du sollst der Kaiser meiner Seele sein (Der Favorit). Vera-Lotte Böcker, Dalibor Karvay, Dirk Kaftan, Wiener Symphoniker [live Wien VI.23]
Antonín Dvořák, Jaroslav Kvapil: Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém (Rusalka). Nicole Car, Andrea Molino, Opera Australia Orchestra [2016]
Gonzalo Roig, Agustin Rodríguez, José Sánchez-Arcilla [after Cirilo Villaverde]: Salida de Cecilia (Cecilia Valdés). Lisette Oropesa, Óliver Díaz, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid [2024]
George Frideric Handel [libretto after Silvio Stampiglia]: Ombra mai fu (Serse). Krassimira Stoyanova, Mario Hosen, Chamber Ensemble of the Orchestra of La Scala, Milano [live Varna 29.IV.24]