Episode 427. Rep. Andrew Gray [AK] (Countermelody Conversations)
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In the past I have featured interviews with wonderful guests (Ira Siff, Janet Williams, Nicholas Tamagna, August Ventura, David Savran, and others), but they have been few and far between. The vast majority of my episodes consist of me talking solo about whatever singer or topic I am presenting on a given day. But today, alongside the new season of Countermelody, I also initiate a new series called “Countermelody Conversations,” in which I interview friends and colleagues in (and out of) the music business, discussing music, singers, singing, and all the issues that come up in such discussions. My first guest in this series is my good friend Andrew Gray. Many years (and lifetimes) ago, Andrew was a voice student of mine. Most voice teachers, when bragging about their students, tell you what opera houses they have been singing in. But Andrew is associated with an altogether different house, the Alaska State House of Representatives, of which he is a recently re-elected member. In this episode, Andrew describes how he went from being a Broadway wannabe to a politician. As he himself states, he is content that he has now found his true calling, but it is wonderful to trek that journey with him. I interviewed Andrew last summer when he and his son visited Berlin. He brought along a fascinating setlist of some of his favorite music, which we also discuss in detail. Andrew has a way of listening to and evaluating music which is distinctly different from mine, which means that he presents music and singers that you might otherwise not encounter on Countermelody. I’m so proud to have him as the first guest on this new series, for which I’m already planning subsequent conversations.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Neal Joseph, Dotti Rambo: We Shall Behold Him. Sandi Patty, produced by Neal Joseph [1981]
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice: On the Balcony of the Casa Rosada (Evita). Patti LuPone, Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Rene Wiegert [1979]
Prince: Yo Mister. Patti LaBelle, produced by Prince [1989]
Rupert Holmes: The Writing on the Wall (The Mystery of Edwin Drood). Betty Buckley, Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Michael Starobin [1985]
Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Tim Rice: You and I (Chess). David Carroll, Judy Kuhn, Orchestra conducted by Paul Bogaev, arranged and orchestrated by Anders Eljas, Steven Margoshes [1988]
Sergei Rachmaninov, Glafira Adol’fovna Galina: How Fair this Spot [Здесь хорошо], Op. 21/7. Kathleen Battle, Margo Garrett [live Carnegie Hall, 27.IV.1991]
Johann Sebastian Bach: Et exsultavit (Magnificat in D Major, BWV 243). Ann Murray, Helmuth Rilling, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart [1980]
George Butterworth, A.E. Housman: Loveliest of Trees (Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad, No. 1). Anthony Rolfe Johnson, David Willison [1975]
Giuseppe Verdi, Antonio Ghislanzoni [after Auguste Mariette and Temistocle Solera]: Per chi piango? Per chi prego? (Aida). Birgit Nilsson, Grace Bumbry, Franco Corelli, Bonaldo Giaiotti, Ferruccio Mazzoli, Zubin Mehta, Orchestra e Coro del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma [1967]
Antonio Vivaldi, Niccolò Beregan: Vedrò con mio diletto (Il Giustino). Jakub Józef Orliński, Maxim Emelyanychev, Il Pomo d’Oro [2019]
Veljo Tormis, Traditional Finnish [from the Kanteletar]: Varjele, Jumala, soasta [God protect us from war!]. Estonian National Male Choir, Ants Soots, conductor [2000]
Gaetano Donizetti, Giuseppe Bardari [after Friedrich Schiller]: Ah, se un giorno da queste ritorte (Maria Stuarda). Edita Gruberová, Francisco Araiza, Iris Vermillion, Francesco Ellero d’Artegna, Giuseppe Patanè, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks [1989]
