Episode 494. A Birthday Potpourri I (Rescue Mission Edition)
It’s my birthday! And we’re heading south for a week. But never fear: I have spent the week preparing in advance a number of new episodes which will “hit the airwaves” right on schedule. And, perhaps best of all, they’re my famous potpourri episodes, that feature everything but the kitchen sink! Today’s episode is another in my “Rescue Mission” series, featuring artists who have already received full Countermelody episodes, but who are always worth revisiting. And in each case, I’m playing material that has not yet been heard on the podcast, some of it exceedingly rare! So who is up on today’s episode? First, our beloved Roberta Alexander, the first anniversary of whose death we commemorate this coming week. Also heard are a veritable torrent of other Countermelody favorites: Heather Harper, Marvis Martin, Charles Kullman, George Shirley, Donald Gramm, Betty Allen, Jennie Tourel, Lenora Lafayette, Gérard Souzay, Helen Donath (who recently make a surprise return to the stage as the Old Countess in Pique-Dame!), Inez Matthews, Elisabeth Söderström, Shirley Verrett, Andrzej Hiolski, and the recently departed Ileana Cotrubaş in an extraordinarily rare 1984 recording of one of Franz Liszt’s Petrarch Sonnets. I have reached the advanced age where receiving birthday gifts has lost its thrill and lustre, but I will never tire of sharing recordings of favorite artists that I have unearthed for our mutual enjoyment! And stay tuned for next week’s episode: a preview of forthcoming attractions coming in Season Eight (and beyond!)
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Leonard Bernstein, Rainer Maria Rilke [English translation by Jessie Lamont]: When My Soul Touches Yours (Two Love Songs, No. 2). Roberta Alexander, Tan Crone [1985]
Richard Cumming, Archibald MacLeish: The End of the World (We Happy Few, No. 8). Donald Gramm, Richard Cumming [1963]
Virgil Thomson, Francis of Assisi [English translation by Matthew Arnold]: From “The Canticle of the Sun” (Praises and Prayers, No. 1). Betty Allen, Virgil Thomson [world première, New York 24.X.63]
Vally Weigl, Harry Woodbourne: Afterthoughts (Nature Moods, No. 3). George Shirley, Stanley Drucker, Kenneth Gordon [1974]
Gian Carlo Menotti: Nocturne. Marvis Martin, Members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center [Jaime Laredo, Ani Kavafian, Walter Trampler, Leslie Parnas, Osian Ellis] [live NYC (world premiere) 24.X.1982]
Kurt Weill, MaxweIl Anderson [after Alan Paton]: Stay Well (Lost in the Stars). Inez Matthews, Orchestra conducted by Maurice Levine [1949]
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, adapted Miklos Rozsa, lyrics Jack Brooks: Song of India (Sadko) [as heard in the film Song of Scheherazade]. Charles Kullman, Orchestra conducted by Julius Burger [1946]
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, unknown poet: Ogni pena più spietata. Magda László, Franz Holetschek [1955]
Claude Debussy, Charles Baudelaire: Harmonie du soir (Cinq poèmes de Charles Baudelaire, L. 64/2). Jennie Tourel, Erich Itor Kahn [1950]
Robert Schumann, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Heiß mich nicht reden, Op. 98a/5. Lenora Lafayette, Horst Göbel [live Berlin 28.X.1968]
Johannes Brahms, Georg Friedrich Daumer: Ach, wende diesen Blick, Op. 57/4. Shirley Verrett, Charles Wadsworth [live New York 04.XI.1963]
Nicolas Nabokov, Boris Pasternak [German translation by Friedrich Torberg]: Der Hopfen [Hops] (Four Poems by Boris Pasternak from Doctor Zhivago, No. 3). Gérard Souzay, Hans Rosbaud, Sinfonieorchester des Südwestrundfunk [live Wien 08.VI.1961]
Werner Egk [after Heinrich von Kleist]: Ich war in einem Traum (Die Verlobung in San Domingo). Helen Donath, Werner Egk, Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks [Bayerischen Rundfunk television production 1967]
Alban Berg [after Georg Büchner]: Und ist kein Betrug (Drei Bruchstücke aus Wozzeck, Op. 7a/2). Heather Harper, Pierre, Boulez, BBC Symphony Orchestra [live Moscow 08.I.1967]
Franz Liszt, Francesco Petrarca: Pace non trovo (Tre Sonetti del Petrarca, S. 270/1). Ileana Cotrubaş, Adriano Jordão [1984]
Ture Rangström, Johan Ludvig Runeberg: Sommarnatten (Idyll, No. 1). Elisabeth Söderström, Lennart Rönnlund [1969]
Ernesto De Curtis, Domenico Furnò: Non ti scordar di me. Andrzej Hiolski, Henryk Debich, Polish Radio and Television Orchestra in Łódź [1957]
