Episode 391. Ben Bagley’s Three-Dollar Bills [Porter and Hart Edition] SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Two months ago I posted an…
Episode 389. Rescue Mission (Operatic Duets Edition) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I have spent the past week planning forthcoming episodes…
Episode 388. Sopranos en détresse, Part Deux SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM A few months ago I published the first of…
Episode 387. Zauberwelt der Oper (Black Diva Edition) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I’m on holiday this week, but it would…
Episode 384. Vera Little Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM On June 3, 2024, the Berlin Senate’s Department of Culture installed…
Episode 381. I Got a Name (Pride Edition) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM At first blush, this episode may look a…
Episode 379. Stuart Burrows in Duet SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM So many great singing artists lost to the world of…
Episode 378. Rescue Mission III (Friends Edition) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Even after I publish a Countermelody episode on a…
Episode 375. Gilda Cruz-Romo In Memoriam SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Back in December I published my first episode honoring the…
Episode 370. Lesbian Concentrate and Beyond SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Continuing the Countermelody show of Pride for this month’s LGBTQ+…
Episode 369. Joséphine Baker Revisited (Live Edition) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Yesterday was a crucial celebration for all US-Americans: Juneteenth.…
Episode 368. Gay Eccentrics (Pride 2025) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Somewhere along the line in planning my Pride 2025 episodes,…
Episode 365. Flying Down to Rio (Latin American Orchestral Song II) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today is the second part…
Episode 364. Grace Bumbry, Proud Soprano (Live Edition) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM It’s Pride Month, and what better time to…
Episode 363. Orchestral Song of Latin America, Part 1 SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM A few weeks ago I had the…
Episode 352. Faboo Young Singers, Part Two SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This is the second part of an episode begun…
Episode 350. Young Singers I Admire SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today we celebrate 350 episodes of Countermelody since the inception…
Episode 348. Rescue Mission II SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM After I post a Countermelody episode on a cherished singer, my…
Episode 345. A Lenten Litany of Bach Contraltos SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Over the course of the past year, I…
Episode 343. Over-the-Top Sopranos, French Edition SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM As a follow-up to my Mezzos on the Verge series,…
Episode 340. Roberta Alexander: Dutch Treat SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Nothing brings me greater joy than when a deep exploration…
Episode 339. Todd Duncan SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today I present the male lead creator of Gershwin’s towering masterpiece, Porgy…
Episode 337. Anne Wiggins Brown SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today on Countermelody the first of two (for now) episodes celebrating…
Episode 335. Felicia Weathers, Schlagersängerin SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week a light-hearted (and therefore much-needed!) tribute to the marvelous…
Episode 334. Gloria Davy Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I’ve been wanting to revisit the legacy of the great African…
Episode 333. Leontyne Price Sings Richard Strauss Lieder SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM On February 10th, our beloved diva Leontyne Price…
Episode 332. Ellabelle Davis Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today I present the African American soprano Ellabelle Davis (1907-1960) who…
Episode 331. Eugene Holmes Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Exactly two years ago I introduced my listeners to the magisterial…
Episode 330. Martina Arroyo in Duet SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM What better way to start off this Black History Month…
Episode 326. Paul Robeson Unchained SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today, Martin Luther King Day and the day before the reinauguration…
Episode 319. Leslie Uggams 1965–1975 SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Leslie Uggams’ long-standing place in American pop culture matches that of…
Episode 318. Christmas (Art) Songs, Part Deux SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM A final offering of Christmas music on Countermelody this…
Episode 315. Gilda Cruz-Romo SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM While I was growing up, Gilda Cruz-Romo was a fixture on the…
Episode 314. Yi-Kwei Sze Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM One of the great personal revelations for me in the early…
Episode 313. Get to Know Gilbert Price SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM If you have never heard of Gilbert Price, this…
Episode 311. Ina Souez SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Because we American expats in Germany often celebrate Thanksgiving on the weekend…
Episode 310. Giving Thanks with Roberta Alexander SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM If you, like many of us, are struggling to…
Episode 307. Francisco Araiza in Song SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM In the first year of Countermelody I posted a tribute…
Episode 304. Portia White, Canadian Icon SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM As the United States faces its most momentous and contentious…
Episode 303. Everything Must Change SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Something a little outside of the normal scope of Countermelody for…
Episode 302. The Haunted Opera House, 2024 Edition SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Two years ago for Halloween, I presented the…
Episode 299. Rogue Tenors SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Remember the summer of 2020? The good old days of lockdown? That…
Episode 298. Verdi Duets SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Last week, absorbed in preparations for my own birthday, I passed over…
Episode 297. In Pace SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today I present part two of my “In Memoriam” series, honoring treasured…
Episode 291. A Bevy of Bachian Contraltos SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week I pull out all the Baroque stops…
Episode 289. Meet Vera Little SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM On Monday June 3, 2024, a new memorial plaque commemorating African…
Episode 283. Betty Allen SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Betty Allen has been featured on countless omnibus Countermelody episodes, but it’s…
Episode 278. George Shirley Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This August I shall be supplementing each new episode published with…
Episode 276. Jules Bledsoe (Listeners’ Favorites) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Ten days ago I reposted an episode celebrating the life…
Episode 275. Margaret Tynes (Listeners’ Favorites) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM On March 7, 2024, the legendary African American soprano Margaret…
Episode 273. Paul Robeson (Listeners’ Favorites) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I am here visiting my family in Milwaukee this week,…
Episode 272. Lenora Lafayette (Listeners’ Favorites) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Every so often I discover a singer who had previously…
Episode 271. Muriel Smith (Listeners’ Favorites) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM SUBSCRIBE VIA YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST PLATFORM As I embark on…
Episode 267. A Cavalcade of Pop Contraltos SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM My intention this week to produce a joyous new…
Episode 264. Rescue Mission (Forgotten Divas Edition) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM During Black History Month this year I featured a…
Episode 263. Contralto Central SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Finally, the first in my long-promised series on the contralto voice! The…
Episode 260. Robert McFerrin Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM As a companion to my Lawrence Winters episode last week, I…
Episode 259. Lawrence Winters Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM During the first season of Countermelody I presented the great African…
Episode 257. The Marvelous Marvis Martin SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I have been juggling a number of brand new episode…
Episode 254. Holy Week with the Romantics SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Once again we have reached the climax of the…
Episode 252. Zsolt Bognár Introduces A Baritonal Schubertiade SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I was thrilled to discover a while back…
Episode 246. Previn Moore Introduces Camilla Williams & Janet Williams (BHM 2024) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM As the final entry…
Episode 244. Veronica Tyler (BHM 2024) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This Countermelody episode is the last in my miniseries featuring…
Episode 243. Ethel Ennis (BHM 2024) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s “Forgotten Diva” takes us outside of the realm of…
Episode 242. Damon Evans Introduces George Shirley (BHM 2024) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week I present a Countermelody mini-series…
Episode 240. Annabelle Bernard (BHM 2024) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Last week we celebrated the 97th birthday of our Ur-Diva,…
Episode 239. Gwendolyn Killebrew (BHM 2024) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week’s “Forgotten Diva” is the mezzo-soprano / contralto Gwendolyn…
Episode 232. Janet Williams and Paul Padillo Introduce Maria Ewing (Listeners’ Favorites III) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM January 9 is…
Episode 227. A Golden Age Christmas SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM In the midst of our recent move, I came across…
Episode 225. Joya Sherrill SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week’s episode is the first in what I hope will be…
Episode 222. Shirley Verrett, Falcon Sfogatissima SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM It is hard to believe that it’s already been 13…
Episode 221. Robert Massard SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This is an episode I have been planning for years now! This…
Episode 220. La Fiamma (The Haunted Opera House II) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM A year ago, I posted an episode…
Episode 219. Chants d’Auvergne SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Another episode featuring orchestral songs, these arrangements by the French composer Joseph…
Episode 216. The Lieder of Joseph Marx SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week (inspired by an 10-inch LP in my…
Episode 215. Trauer und Trost SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week’s episode offers music of both mourning and consolation performed…
Episode 214. Ellabelle Davis SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today I begin a series of interim episodes which will lead up…
Episode 207. Henry Wright and Pals SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s episode is first and foremost a tribute to a…
Episode 204. Roberta Alexander Sings America SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Posting a few days early in celebration of the Fourth…
Episode 203. Jobriath and Jackie (Pride 2023) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s Pride 2023 episode focuses on two pathbreaking pop…
Episode 199. Tina and the Expats SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM If you’re like me (and I hope that, at least…
Episode 197. Theatre Dreams SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Ernestine Schumann-Heink and Annie Krull in the original production of Elektra, 1908.…
Episode 196. Grace Bumbry In Memoriam SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This past week the world of opera was plunged in…
Episode 195. Forgotten Broadway III SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Last summer, I produced a miniseries of episodes on Countermelody entitled…
Episode 194. Great Mozart Tenors SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s is a mammoth episode, one of my longest ever, so…
Episode 191. Music for Holy Week SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Diana Montague (born April 8… Happy Birthday!) Welcome to all…
Episode 188. Sarah Reese SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Greatness expresses itself in different ways. Sometimes in indisputable artistic talents, and…
Episode 186. Roberta Alexander in Opera SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today it is with the utmost excitement that I bring…
Episode 185. Black Pop Icons auf Deutsch (Black History Month 2023) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM There are advantages to being…
Episode 184. Eugene Holmes SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Eugene Holmes (1932 – 2007), baritone supreme, should be remembered as one…
Episode 183. Martina Arroyo SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Last week on Feburary 2, the beloved African American soprano Martina Arroyo…
Episode 182. Dorothy Maynor SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I lead off my new episodes for Black History Month 2023 with…
Episode 179. The Pop Stylings of Maria Ewing SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM A year ago, as I prepared a memorial…
Episode 177. Great Singers at Twilight SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM For the last episode of 2022, I begin a series…
Episode 174. Song of Songs SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week is a continuation of my memorial tribute to my…
Episode 172. Ned Rorem In Memoriam SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Greetings to all from my former home of Manhattan! Upon…
Episode 171. November Birthday Gals SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Tomorrow morning I leave for three weeks and I’ve been desperately…
Episode 170. Oralia Domínguez SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Earlier this year, in an episode entitled “Women of Color Sing Mahler,”…
Episode 169. Grace Bumbry SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Though the great diva Grace Bumbry has often been featured on Countermelody,…
Episode 168. The Haunted (Opera) House, 20th Century Edition SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week’s episode celebrates Halloween while at…
Episode 166. Dan’s Picks SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week I celebrated my birthday, so today is the second of…
Episode 165. Giuseppe Verdi: A Birthday Tribute from Fellow Librans SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The great Giuseppe Verdi was born…
Episode 164. Mabel Mercer (Season Four Premiere) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Welcome to Season Four of Countermelody! My long-time listeners…
Episode 163. Season Four Preview SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today Countermelody is in limbo: balanced between Seasons Three and Four.…
Episode 162. NYCO Divas: An Introduction SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today is the final regular episode of Season Three of…
Episode 159. Forgotten Broadway II SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The follow-up episode to my previous Forgotten Broadway episode is an…
Episode 157. Forgotten Broadway I SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today I begin Forgotten Broadway, a new miniseries within my summer…
Episode 155. Barely Sang at the Met SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s brain teaser: What do world-class singers Irmgard Seefried,…
Episode 154. Adele Addison @ 97 SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This Sunday, 24 July 2022, the great African American lyric…
Episode 151. Cole Porter [Pride 2022] SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Because I’m still on the road, I’m posting an old…
Episode 149. Music Black and Queer (Pride 2022) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Over the course of history, for Persons of…
Episode 146. Women of Color Sing Mahler SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Say their names: In Uvalde: Nevaeh Bravo, Jackie Cazares,…
Episode 142. The Thrill of Pelléas SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM In (relative) relief over the recent French election result, I…
Episode 141. Chansons d’avril SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week’s episode is a musical celebration of all things spring. As…
Episode 140. The Universal Passion SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM For Christians, this week is probably the most central to the…
Episode 139. Swiss Misses and Misters SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM A few months ago, we paid a visit to Zurich.…
Episode 138. Cabaret Risqué: Broadway Edition SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM At Countermelody, this April Fool’s Day begins with a dirty…
Episode 137. Ukrainian Singers and Composers SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Here finally is my long-promised and long-overdue episode on great…
Episode 134. Legacy (Black History Month 2022 Postlude) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This is the second part of my final…
Episode 133. Never Forget (Black History Month 2022) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I bid a lingering farewell to Black History…
Episode 132. Brock Peters (Black History Month 2022) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM How often it happens that, even when an…
Episode 131. Happy Birthday, Reri Grist (Black History Month 2022) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The great African American coloratura Reri…
Episode 130. Hutch [Leslie Hutchinson] (Black History Month 2022) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Leslie Hutchinson (1900-1969), known universally as Hutch,…
Episode 129. Leontyne Price in Concert [Black History Month 2022] SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The great Leontyne Price, soprano par…
Episode 128. Leslie Uggams (Black History Month 2022) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I would bet (though I can’t guarantee it)…
Episode 127. Maria Ewing in Memoriam (Black History Month 2022) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The exceptional, distinctive Maria Ewing died…
Episode 126. Canadian Singers of Art Song (Great Canadian Singers) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM After two weeks of so-called “deep…
Episode 123. Lois Marshall (Great Canadian Singers) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today is my first episode of the New Year,…
Episode 122. Auld Acquaintance II SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Part Two of my “Auld Acquaintance” mini-series on Countermelody continues the…
Episode 121. Auld Acquaintance I SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This special episode, the first of two year-end celebrations, presents artists…
Episode 119. Christmas Art Songs SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM It’s time for my third annual Christmas show! Can you believe…
Episode 118. Stephen Sondheim & Joséphine Baker SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Two titans of culture were in the news this…
Episode 117. Buffy Sainte-Marie (Great Canadian Singers) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM In observation of US-American “Thanksgiving,” known to its Indigenous…
Episode 116. Pop Songs by Lieder Singers SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week I feature nearly a century’s worth of…
Episode 115. Jules Bledsoe SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week I present an important African American artist who has been…
Episode 111. Verdi auf Deutsch SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s is a mammoth episode on a mammoth topic: historical performances…
Episode 110. Black Crooners SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Season Three of Countermelody begins with a potpourri episode of some of…
Episode 108. Christiane Eda-Pierre SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s episode is a memorial tribute to the great Martinique-born French soprano…
Episode 77. Margaret Tynes (Black History Month 2021 V) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM For a special bonus episode this week…
Episode 75. Lenora Lafayette (Black History Month 2021 III) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Every so often I discover a singer…
Episode 70. Paul Robeson: Ballad of an American SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM January 23 is the 45th anniversary of the…
Episode 20. Muriel Smith (Black History Month I) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week kicks off my series of Black…
Episode 8. Williams & Williams
Episode 6. Shirley Verrett II: La Regina del Bel Canto SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM In this episode in my Shirley…
Episode 4. Jessye and Her Forebears (Needle Drop I) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Due to a last minute change of…