Episode 392. Ernst Kozub Revisited [Verdi Edition] SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Since posting a tribute to German heldentenor Ernst Kozub…
Episode 389. Rescue Mission (Operatic Duets Edition) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I have spent the past week planning forthcoming episodes…
Episode 386. David Rendall in Memoriam SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM On 21 July, the opera world lost one of its…
Episode 384. Vera Little Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM On June 3, 2024, the Berlin Senate’s Department of Culture installed…
Episode 383. Get to Know Carol Smith SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM If the exceptional Illinois-born contralto Carol Smith (20 February…
Episode 381. I Got a Name (Pride Edition) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM At first blush, this episode may look a…
Episode 377. Joan Caplan Memorial Tribute SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This past April, my former voice teacher and treasured friend…
Episode 375. Gilda Cruz-Romo In Memoriam SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Back in December I published my first episode honoring the…
Episode 371. Margherita Roberti @ 100 (with August Ventura) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM One hundred years ago today, Margaret Jean…
Episode 366. Donald Gramm Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I’m going all out (literally) for this year’s Pride celebrations, especially…
Episode 364. Grace Bumbry, Proud Soprano (Live Edition) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM It’s Pride Month, and what better time to…
Episode 359. Get to Know Hugo Hasslo SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The earliest selection on last week’s Elisabeth Söderström episode…
Episode 356. Get to Know Irina Arkhipova SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Directly after the disastrous November election in the United…
Episode 355. John Wustman (Honor Your Mentors I) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I have been reminded over and over again…
Episode 348. Rescue Mission II SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM After I post a Countermelody episode on a cherished singer, my…
Episode 346. Olive Middleton and La Puma (Alternate Universe Bel Canto) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Hello, Campers! Once again it…
Episode 342. Norman Bailey Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The British bass-baritone Norman Bailey (23 March 1933 – 15 September…
Episode 341. Robert Massard Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM A year and a half ago, I posted an episode on…
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 324. Margaret Price in Trauer und Trost SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM These days I find myself in a pensive,…
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 312. John Reardon Revisited (World AIDS Day 2024) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Yesterday was World AIDS Day and many…
Episode 311. Ina Souez SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Because we American expats in Germany often celebrate Thanksgiving on the weekend…
Episode 309. Get to Know Věra Soukupová SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM As a supplement to my ongoing series on great…
Episode 306. Oralia Domínguez Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today (for what I hope are obvious reasons) begins a short…
Episode 298. Verdi Duets SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Last week, absorbed in preparations for my own birthday, I passed over…
Episode 296. Dan’s Operatic Picks SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I’m still under the weather, but I can’t let that keep…
Episode 295. Requiescat SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today on Countermelody is the first of two memorial episodes paying tribute to…
Episode 293. The Mysterious Mara Coleva SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The Bulgarian soprano Mara Coleva (12 March 1922 – 22…
Episode 290. Ileana Cotrubaș Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM More than four years ago, I published my very first bonus…
Episode 288. Teresa Żylis-Gara Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today I revisit the life, career, and sumptuous voice of the…
Episode 287. Meet Hugo Hasslo SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Unless by some miracle you know him already, the Swedish baritone…
Episode 286. Julia Varady Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week, the sublime Julia Varady celebrated her 83rd birthday, and…
Episode 284. Claudia Muzio Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Claudia Muzio was known as “the Duse of Song,” a title…
Episode 283. Betty Allen SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Betty Allen has been featured on countless omnibus Countermelody episodes, but it’s…
Episode 279. Ernst Kozub Reappraised SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Have you heard of the remarkable German Heldentenor Ernst Kozub? If…
Episode 277. Benjamin Luxon In Memoriam SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Last week on July 25th, the music world was saddened…
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 272. Lenora Lafayette (Listeners’ Favorites) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Every so often I discover a singer who had previously…
Episode 270. Eleanor Steber Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I sat in my apartment in Berlin on the Fourth of…
Episode 266. Sisters in Sapho (Listeners’ Favorites) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The perfect Octavian(s) It’s been a whirlwind of a…
Episode 265. Meet Hana Janků SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Have you ever encountered a singer that no one has apparently…
Episode 262. Sylvia Sass Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Several summers ago I published my first episode celebrating the artistry…
Episode 261. Thom Baker Introduces Rosanna Carteri (Listeners’ Favorites) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s episode is one of my Listeners’…
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 258. (Frank) Lopardopalooza SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today I present to you the American lyric tenor Frank Lopardo, who…
Episode 256. Mari Lyn’s Golden Treasury of Chutzpah (Alternate Universe Bel Canto III) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Many of my…
Episode 251. Jeremy Osborne Introduces Igor Gorin SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s segment in the Great Baritones division of my…
Episode 349. Gavin Carr Introduces Heinrich Rehkemper SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This month’s series of Listeners’ Favorites continues with the…
Episode 247. Sarah Pillow Introduces Eileen Farrell SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The American dramatic soprano Eileen Farrell (1920–2002) was one…
Episode 246. Previn Moore Introduces Camilla Williams & Janet Williams (BHM 2024) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM As the final entry…
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 238. Delcina Stevenson (BHM 2024) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I am so grateful to all the listeners who did…
Episode 226. Maria Callas: The Singer of the Century SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM What is there to say about today’s…
Episode 221. Robert Massard SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This is an episode I have been planning for years now! This…
Episode 217. Patricia Neway Revisited SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today I revisit the artistry of the great Patricia Neway (1919-2012),…
Episode 213. Julia Varady SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM A week ago the extraordinary Hungarian-German soprano Julia Varady turned 82. As…
Episode 211. Janet Baker @ 90 SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This past week the opera world was plunged into mourning…
Episode 210. The Mystery of Anita Cerquetti SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Anita Cerquetti (13 April 1931 – 11 October 2014),…
Episode 208. Gundula Janowitz SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM From a very young age I was interested in today’s birthday celebrant,…
Episode 206. Jerry Hadley SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Jerry Hadley (16 June 1952 – 18 July 2007) is regarded by…
Episode 198. Cesare Valletti SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s episode celebrates the Italian tenore di grazia Cesare Valletti (18 December…
Episode 197. Theatre Dreams SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Ernestine Schumann-Heink and Annie Krull in the original production of Elektra, 1908.…
Episode 193. Alexander Kipnis in Lieder SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM If I were to indulge in the foolish task of…
Episode 192. Virginia Zeani: The Soul of the Voice SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Virginia Zeani (21 October 1925 – 20…
Episode 190. Make Your Own Kind of Music: Verdi Edition SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM It’s time for my fourth annual…
Episode 188. Sarah Reese SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Greatness expresses itself in different ways. Sometimes in indisputable artistic talents, and…
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 178. Andrzej Hiolski SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week I have been tantalizing my followers with the promise of…
Episode 177. Great Singers at Twilight SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM For the last episode of 2022, I begin a series…
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 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 160. Donald Gramm SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Dear ones, I present to you today the extraordinarily versatile bass-baritone and…
Episode 156. Barely Sang at the Met II SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week is the conclusion of my presentation…
Episode 155. Barely Sang at the Met SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s brain teaser: What do world-class singers Irmgard Seefried,…
Episode 147. The Young Gabriel Bacquier SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Two years ago last month, the great French (bass-)baritone Gabriel…
Episode 144. Mad about Mesplé SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Two years ago this month, the world lost the great French…
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 131. Happy Birthday, Reri Grist (Black History Month 2022) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The great African American coloratura Reri…
Episode 125. Jon Vickers (Great Canadian Singers) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Our series saluting great Canadian singers continues with a…
Episode 124. Dave’s Picks SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s special episode is in honor of my best friend, partner-in-crime and…
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 115. Jules Bledsoe SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week I present an important African American artist who has been…
Episode 114. James King SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week I turn my attention once again to the tenors, who…
Episode 113. Edda Moser SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM On 27 October the great German dramatic coloratura Edda Moser celebrated her…
Episode 111. Verdi auf Deutsch SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s is a mammoth episode on a mammoth topic: historical performances…
Episode 107. Norman Bailey and Friends SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Death has had a busy month in the music world,…
Episode 105. Teresa Żylis-Gara (In Memoriam) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM One of my very favorite singers, the Polish soprano Teresa…
Episode 104. Nicolae Herlea SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Yesterday, August 28, would have been the 94th birthday of the great…
Episode 102. John Reardon: Make Someone Happy SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Here’s another great baritone to help get us through…
Episode 101. Heinrich Rehkemper SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I continue my salute to Great Baritones with an examination of the…
Episode 100. Claudia Muzio SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Countermelody celebrates its landmark 100th episode with a tribute to the artist…
Episode 99. Yi-Kwei Sze (斯義桂) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The Chinese-American bass Yi-Kwei Sze (1915-1994) was the first Chinese singer…
Episode 92. Blessed Memory (In Memoriam III) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The final episode (for now) in my series commemorating…
Episode 91. Unforgotten (In Memoriam II) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM We continue our memorial tributes this week with the second…
Episode 90. Gone But Not Forgotten SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Christa Ludwig, celebrated two weeks ago, is not the only…
Episode 89. The Radiant Heather Harper SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I have dreamed of doing an episode on the great…
Episode 82. Magda Olivero: La Verissima SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week we celebrate the recent 111th birthday of the…
Episode 81. Happy Songs (straight up) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week I offset the gloom of last week’s music…
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 72. Igor Gorin (Great Baritones II) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I recently rediscovered the great Ukranian-American baritone Igor Gorin…
Episode 71. Eidé Noréna SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Kaja Eidé Noréna(1884-1968, née Karoline Hansen), the Norwegian lyric-coloratura soprano, is one…
Episode 64. Jorma Hynninen in Opera (Great Baritones I) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This is the first of two episodes…
Episode 61. Margaret Price I: The Voice of Consolation (Music for a World in Crisis V) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM…
Episode 59. Rosanna Carteri In Memoriam SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I had been planning a 90th birthday tribute to this…
Episode 57. Francisco Araiza @ 70 SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM On October 4, the great Mexican tenor Francisco Araiza celebrated…
Episode 55. Season Two Teaser SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This week represents the limbo between the first and second seasons…
Episode 53. Justice (In Memoriam RBG) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM I awoke Saturday morning in Berlin to the apocalyptic news…
Episode 52. Operaish Broadway (Crossover Classics VIII) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s episode (in celebration of Countermelody’s first birthday!) picks…
Episode 49. Eileen Farrell: Queen of Crossover (Crossover Classics V) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The American dramatic soprano Eileen Farrell…
Episode 48. Cesare Siepi: Easy to Love (Crossover Classics IV) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Last month marked the tenth anniversary…
Episode 47. Sylvia Sass: Nézz körül (Crossover Classics III) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The Hungarian soprano Sylvia Sass was a…
Episode 40. Sisters in Sappho SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The first of my two Queer Pride episodes is devoted to…
Episode 36. Glamour (I Put a Spell on You) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The Oxford English Dictionary defines “glamour” as…
Episode 30. Giulietta Simionato (Mezzo Mania I) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s episode, a celebration of the delicious and versatile…
Episode 26. Calling You (Music for a World in Crisis) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM The world is in chaos. We…
Episode 25. Freni on the Fringe (Mirella in Memoriam I) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today’s episode continues last week’s homage…
Episode 24. Freni in Duet (Mirella in Memoriam I) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today, in the first of two consecutive…
Episode 22. Gloria Davy (Black History Month III) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM Today we examine the fascinating and somewhat frustrating…
Episode 8. Williams & Williams
Episode 5: Shirley Verrett I: La Nera Callas – Falcon or Verdi soprano? SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM This episode is the…
Episode 3: Creating Magic: An Interview with Nicholas Tamagna (Part Two) SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM RECORDINGS FEATURED ON THIS EPISODE…
Episode 1. Welcome to Countermelody , or Claudia and Zazà SOCIAL SHARE SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORMS SHOW NOTES Hi, everyone, and welcome…