Countermelody

Episode 472. Ben Bagley Revisited: Lies Come True

A year ago I published an episode entitled “Gay Eccentrics,” which featured a number of the most delightfully peculiar personalities sprinkled across queer music history. The third of those characters...

2026-06-15

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Episode 471. Joan Caplan In Recital

Today we visit the rare recorded output my beloved teacher, Joan Caplan (15 October 1932 – 19 April 2025), live performances made during her active years as a song recitalist and as an opera and orato...

2026-06-12

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Episode 470. Peter Pears Plays Around

A year ago, I published as my final Pride 2025 episode, Pears Sings Not-Britten, which explored the voice and artistry of British tenor Peter Pears in repertoire other than that written for him by his...

2026-06-08

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Episode 469. Muriel and Angela: Together Again for the First Time

The 1950s recorded collaboration between two iconic artists: African American musical star Muriel Smith and Angela Morley: composer, conductor, arranger, and trans pioneer.

2026-06-06

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Episode 468. Deutsche Orchesterlieder: Beyond Mahler and Strauss

Today’s lengthy episode (I probably should’ve divided it in half!) is another devoted to orchestral song, in this case Deutsche Orchesterlieder. But, in a twist, you will not be hearing any musi...

2026-06-02

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Episode 467. Eidé Noréna Sings Gounod

Today I revisit one of my favorite singers of all time, the extraordinary Norwegian lyric-coloratura soprano Eidé Noréna (1884-1968), whose voice and artistry hit me like a bolt out of the blue when I...

2026-05-30

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Episode 466. Baritones Both Butch and Bonnie

Today’s episode features baritones of all stripes (with the occasional bass-baritone) in a program focusing primarily on song in its various manifestations. Whether that be Broadway and pop tunes (sun...

2026-05-25

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Episode 465. Black Bach, Part I

Here is an episode I have been dreaming of putting together since the very early days of the podcast: Black Bach, an historical survey of the solo vocal music of Johann Sebastian Bach as performed by ...

2026-05-22

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Episode 464. Moffo and Gedda: Together Yet Apart

Today’s episode goes back three and a half years to two artists whom I had recently featured on back-to-back Countermelody episodes: Anna Moffo and Nicolai Gedda. In the case of each of these singers,...

2026-05-18

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Episode 463. Arie antiche, Gigli Edition

I’ve decided to make it Tenor Week here on Countermelody. Earlier this week, we heard Charles Kullman in a smattering of live and studio recordings. Back in November, as I was collating material for t...

2026-05-15

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Episode 462. Get to Know Charles Kullman

I’ve had a real urge lately to revisit the voices and careers of some of my favorite tenors. So today I bring you the exceptional American artist Charles Kullman (1903 – 1983). The early years of his ...

2026-05-11

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Episode 461. Bubbles on the Nile (Original Edition)

I recently obtained a copy of the rare pirate recording entitled “Bubbles on the Nile (and Other Rare Phenomena): Familiar Divas in Unfamiliar Repertoire.” It foregrounds 13 favorite twentieth-century...

2026-05-09

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Episode 460. A Countermelody Nosegay (Mostly Mezzos Edition)

One of my favorite kinds of Countermelody episode is a potpourri of singers, music, and recordings that charm and enchant to me at that given moment. Today’s episode, which began as a compiled setlist...

2026-05-04

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Episode 459. The Art of Steven Blier

There was only one way to follow up my interview with the iconic, the unique Steven Blier published earlier this week, and that is with an episode dedicated to his dazzling at the keyboard and his acc...

2026-05-02

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Episode 458. From Ear to Ear: A Conversation with Steven Blier

Today a new segment of Countermelody Conversations that has been months in the offing! One of the ineffable delights of hosting Countermelody over the years is the connection it has brought me with my...

2026-04-27

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Episode 457. Ein Opernabend mit… Anna Tomowa-Sintow

Today’s episode serves two purposes: First, I introduce my listeners to a wonderful series first released on Eterna, the East German state record label, entitled “Ein Opernabend mit…” which feat...

2026-04-24

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Episode 456. John Wustman in Memoriam

I had hoped not to be bringing this episode to my listeners until many years hence. Alas, my dear teacher and mentor John Wustman, one of the most influential, pathbreaking, and inspired of all accomp...

2026-04-21

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Episode 455. Back in the Saddle

Greetings to all from your recently Venetianized podcaster, now (as the title of today’s episode indicates) once again back in the saddle and bringing you the fourth and final of my vacation (or holid...

2026-04-17

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Episode 454. Gone Fishing

David and I are still on holiday in the magical city of Venice; it’s my first vist here in nearly forty years and it has been beguiling and enchanting (as well as exhausting)! Before we left, I ...

2026-04-13

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Episode 453. Out of Commission

Next up in my series of Countermelody “vacation episodes,” here’s the tenor counterpart of the soprano episode I published at the beginning of the week. This is the Historical Recording Enterprises mi...

2026-04-10

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