If the exceptional Illinois-born contralto Carol Smith (20 February 1926 06 June 2021) has previously escaped your notice, now is the perfect opportunity to get to know her better. She began her car

If you get Gundula Janowitz, then you really get her, and this birthday tribute will be a delectable treat. If, however, you dont get her, or dont think that you get her, you might want to give th

At first blush, this episode may look a bit slapdash, but it actually reflects very much where I am at this moment. Its got a bit more of a narrative than most of my episodes do, and somehow in this

The esteemed, indeed beloved, German baritone Hermann Prey died seventeen years ago already on July 22, 1998. I want to remember him today by celebrating a cornerstone of his repertoire: the music of

So many great singing artists lost to the world of late! Almost a month ago now, the great Welsh tenor Stuart Burrows (07 February 1933 - 29 June 2025) left this mortal coil at the age of 92. Burrows

Even after I publish a Countermelody episode on a favorite singer, I continue to collect material on them, which I then occasionally fold into a potpourri episode of vocal and musical delights. I have

This past April, my former voice teacher and treasured friend Joan Caplan died at the age of 92. A few weeks ago, family and friends organized a memorial gathering for which I produced a short audio t

Today in honor of Bastille Day, I present an episode featuring the late Gabriel Bacquier, who considered himself an acting singer rather than a singing actor. He made his first mark as a sublime M

Back in December I published my first episode honoring the superb soprano Gilda Cruz-Romo, as part of my series honoring Mexican opera singers. In my research, I amassed a large number of live recordi

Todays episode offers music of consolation, divinely sung. On a Sunday morning back in December, freshly arrived back in New York from a challenging trip to my home state of Wisconsin, I sat down to