There are very few singers that mean more to me than does Elisabeth Sderstrm. I was first made aware of her at the tender age of ten, when I became obsessed with Pellas et Mlisande after hearing t

Today I offer three different recordings of excerpts, sung in German, from Charles Gounods opera Faust, which was known in the day in Germany as Margarethe. The Germans have always regarded this work

Directly after the disastrous November election in the United States, I compiled a setlist for two episodes self-explanitorially entitled Mezzos on the Verge and Mezzos in Extremis. One of the fea

I have been reminded over and over again in recent weeks of the preciousness of life as numerous dear friends and family members face loss of loved ones and their own life-altering health crises. This

Only recently have I become fully aware of the exceptional voice and artistry of the late April Cantelo (02 April 1928 -16 July 2024). When she died last summer, I began more fully exploring her recor

The composer Joseph-Marie Canteloube is primarily known for his lush orchestral arrangements of folk songs from his native Auvergne region. However, he also composed other work, including arrangements

This is the second part of an episode begun last week featuring the cream of the crop of todays young artists. As with the performers heard last week, they represent the finest opera and classical si

I have been fascinated for years by operas performed in the vernacular, a phenomenon which was common in Germany until quite recently. Even more interesting in many ways is the performance of art song

Today we celebrate 350 episodes of Countermelody since the inception of the podcast in the fall of 2019. Given that this is a momentous occasion (probably mostly to me, just for sticking with this thi

Ive already done a Lententide episode devoted to contraltos singing the music of Bach, but it seemed to me that in the upheaval of todays vengeful and war-hungry world, we could use another contempl