Today would have been the 91st birthday of our beloved Renata Scotto. On an episode last year celebrating the 100th birthday of Maria Callas, I remarked that Renatina possessed in profusion two qualities that Maria lacked: cuteness and charm. Both of those qualities are heard in these performances of Rossini songs, which range from 1964 to 1984 and include Scotto in both live and studio recordings. For the last forty years of his life, Gioachino Rossini, who had written scores of operas by the time he was 37, wrote no more works for the stage. But in those later years he did compose two collections of parlor pieces, one of which, the Soirées musicales, or Serate musicali, published in 1835, are heard on this episode. Ten of the twelve songs are heard here performed by Scotto. The episode is supplemented by one larger-scale late Rossini work, an 1832 cantata entitled Giovanna d’Arco which structurally amounts to an enormous operatic scena, performed by Scotto (and my beloved teacher John Wustman) to perfection in a rare live recording from Carnegie Hall in 1969. In addition, we hear a pristine 1959 excerpt from one of Scotto’s earliest recordings, La cambiale di matrimonio.

Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel’s lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody’s core is the celebration of great singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. By clicking on the following link (https://linktr.ee/CountermelodyPodcast) you can find the dedicated Countermelody website which contains additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. The link will also take you to Countermelody’s Patreon page, where you can pledge your monthly or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.