A holiday gift for my beloved listeners. In the past year I have done Countermelody episodes featuring both soprano April Cantelo and mezzo-soprano Maureen Lehane. Cantelo in particular sang roles in numerous operas by the Australian composer Malcolm Will

Another episode of Christmas music! The first part is a continuation of the previous All-Tenor Holiday Extravaganza. We hear from Luther Saxon, Roland Hayes, James Melton, Brian Sullivan, Richard Crooks, Raoul Jobin, Jussi Bjrling, Richard Verreau, Fritz

This week I present two episodes featuring Christmas music which I originally produced six years ago, in the earliest days of Countermelody. Both episodes zero in on tenors; Ill be republishing them both this week. This first episode features a panoply o

Today, December 19, would have been my late mothers 90th birthday. These past three months since her death have been so emotionally draining for me, and would have been even without the shitshow that the world has become in that time. On the other hand,

Today I was torn between bringing you an episode with trashy secular holiday songs or taking the high road with the Christmas portion of Paul Hindemiths Das Marienleben cycle, featuring recordings by Jennie Tourel and Erich Itor Kahn (in the songs) prece

Anytime I do an episode on Fritz Wunderlich, the sun breaks through the clouds, emotionally speaking. Possessor of a bright-timbred voice of such exquisite beauty anchored by a profoundly satisfying m

This episode celebrates the artistic accomplishments of two of the finest twentieth century singers to come from the environs of Dresden, Peter Schreier and Olaf Br. Both were former child choristers in the Dresdner Kreuzchor (albeit from two different g

Okay, I confess that the title of this weeks episode is intentionally misleading, but if I told you what it actually was outright, you might not listen, and that would be a great loss! On Monday I celebrated Larry Kert for World AIDS Day, and today, I ha

Today is World AIDS Day, if anyone needed to be reminded. Though I considered doing a compendium episode of broad scope commemorating a handful of the thousands upon thousands of musicians that succum

As I sat yesterday pondering all my friends, family, and compatriots celebrating Thanksgiving, my thoughts turned to the turkey, the traditional sacrificial creature for this event. And whatever the a