Todays episode, Anna Moffo und die leichte Muse, continues the delicious theme of opera singers letting down their hair begun with Hadley in Wien, and it also forms a complement and a supplemen

I can think of no more appropriate way to end this difficult year than with another episode lauding my late friend, the sublime American lyric tenor Jerry Hadley. I am of the firm belief that Jerry wa

Leslie Uggams long-standing place in American pop culture matches that of any pop diva of similar longevity, going back all the way to her days as a child star on 1950s television variety and game sh

A final offering of Christmas music on Countermelody this year, but far be it from me to rehash the usual Christmas carols! Absolutely not! In this episode I offer a follow-up to an episode posted yea

Sometimes when I look back on past episodes of Countermelody, I surprise myself with how good they were, even in the early days when I was still trying to figure everything out. This episode, first po

In February our beloved Elly Ameling turns 92. I cannot think of another classical singer who recorded more Christmas albums over the course of her career. One of the most obscure of these is the 1980

While I was growing up, Gilda Cruz-Romo was a fixture on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera. At the time, I did not fully appreciate her, as I thought of her as a second-string singer on the roster.

One of the great personal revelations for me in the early years of producing Countermelody was discovering the great Chinese American bass Yi-Kwei Sze (). As the first Chinese singer to pursue a ca

If you have never heard of Gilbert Price, this episode will remedy that situation. With a voice that was easily produced, full-ranged, tonally refulgent, and technically poised, the three-time Tony no

Yesterday was World AIDS Day and many of the people I admire and follow on various social media platforms made beautiful and heartfelt posts in commemoration of this day and all the many souls that ha