Podcast appearances and mentions of martina arroyo

Lizzie Lee is a genre-defying vocalist blending classical precision with the soul and spontaneity of New York's jazz tradition. Her voice—praised for its rich color and “acrobatics and élan”—offers a bold reinterpretation of the American Songbook and beyond. Raised in Alaska and trained in Paris and New York, Lizzie brings a rare combination of global sensibility and emotional connection to her work. Her debut album, 72nd Street, recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio, is a striking statement of identity: lush, lyrical, and rooted in both tradition and risk. The album features a stellar lineup including Joe Farnsworth (drums), Stacy Dillard (tenor sax), John Webber (bass), Joe Block (keys), and Rob Nuovo (guitar). With performances across NYC, the northeast and internationally, and acclaim from artists like Bill Frisell and David Broza, Lizzie is merging elegance with edge, storytelling with swing, while fast becoming a name to know among vocalists in the jazz world. In the classical genre, Lizzie is a dynamic soprano praised for her “brilliant coloratura, acrobatics, and élan” (Opera Magazine) and has performed across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Lizzie debuted in Europe at Staatstheater Darmstadt and has received international acclaim for her roles as the Parrot in the world premiere of Mahosot: Architect of Dreams by Somtow Sucharitkul in Bangkok and as the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro in NYC. She has appeared as a soloist with the Jenaer Philharmonie, Bergische Symphoniker, and in concerts in Vienna with Maestro Francisco Araiza. Her artistry has been shaped through work with legendary mentors such as Martina Arroyo and the late Dalton Baldwin, whose influence continues to inspire her interpretive depth and stylistic sensitivity. Lizzie has performed at iconic venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House and has worked closely with artists from many of the world's most prestigious theaters including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, and Opéra Bastille.

What better way to start off this Black History Month 2025 celebration than with a birthday tribute to beloved African American diva Martina Arroyo, who turned 88 yesterday, February 2?! Though she is universally regarded as one of the premier Verdi spinto sopranos of the second half of the Twentieth Century, Arroyo was equally adept at a wide range of other composers as well. In this episode, which focuses on Martina in duet, many of those composers are represented as well, from Handel to Meyerbeer to Mascagni, with a little Wagner thrown in for good measure. And what an amazing line-up of duet partners, including two of our most beloved African American mezzos/sopranos, Shirley Verrett, and Grace Bumbry. Also heard are Franco Corelli, Carlo Bergonzi, Anna Moffo, Franco Bonisolli, Bernd Weikl, Gianfranco Cecchele, Sherrill Milnes, Ludmila Dvořáková, and Giorgio Lamberti. Raise a glass to this supreme soprano, and prepare your ears for a deeply satisfying experience! 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.  

Edda Moser—1974 Martina Arroyo--1962 Barbara Hannigan--2015 Elsa Dreisig—2022 Barbara Frittoli—2009

If you, like many of us, are struggling to find things to be grateful for this Thanksgiving, I have put together an episode featuring a national (and international) treasure, the exquisite soprano Roberta Alexander. In fact, I could just as easily have entitled this episode “Giving Thanks FOR Roberta Alexander.” Roberta has been featured many times on the podcast and I'm thrilled to bring her to you yet again in a refurbished bonus episode from the summer of 2023. Three works are foregrounded: first is Samuel Barber's dramatic scena Andromache's Farewell, which was composed for Martina Arroyo for the inaugural season of the New York Philharmonic at its new home at Lincoln Center. The recording featuring Roberta and conductor Edo de Waart is from the year 1993. There follows a complete performance (one of the finest in my experience) of Aaron Copland's song cycle Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, his most extended solo vocal work, heard in a 1990 recording with British pianist Roger Vignoles. And finally, the crowning jewel: a live performance of Roberta Alexander in her youthful prime singing Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs. To my ear, this represents the perfect meeting of composer and artist, a near-ideal rendition of these songs, and one which is not readily available anywhere else on the interwebs. This episode is further interspersed with jewels from Roberta's 1985 recording of songs by Leonard Bernstein, all of which are exquisitely (as well as sometimes painfully) appropriate at this moment in the history of the United States and provide us with food for thought as we observe with solemnity this iconic holiday. 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 support at whatever level you can afford.

1. Martina Arroyo 2. Grace Bumbry 3. Montserrat Caballé 4. Anja Harteros 5. Gwyneth Jones 6. Anna Netrebko 7. Sondra Radvanovsky 8. Renata Scotto 9. Anna Tomowa-Sintow 10. Julia Varady

While mezzo Briana Hunter has had many meaningful conversations behind closed doors about important issues in opera today, like power dynamics and the use of Blackface, she has also been frustrated with how these conversations frequently play out online. Often these differences are generational. As part of her residency with the Artist Propulsion Lab, she convenes singers from four different generations to bring these conversations out into the open. She is joined by soprano Martina Arroyo, mezzo Denyce Graves, and soprano Hannah Jones.

Last week on Feburary 2, the beloved African American soprano Martina Arroyo turned 86 years old. Although the Countermelody birthday tribute to Ms. Arroyo is a week late, it is nonetheless profoundly heartfelt. I have always valued the artistry and voice of this artist who often referred to herself as “The Other One” (because she was so frequently confused with today's birthday diva, Leontyne Price). In preparing this episode, however, I flipped over into fan girl mode: was there anything that Martina Arroyo could not do? Of course she was celebrated as one of the premiere Verdi sopranos of her day (or, indeed, of the twentieth century), and there are ample examples on the episode that give testament to her supremacy in that repertoire. But she was also an intrepid performer of contemporary music, creating important works by both Karlheinz Stockhausen and Samuel Barber. Her performances of baroque music, while very much following an earlier style of performance practice, are vivid and insightful. Her affinity with French grand opera style is off the charts, as evidenced by an excerpt from Meyerbeer's L'Africaine. She also could have pursued a path as a Mozart and Strauss singer, and selections by both of these composers prove her mastery of this genre as well. She also had the power to be a full-fledged dramatic soprano, as shown by her live performances of Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder and the title role in Puccini's Turandot. And yet her subtlety as a recitalist is shown in live and studio Lieder performances. And the fervor and vigor of her performance of spirituals is a thing of joy. This episode is full of surprises but one thing is not surprising at all: the degree of dedication and commitment of this artist, which continues to this day with the performance and education initiative of the Martina Arroyo Foundation. (The episode begins with a brief tribute to Burt Bacharach, who died yesterday at the age of 94.) 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 support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available exclusively to Patreon supporters are currently available and further bonus content including interviews and livestreams is planned for the upcoming season.

I lead off my new episodes for Black History Month 2023 with one of the most glorious voices ever captured on recordings, Dorothy Maynor (03 September 1910 – 19 February 1996), one of the most glorious lyric soprano voices ever captured on recording. Discovered by Serge Koussevitzky in the late 1930s and championed by him and a host of other conductors (including Leopold Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy), she became renowned as a recitalist but, because of restrictions of the era placed upon Black singers, never sang on any operatic stage. Nevertheless, her studio recordings of arias by Mozart, Debussy, and Charpentier are legendary. Our appreciation of Maynor the singer is greatly enhanced by the presence of live radio recordings as well as a recently-issued live 1940 song recital from the Library of Congress. It is one of the great injustices of musical history that gifted Black singers of Maynor's caliber from that era were outrightly denied the opportunity to perform in staged opera performances at venues like the Metropolitan Opera. Dorothy Maynor nonetheless persevered and left an incredible legacy, and not just a vocal one: in 1963, the year of her retirement from singing, she founded the Harlem School of the Arts, for which, before she stepped down as President in 1979, she raised more than $2 million dollars for the construction of a new facility for the institution. She also was the first African American singer to perform at a presidential inaugural (both for Harry S. Truman in 1949 and Dwight D. Eisenhower four years later), as well as the first African American to sit on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Opera. This episode features Maynor in live, studio, and radio recordings of repertoire by Bach, Handel, Schubert, and Mendelssohn, as well as some of the finest recordings of spirituals ever made. Also heard are the songs of three Black composers, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Cecil Cohen, and R. Nathaniel Dett, the latter of which Maynor studied with at the Hampton Institute, whose work Maynor frequently programmed on her recitals. The episode opens with a joyous birthday tribute to next week's subject, Martina Arroyo, whose 1974 album of spirituals was backed by the Choir of the Harlem School of the Arts conducted by Maynor herself. 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 support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available exclusively to Patreon supporters are currently available and further bonus content including interviews and livestreams is planned for the upcoming season.

Greetings to all from my former home of Manhattan! Upon landing here a week ago, I was greeted by the news of the death of Ned Rorem, the man previously known as “America's Greatest Living Composer,” who just last month had celebrated his 99th birthday. Though he won the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 1976 for his orchestral work Air Music, Rorem was most celebrated for his vocal music, in particular his art songs. In this episode, I will delve into that aspect of his output, from his earliest published work to his extraordinary late masterpiece Evidence of Things Not Seen. The episode features singers who collaborated closely with the composer, including Phyllis Curtin, Donald Gramm, Beverly Wolff, Regina Sarfaty, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Kurt Ollmann, and others. Many other singers were also drawn to Rorem's songs, including Leontyne Price, Jan DeGaetani, Martina Arroyo, and Laura Aikin, all of whom are represented here. As celebrated as a frank and forthright diarist and essayist as he was as a composer, Rorem (like his British counterpart Benjamin Britten) had extraordinary taste in the poetry and texts he chose to set. In this episode alone, we hear compositions set to words of Sylvia Plath, Paul Goodman, Walt Whitman, Paul Monette, Theodore Roethke, Frank O'Hara, and others. The episode concludes with a tribute to another musician who died earlier the same day, the American collaborative pianist David Triestram, who accompanies his dear colleague and friend Roberta Alexander in Leonard Bernstein's poignant and timely song “Some Other Time.” 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 support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available exclusively to Patreon supporters are currently available and further bonus content including interviews and livestreams is planned for the upcoming season.  

Earlier this year, in an episode entitled “Women of Color Sing Mahler,” I provided many of my listeners to their first exposure to the Mexican contralto Oralia Domínguez (25 October 1925 - 25 November 2013). Domínguez is famed for her collaborations with such musical giants as Maria Callas and Herbert von Karajan, but on her own terms, she ranks alongside those monumental true contraltos like Marian Anderson and Kathleen Ferrier. Though there is no question that she was underrecorded, she left a handful of classic commercial recordings, and a plethora of recorded live performances which an artist both technically grounded and fearless in expression, one whose legato singing exuded repose just as her phenomenal coloratura singing generates genuine excitement. I cannot say enough about this artist, who has rapidly become one of my very favorites! The episode features Domínguez in a wide range of material, from Monteverdi, Handel, and Vivaldi to the meat and potatoes roles in the standard operatic repertoire (Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Ponchielli, Saint-Saëns, Massenet) as well as less familiar fare by Michael Tippett and Mexican composers Silvestre Revueltas and Salvador Moreno. Along the way our Earth Goddess is joined by fellow singers Joan Sutherland, Martina Arroyo, Mirella Freni, József Simándy, Monica Sinclair, and, of course, Maria Callas. A bonus episode published concurrently on Patreon presents Domínguez in extended operatic scenes and further rare song material. 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 support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available exclusively to Patreon supporters are currently available and further bonus content including interviews and livestreams is planned for the upcoming season.

Howard Cosell and opera singer Martina Arroyo co-star in the infamous “Your Mother Wears Army Boots”, S5E15.  We discuss and/or debate: 1) Other appearances of TV show creators on their own shows in reference to last week's Neil Simon appearance 2) how this episode came together 3) when it was filmed 4) similarities to the prior Cosell episode 5) Arroyo's background 6) guest star Jack Carter 7) guest star Roone Arledge, 8) an instance where Felix now refers to them living on CPW although we hold 1049 Park Avenue as canon 9) the logistics of Arroyo's entrance into the living room after being introduced by Felix 10) the stock footage of the football game and conflicting implications of where the game is being played, Cincinnati or NYC.

Brooklyn, New York native soprano Cherisse Williams is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the University of North Texas under the tutelage of Dr. Carol Wilson. In performance with UNT Opera, she will perform the role of Adina (L'elisir d'amore) this Spring. Last season she sung the role of Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with Once Upon an Opera. She was in the ensemble of Martina Arroyo's Prelude to Performance's production of Carmen. Ms. Williams has played the role of Nannetta in the Midwest Institute of Opera's production of Falstaff. Her Manhattan School of Music credits include the Princess in their mainstage production of L'enfant et les Sortilèges and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro for their opera scenes titled "A World Made Real: Five Stories of Women in Pursuit of Dreams." Her Ithaca College credits include the title role of Sally Hemings in the world premiere of Dana Wilson's The Wolf by the Ears, Beth (cover) in Little Women and Mademoiselle Silberklang in The Impresario with the Ithaca Hidden Gems Project. Her other credits include The Princeton Festival's production of Porgy and Bess (ensemble) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Peaseblossom) at Westminster Choir College Opera Theatre. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/musicspeaks-podcast/support

Ukrainian baritone Yuriy Yurchuk is the Royal Opera House principal artist, described by The Times as "the finest voice on stage ...with the immaculate Italianate line" and "rich, deep voice capable of great versatility" by Bachtrack. In 2020/21 his planned engagement include Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (Glyndebourne Festival), Robert in Iolanthe (National Theater Tokyo), Rodrigo Posa in Don Carlos (Kyiv National Opera), Marcello in La Boheme (Royal Opera House). His past engagements include Marcello La bohème and Lescaut Manon (Opernhaus Zürich), Il Conte di Luna Il trovatore (Opéra de Baugé), Escamillo Carmen (Savonlinna Festival), Marcello (Opera North), Count Rodolfo in Margherita (Wexford Festival Opera), Eugene Onegin (Ukraine National Opera), Ping (Zurich Opera). Yuriy is a prize winner in Queen Sonja International Singing Competition (Norway), Montserrat Caballe International Singing Competition (Spain), Ottavio Ziino International Singing Competition (Rome), Monastero Foundation Bel Canto competition (USA), Fritz and Lavinia Jensen competition (USA) and Chicago NATS vocal competition. His other appearances include the King of Egypt in Verdi's Aida excerpt in tribute to Martina Arroyo at 36th Kennedy Center Honors Awards in Washington DC, concerts for the Royal family at the Buckingham and Windsor palaces, appearances for BBC TV series and BBC radio 3 Sean Rafferty's In Tune. Together with Anush Hovanissyan and Sergei Rybin, Yuriy has recorded the collection of Rimsky-Korsakov romances for Stone Records where his "wonderful legato and superb Russian delivery that make this collection irresistible" according to the Sunday Times.In 2016/2017 season at Royal Opera House he sang Schlemil (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Baron Douphol (La Traviata), Prince Yamadori (Madama Butterfly), Flemish Deputy (Don Carlo), Mandarin (Turandot), various roles in The Nose, and covered Giorgio Germont (La Traviata) and Rodrigo Posa (Don Carlo). He was a member of Royal Opera young artist program in 2014/2016 seasons where he sang Eugene Onegin (Onegin), Blazes (Lighthouse), Germano (La Scala di Setta), Angelotti (Tosca), Michonet (Adriana Lecouvrer), Dumas (Andrea Chénier), Prince Yamadori (Madama Butterfly), and Johann (Werther), while covering Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), Alfio (Cavaleria Rusticana), Shekalov (Boris Godunov), Creon (Oedipe) and Shaunard (La Boheme). His other engagements include Ford in Verdi's Falstaff (Chicago). His baritone was marked as “sonorous, with menacing demeanor” by The New York Times impersonating Four Villains in Offenbach's Les Contes D'Hofmann with Prelude to Performance program in New York. Yuriy made his operatic debut in 2013 as Marcello in Puccini's La Bohème, followed by Constable and Narrator in Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera with DePaul Opera Theatre. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, he discovered his passion for Opera after coming to Chicago and meeting professor Marc Alon Embree. Yuriy studied Vocal Performance at DePaul University School of Music. He also holds Bachelor and Masters degrees in finance and accounting from Kyiv National Economic University. Before embarking on a career as a singer he was a M&A financial advisor with PwC for eight years.FIND YURIY ON SOCIAL MEDIALinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter================================PODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://www.uhnwidata.com/podcastApple podcast: https://apple.co/3kqOA7QSpotify: https://spoti.fi/2UOtE1AGoogle podcast: https://bit.ly/3jmA7ulSUPPORT & CONNECT:Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/denofrichTwitter: https://www.instagram.com/denofrich/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denofrich/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/denofrich

To round off #BlackHistoryMonth2021, I bring you an array of artists singing a wide range of 20th Century repertoire. Included are singers who have previously been featured in full episodes (including Lawrence Winters, Gloria Davy, Charles Holland, and Carol Brice), legendary favorites (including Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo, Roberta Alexander, and Barbara Hendricks), important concert singers (including Adele Addison and Betty Allen), lesser-known artists (including Helen Thipgen, Martha Flowers, William Pearson, Mareda Gaither, and Olive Moorefield), and iconic singers (including Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, and Christiane Eda-Pierre) for whom important new work was created by Judith Weir, André Previn, and Charles Chaynes. The range of composers represented is equally vast and includes Leonard Bernstein, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Virgil Thomson, Michael Tippett, Lee Hoiby, Shulamit Ran, Gian Carlo Menotti, Judith Weir, Paul Bowles, Lukas Foss, and David Del Tredici. with special attention given to African American composers Margaret Bonds, Howard Swanson, William Grant Still, Hall Johnson, and Robert Nathaniel Dett. In other words: something for everyone and just a foretaste of future Countermelody programs that will continue to celebrate the contributions of African American singers. 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.” Occasional guests from the “business” (singers, conductors, composers, coaches, and teachers) lend their distinctive insights. At Countermelody’s core is the interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. At Countermelody’s core is the interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. And please head to my Patreon page at www.patreon.com/countermelody to pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available only to Patreon supporters are currently available.

To celebrate Juneteenth, WQXR hosted a live call-in special – “The Black Experience in the Concert Hall” – with WQXR's Evening Host Terrance McKnight. Terrance spoke with leading figures in the world of classical music, including Wynton Marsalis, virtuoso trumpeter and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center; Martina Arroyo, legendary soprano and founder of the Martina Arroyo Foundation; Jesse Rosen, CEO and President of the League of American Orchestras; and Khalil Gibran Muhammad, professor of History, Race, and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and author of The Condemnation of Blackness. They discussed the ways in which the classical concert hall has historically excluded the black aesthetic, and in doing so, has been devoid of the American ethos that results from the nation’s diversity and the experience of black musicians on classical stages.

Episode 4: Jessye and Her Forebears (Needle Drop I) Due to a last minute change of plans, I have decided to bring you the first in what I hope will be a series of episodes devoted to excerpts from LP recordings in my collection which have either never been reissued on CD or have had only limited availability. This first episode includes a tribute to the late Jessye Norman, with a nod to some of the great African American singers who paved the way for her in her career. In addition, my special guest the theatre scholar David Savran speaks about the significance of her collaborations with director Robert Wilson. Other singers heard include Gérard Souzay, Elisabeth Söderström, Dorothy Maynor, Camilla Williams, Martina Arroyo, Shirley Verrett, and Leontyne Price, none of which have received widespread release beyond their initial appearance on LP. I conclude the episode with a special greeting from the balcony of my Air B&B in Napoli, where I am celebrating my birthday. Countermelody is a new podcast devoted to the glories of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great classical and opera singers of the past and present with the help of guests from the classical music field: singers, conductors, composers, coaches, agents, and voice teachers. 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 interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. Please also visit the Countermelody website for updates, additional content, and to pledge your support. www.countermelodypodcast.com

The Metropolitan OperaNaomi Andre attended Westtown SchoolEric Mitchko is the General Director for the North Carolina Opera.Barnard College, Columbia UniversityThe Magic Flute is an opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera by Richard Strauss.Tatiana Troyanos was an American mezzo-soprano of Greek and German descent, remembered as "one of the defining singers of her generation" (Boston Globe).Dame Gwyneth Jones is a Welsh operatic dramatic soprano.Kathleen Battle is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone.Khovanshchina is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky.Dialogues des Carmélites is an opera, divided into twelve scenes with linking orchestral interludes, by Francis Poulenc.Manon Lescaut is an opera by Giacomo Puccini.Columbia UniversityJessye Norman is an American opera singer and recitalist.Sieglinde is a character in Die Walküre, the second of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.Leona Mitchell is an American operatic soprano and an Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame inductee.Mimi is a character in the opera La bohème, composed by Giacomo Puccini.Martina Arroyo is an American operatic soprano who had a major international opera career from the 1960s through the 1980s. She was part of the first generation of black opera singers of Puerto Rican descent to achieve wide success, and is viewed as part of an instrumental group of performers who helped break down the barriers of racial prejudice in the opera world.Aida is an opera by Giuseppe Verdi.Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is a New Zealand soprano.The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand.Nabucco is an Italian-language opera composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi.Samuel Ramey is an American operatic bass.Andrea Gruber is an American dramatic soprano particularly admired for her interpretations of the works of Puccini, Verdi, and Wagner.James Levine is an American conductor and pianist. He is primarily known for his tenure as Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera, a position he held for 40 years.Alfred Walker is an American operatic bass-baritone.Michèle Crider is an American lirico spinto operatic soprano.Mark Rucker, baritone, serves as professor of voice at MSU's College of Music.Porgy and Bess is an English-language opera by the American composer George Gershwin.Fidelio is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera.Marian Anderson was an American contralto singer, one of the most celebrated of the twentieth century.Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, dubbed "The Black Swan" (a play on Jenny Lind's sobriquet, "The Swedish Nightingale”, was an African-American singer considered the best-known black concert artist of her time.James Alan Bland, also known as Jimmy Bland, was an African-American musician and song writer.Thomas Dartmouth Rice, known professionally as Daddy Rice, was an American performer and playwright who performed blackface and used African American vernacular speech, song and dance to become one of the most popular minstrel show entertainers of his time."Oh, Dem Golden Slippers" is a popular song commonly sung by blackface performers in the 19th century.Prada S.p.A. is an Italian luxury fashion house, specializing in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, perfumes and other fashion accessories, founded in 1913 by Mario Prada.Gucci is an Italian luxury brand of fashion and leather goods. Gucci was founded by Guccio Gucci in Florence, Tuscany, in 1921.Ralph Shearer Northam is an American politician and physician serving as the Governor of Virginia.Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones, known as Sissieretta Jones, was an American soprano. She sometimes was called "The Black Patti", a reference to Italian opera singer Adelina Patti.The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence.Eleanor Roosevelt was an American political figure, diplomat and activist, and served as First Lady of the United States.Rosa Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott.Mattiwilda Dobbs was an African-American coloratura soprano and one of the first black singers to enjoy a major international career in opera.Lillian Evanti was an African-American opera singer.Mary Lucinda Cardwell Dawson was an African-American musician and teacher and the founding director of the National Negro Opera Company.Theodore Drury, born in Kentucky, was a singer and music promoter.Dr. Kristen Turner’s work has been published in the Journal of the Society for American Music, and the Journal of Musicological Research. Her research interests are in 19th century opera, 19th and 20th century American musical culture, African American music, music and politics, and music and gender.Sir Rudolf Bing, KBE was an Austrian-born opera impresario who worked in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, most notably as General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1950 to 1972.Ulrica is a character in the opera Un ballo in maschera, an opera by Giuseppe Verdi.RCA Studio B is a music recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee built in 1956. Originally known simply by the name “RCA Studios”, it became known in the 1960s for being an essential factor to the development of the production style and technique known as the Nashville Sound.“O don fatale” is an aria from the opera Les Troyens, a French grand opera by Hector Berlioz.Dom Sébastien, Roi de Portugal is a French grand opera by Gaetano Donizetti.Leontyne Price is an American soprano. She rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was the first African American to become a leading performer, or prima donna, at the Metropolitan Opera, and one of the most popular American classical singers of her generation.The Julliard SchoolWilliam Warfield was an American concert bass-baritone singer and actor.Alice Ford is a character in the opera Falstaff.Donna Anna is a character in the opera Don Giovanni.Franco Corelli was an Italian tenor who had a major international opera career between 1951 and 1976.Il Trovatore is an opera by Giuseppe Verdi.Madame Butterfly is an opera by Giacomo Puccini.Liù is a character in the opera Turandot by Giacomo Puccini.The Messa da Requiem is a musical setting of the Catholic funeral mass (Requiem) for four soloists, double choir and orchestra by Giuseppe Verdi.Joe is a character in the musical Show Boat by Jerome Kern.La Scala is an opera house in Milan, Italy.Otello is an opera by Giuseppe Verdi.Atlanta Symphony OrchestraRussell Thomas is an American operatic tenor.Robert Spano is an American conductor and pianist.The Gershwin Initiative at the University of MichiganHouston Grand OperaLyric Opera of ChicagoFrancesca Zambello is an American opera and theatre director. She serves as General Director of The Glimmerglass Festival and Artistic Director of the Washington National Opera.The Neil Simon Theatre, formerly the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway venue built in 1927.Götterdämmerung is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen.Treemonisha is an opera by African-American composer Scott Joplin, who is most noted for his ragtime piano works.Harry Lawrence Freeman was a United States opera composer, conductor, impresario and teacher. He was the first African-American to write an opera (Epthalia, 1891) that was successfully produced.Voodoo is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Harry Lawrence Freeman.William Menefield is a Cincinnati-born composer. How work Fierce will be premiered by the Cincinnati Opera in 2020.Sheila Williams is the author of Dancing on the Edge of the Roof, On the Right Side of a Dream, The Shade of My Own Tree and Girls Most Likely.

Martina Arroyo joins Mark to discuss her 14 Johnny appearances in NY & Burbank. Earl Rose then talks about his 20 years at the Tonight Show as part-time assistant music conductor.

Show NotesRoberto Devereux is an opera by Gaetano DonizettiBeverly SillsUniversity of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)Franco Corelli, Luciano Pavarotti, Martina Arroyo, Grace Bumbry, Joan SutherlandElijah is an oratorio by Felix MendelssohnSarah BernhardtEvans and Henri briefly discuss Cincinnati Opera’s 2018 production of La Traviata, which featured soprano Norah Amsellem as Violetta.Pagliacci is a one-act opera by Ruggero LeoncavalloCincinnati Opera produced Richard Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman in 2018Henri mentioned that these were the most rewarding operas he has worked on: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Nixon in China, Elektra, Salome, and FidelioNorma and Ariadne auf NaxosLady GagaThe Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European WorldGoogle Maps

In her three decades plus career as an opera singer, Martina Arroyo has achieved one highlight after another. She's performed all over the world as a celebrated spinto soprano, including over 200 performances at the Met Opera with three opening nights to her credit. She's worked with top conductors like Leonard Bernstein and has performed the repertory of Mozart and Strauss, to name a few. Ms. Arroyo's hard work and immense talent has been recognized by her peers with a 2010 NEA Opera Honors Award and a Kennedy Center Honor three years ago. Although the Harlem native officially retired in 1989, it hasn't stopped her from using her legacy to educate others. In 2003, she established the Martina Arroyo Foundation, which fosters excellence in young opera singers in an educational setting. Kudos to Ms. Arroyo for allowing her expertise and command to inspire a new generation. This podcast also features an interview with the Foundation's music director, Maestro Willie Anthony Waters. Visit Martina Arroyo online:                                             http://www.martinaarroyo.com/   DOWNLOAD Talk Music Talk FREE APP (iTunes)   Subscribe to TMT on iTunes: http://bit.ly/TalkMusicTalk Or Stitcher Radio: http://bit.ly/TMTStitcher Or TuneIn Radio: http://bit.ly/TMTtunein If you enjoy the podcast, please take a moment to leave a review and/or rating.It Reviews and ratings help to improve TMT rankings and spread the word. Thanks!   "Liz (The Talk Music Talk Theme)"-FULL VERSION Written and Composed on an iPad by boice. https://soundcloud.com/thisisboice/liz-talk-music-talk-theme

Born in Jessup, Pennsylvania, Cossa studied with Anthony Marlowe in Detroit, Michigan, Robert Weede in Concord, California, and Armen Boyajian in New York City. He made his debut at the New York City Opera as Morales in 1961, and a week later sang Sharpless with the company. He won the American Opera Auditions in 1964 and was sent to Italy for debuts at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan and Teatro della Pergola in Florence.[2] He made his debut at the San Francisco Opera in 1967 as Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles. His Metropolitan Opera debut took place on January 30, 1970 as Silvio in Pagliacci. Other roles there were Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Lescaut in Manon Lescaut, Marcello in La bohème, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliette, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Valentin in Faust, Yeletsky in Pique Dame, Germont in La traviata, and Albert in Werther. In 1976 he created the role of David Murphy in the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's The Hero with the Opera Company of Philadelphia.[3] Cossa's left a few notable recordings of his best roles such as Belcore in L'elisir d'amore opposite Dame Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti, Achillas in Handel's Giulio Cesare opposite Norman Treigle and Beverly Sills, Nevers in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots, again opposite Sutherland, Martina Arroyo and Huguette Tourangeau, and the baritone solo part in Roger Sessions' When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd. He can also be heard on the Classical Record Library's A Celebration of Schumann and Schubert with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has sung as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, and the National Symphony. He was chosen by Licia Albanese to be the recipient of the Puccini Foundation's Bacccarat Award in 2004, and in 1993 was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Great American Singers at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. Cossa taught at the Manhattan School of Music and in 1988 he accepted a position as Professor of Music at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he became chair of Voice/Opera.   Also, a SWEET GUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Opera Diva Series hosted by Patrick D. McCoy continues with legendary soprano Martina Arroyo.  Specifically, Ms. Arroyo drops in to discuss her foundation's initiative, Prelude to Performance. Martina Arroyo is recognized as one of the pre-eminent lirico-spinto sopranos of our time. As both performer and teacher, she has always perceived that it is essential to understand all aspects of an operatic role in order to achieve a personal interpretation that is effective. The Martina Arroyo Foundation was founded  in June of 2003.  The musical community has welcomed The Martina Arroyo Foundation and its mission to ready young singers for a life on the professional stage through the preparation and interpretation of complete operatic roles for public performance. Its programs have gained particular respect for a method of specialized training that incorporates learning the historic framework of the drama and musical style, exploring the psychology and motivation of each character, and studying ways to use the body and the voice (including language and diction) to understand and express character.

New York City based musician Courtney Carey shares with Patrick D. McCoy. "The African-American Voice in Classical Music" exciting details about a special tribute concert held in memory of the late soprano Shirley Verrett. Ms. Verrett passed away on November 5, 2011. Her loss is tremendous, as she was one of the greats from the post-war era. This special concert, which will be held on Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 7 p.m. at the Ephesus Seventh-Day Adventist Church, is at present one of two in the country in her honor. The concert will include special spoken tributes by legendary mezzo soprano Hilda Harris, her accompanist for 40 years, Warren Wilson, co-author of her autobiography Christopher Brooks, and written tributes by Martina Arroyo and Leontyne Price, a special memorial chorus, soprano Janinah Burnett (Spelman c/o 2000), mezzo sopranos J'nai Bridges, Lucia Bradford-Wiggins, and a video montage which will feature clips of Miss Verrett and some never before seen photos. The evening will be emceed by another great mezzo soprano Barbara Conrad.

Legendary soprano Martina Arroyo talks about her career in opera, including working with such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti. 

Legendary soprano Martina Arroyo talks about her career in opera, including working with such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti. [27:17]

Legendary soprano Martina Arroyo talks about her career in opera, including working with such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti. [27:17]

Legendary soprano Martina Arroyo talks about her career in opera, including working with such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti. [27:17]

Martina Arroyo describes what life is like for an opera singer on and off the stage. She joins Ronnie to reveal the work that must be put into a strong operatic performance and shares some tales about the students from her children's foundation as well.