Today’s episode serves two purposes: First, I introduce my listeners to a wonderful series first released on Eterna, the East German state record label, entitled “Ein Opernabend mit…” which featured singers, some but not all of them German, active in East Germany between the late 1960s and the early 1980s. Some of these singers are well-known to lovers of great singers, with others much less-so. The quality of the singing varies from release to release, but the very best of these represents singing on the most exalted level. Over the past several years, I have been collecting these (sometimes very rare) recordings and now have nearly all of them in my personal collection. I’ll be doing an ongoing Countermelody series featuring these recordings, and present the first such episode today, featuring what is by far the most famous and well-circulated of these recordings, “Ein Opernabend mit Anna Tomowa-Sintow,” which features the beloved Bulgarian jugendlich-dramatisch soprano in some of her core repertoire (from Yevgeny Onegin, Otello, Forza del destino, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Arabella) made in December 1974 with Kurt Masur leading the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. ATS had recently joined the ensemble at the Staatsoper Berlin (then located in East Germany) and is heard in her creamy, exultant prime. I have supplemented this album with additional material recorded between 1970 and 1993, featuring Tomowa-Sintow in refulgently beautiful (and sometimes quite dramatically alive) excerpts from Così fan tutte, Forza, Die ägyptische Helena, Daphne, and the Vier letzte Lieder. I had a former boyfriend who once dismissed this singer as “garden variety.” All I can say is, if this is garden variety singing, then this is a garden I don’t want to leave anytime soon!

Countermelody is the 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 author 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.