I’ve decided to make it Tenor Week here on Countermelody. Earlier this week, we heard Charles Kullman in a smattering of live and studio recordings. Back in November, as I was collating material for the arie antiche episode, which featured more than a century’s worth of great singers, I noticed one singer who frequently programmed such (restyled) Italian baroque songs in his concerts and recordings, the Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli, considered by many to be the greatest tenor, Italian or otherwise, since Caruso. I confess that, in all my years of listening, Gigli was a singer to whose charms I had remained mostly indifferent. But then I began to listen to his recordings of arie antiche, many of them made in the last decade of his career, and I was charmed and delighted by his performances. There is a freshness of voice, an evenness of scale, a headiness of timbre, and, most of all, a sheer delight in singing, that is completely infectious. So today I have compiled most, if not all, of his recordings of this material for an episode of pure vocal escapism. Here is Gigli, all his problematic qualities set aside, singing the songs and arias of Carissimi, Caldara, Cesti, Marcello, Scarlatti, and Bononcini, among others, in a way that invites us to leave our troubled world for a few moments and partake of his vocal stylings of these delectable faux-Baroque bocconcini.

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.