Notes and Editorial Reviews
Interesting additions to the ever-growing Ferrier discography
Nearly every year seems to bring new Ferrier discoveries. Most of those on this issue are more than worth hearing. Particularly important is the performance by its dedicatee of the Berkeley cycle, Ferrier’s first surviving recorded collaboration with Barbirolli. Her singing is as balm to the ear, as is her attention to the meaning of the texts of these lovely settings.
From a quite different tradition come the three quartets by Brahms. These form the first half of the 1952 Edinburgh Festival concert that included the Liebeslieder Waltzes already issued by Decca (9/92). Ferrier’s solo contributions are more marked but it is the euphony of the
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four voices and the ardour in which they project Brahms’s settings that is most enjoyable. Patzak’s plangent tenor is to the fore and Seefried soars easily on the top line. The three recordings of Brahms songs from a BBC recital are also pleasurable.
From the 1947 Edinburgh Festival come two precious though maddeningly brief extracts, apparently uncovered in a junk shop, from Das Lied von der Erde, Ferrier’s first collaboration in the work with Bruno Walter. Interesting as it is to have Ferrier singing in the final song, that is familiar from her later recordings. It is the virtually complete fifth song as sung by Peter Pears that is so fascinating, not only showing what a loss it was that he never seems to have sung the work again, but also because he sings it with such uninhibited passion. We also have – at last in full form – the famous party ‘recital’ in which a slightly inebriated Ferrier lets her hair down to amusing effect."
The rest is less remarkable. Ferrier sounds unsuitably heavy by today’s standards in the Baroque pieces, where the sound is also poor, and the alternative takes of the Handel and Mendelssohn arias may only be of interest to completists. But that should not deter her admirers from acquiring the disc, which is complemented by Paul Campion’s well-informed notes on the provenance of the recordings, which he has been instrumental in uncovering.
-- Alan Blyth, GRAMOPHONE (2/2006)
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Works on This Recording
1.
Serse, HWV 40: Ombra mai fu "Largo" by George Frideric Handel
Performer:
Kathleen Ferrier (Alto)
Conductor:
Sir Malcolm Sargent
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Symphony Orchestra
Period: Baroque
Written: 1738; London, England
Date of Recording: 05/14/1948
Length: 4 Minutes 29 Secs.
Language: Italian
2.
Elijah, Op. 70: O rest in the Lord by Felix Mendelssohn
Performer:
Kathleen Ferrier (Alto)
Conductor:
Boyd Neel
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Boyd Neel Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1846-1847; Germany
Date of Recording: 09/02/1946
Length: 3 Minutes 39 Secs.
Language: English
3.
Kleine Kantate von Wald und Au by Georg Philipp Telemann
Performer:
George Roth (Cello),
John Francis (Flute),
Millicent Silver (Harpsichord),
Kathleen Ferrier (Alto)
Period: Baroque
Written: 1734; Germany
Date of Recording: 12/15/1949
Venue: Live BBC Radio Broadcast
Length: 10 Minutes 0 Secs.
Language: German
4.
Vergiss mein nicht, vergiss mein nicht! BWV 505 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:
Millicent Silver (Harpsichord),
Kathleen Ferrier (Alto)
Period: Baroque
Written: by 1736; Leipzig, Germany
Date of Recording: 12/15/1949
Venue: Live BBC Radio Broadcast
Length: 2 Minutes 22 Secs.
Language: German
5.
Ach, dass nicht die letzte Stunde, BWV 439 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:
Kathleen Ferrier (Alto),
Millicent Silver (Harpsichord)
Period: Baroque
Written: by 1736; Leipzig, Germany
Date of Recording: 12/15/1949
Venue: Live BBC Radio Broadcast
Length: 2 Minutes 1 Secs.
Language: German
6.
Vocal Quartets (3), Op. 64 by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Julius Patzak (Tenor),
Horst Günther (Baritone),
Irmgard Seefried (Soprano),
Kathleen Ferrier (Alto),
Hans Gál (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1862-1863; Austria
Date of Recording: 09/02/1951
Venue: Live BBC Radio Broadcast
Length: 12 Minutes 3 Secs.
Language: German
7.
Die schöne Magelone, Op. 33: no 9, Ruhe, Süssliebchen by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Kathleen Ferrier (Alto),
Frederick Stone (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: ?1868; Austria
Date of Recording: 04/02/1952
Venue: Live BBC Radio Broadcast
Length: 5 Minutes 23 Secs.
Language: German
8.
Songs (8), Op. 59: no 2, Auf dem See by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Kathleen Ferrier (Alto),
Frederick Stone (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1873; Austria
Date of Recording: 04/02/1952
Venue: Live BBC Radio Broadcast
Length: 2 Minutes 50 Secs.
Language: German
9.
Songs (4), Op. 96: no 3, Es schauen die Blumen by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Kathleen Ferrier (Alto),
Frederick Stone (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1884; Austria
Date of Recording: 04/02/1952
Venue: Live BBC Radio Broadcast
Length: 1 Minutes 8 Secs.
Language: German
10.
Songs (7), Op. 95: no 4, Der Jäger by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Kathleen Ferrier (Alto),
Frederick Stone (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: ?1884; Austria
Date of Recording: 04/02/1952
Venue: Live BBC Radio Broadcast
Length: 1 Minutes 7 Secs.
Language: German
11.
Das Lied von der Erde: no 5, Der Trunkene im Frühling by Gustav Mahler
Performer:
Peter Pears (Tenor)
Conductor:
Bruno Walter
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1908-1909; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 09/11/1947
Venue: Live Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland
Length: 3 Minutes 46 Secs.
Language: German
Notes: This selection is presented in excerpted form.
12.
Das Lied von der Erde: no 6, Der Abschied by Gustav Mahler
Performer:
Kathleen Ferrier (Alto)
Conductor:
Bruno Walter
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1908-1909; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 09/11/1947
Venue: Live Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland
Length: 4 Minutes 3 Secs.
Language: German
Notes: This selection is presented in excerpted form.
13.
Poems (4) of St. Teresa of Avilla, Op. 27 by Lennox Berkeley
Performer:
Kathleen Ferrier (Alto)
Conductor:
Sir John Barbirolli
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Hallé Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1947; England
Date of Recording: 11/23/1949
Venue: Live Manchester, England
Length: 14 Minutes 11 Secs.
Language: English
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