Kathleen Ferrier – Alto CD

Kathleen Ferrier sings J S Bach & Handel

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:47:04 +0000

“in 1952 Kathleen Ferrier made her last and perhaps greatest record … four arias each of Bach and Handel. The (engineers) ensured the utmost fidelity” (Penguin Guide Rosette) “This is a recording that honours all concerned and in which Ferrier shows the English art of oratorio singing at its finest. She is in superb voice and is accompanied with scrupulous artistry by Boult and the L.P.O. …The finest thing of all is All is Fulfilled … The hushed way (she) sings “This mournful night” and the sudden broken utterance “It is finished”, dwell long in the memory. Having listened to contraltos singing Return, O God of Hosts at competitions, I can pay no higher compliment to Ferrier than to say I felt I was hearing it for the first time … It is rare that a disc gives such satisfaction in almost every respect” (Gramophone)

J S Bach:

[1] Qui Sedes (Mass in B Minor) (Oboe d’amore:Michael Dobson) 5:43

[2] Grief for Sin (St.Matthew Passion) 5:57

[3] All is Fulfilled (St.John Passion)(Viola da gamba:Ambrose Gauntlett) 5:14

[4] Agnus Dei (Mass in B Minor) 5:36

G F Handel:

[5] Return O God of Hosts (Samson) 4:26

[6] O Thou that Tellest Good Tidings (Messiah) 5:37

[7] Father Of Heaven (Judas Maccabaeus) 7:48

[8] He Was Despisèd (Messiah) 6:39

All 8 Above with London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Adrian Boult

BONUS tracks:

[9] Like as the Love-lorn Turtle (Atalanta) 6:50

with Phyliss Spurr (piano)(Norwegian Radio broadcast, 1949)

[10] Art Thou Troubled? (Rodelinda) 4:40

[11] Largo:Ombra mai fu (Serse) 4:39

Both with London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Malcolm Sargent

[12] Bach: Ah Tarry Yet my Dearest Saviour (Cantata BWV.11) 7:28

Above with the Jacques Orchestra / Reginald Jacques

[13] Bach: Have Mercy, Lord (Erbame Dich)(St.Matthew Passion)

(sung in English) (violin: David McCallum) 8:12

Above with National Symphony Orchestra / Sir Malcolm Sargent

Centenary Album: Very Best of

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:39:13 +0000

“Klever Kaff or The Lass from Blackburn, originally a telephonist then pianist who yearned to sing, combined two things: the personality to communicate with the widest audience, and encourage them in great music, with world-class artistic quality. Bruno Walter, Mahler’s pupil, said: The greatest thing in music in my life has been to have known Kathleen Ferrier and Gustav Mahler-in that order” (MusicalMerit)

1. Interview with Kathleen Ferrier, Montreal – 1950 1.50
2. Blow the Wind Southerly (Trad. arr. Whittaker) – 1949 2.16
3. The Keel Row (Trad. arr. Whittaker) – 1949 1.41
4. Come You Not from Newcastle? (Trad. arr. Britten) – 1952 1.32
5. Ye Banks and Braes (Trad. arr. Quilter/Burns) – 1949 3.08
6. I Know Where I’m Going (Hughes/adapt. Gray) – 1949 2.20
7. Drink to Me Only (Trad. arr. Quilter/Jonson) – 1949 3.00
8. Ma Bonny Lad (Trad. arr. Whittaker) – 1949 1.46
9. Ca’ the Yowes (Trad. arr. Jacobson/Burns) – 1950 3.21
10. Der Musensohn (Schubert/Goethe) – 1949 2.13
11. An die Musik (Schubert/Schober) – 1949 3.03
12. Have Mercy, Lord (Erbame dich) (St. Matthew Passion: Bach-Eng) – 1946 8.03
13. O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings (Messiah: Handel) – 1952 5.33
14. Ombra mai fu (Largo) (Xerxes: Handel) – 1949 4.38
15. Art Thou Troubled? (Rodelinda: Handel) – 1946 4.36
16. 0 Rest in the Lord (Elijah: Mendelssohn) – 1946 3.36
17. Silent Noon (Vaughan Williams/Rossetti) – 1952 4.51
18. Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal (Quilter/Tennyson) 2.26
19. Kitty My Love (Trad. arr. Hughes) 1.16
20. Down By the Salley Gardens (Trad. arr. Hughes) -1949 3.05
21. Um Mitternacht (Mahler/Rückert) – 1952 6.22
22. What is Life? (Che faro) (Orfeo ed Euridice: Gluck) – 1946 4.23

Kathleen Ferrier sings Lieder

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:38:49 +0000

“In the Brahms and Mahler everything benefits from the loveliness of voice and sincerity of approach. Finest of all, I think, are the Vier ernste Gesänge, the voice at its most sumptuous and utterly right for the songs, the style having noble breadth and authority as well as keeping compassionate personal contact.” (© Gramophone). “I adore the Frauenliebe and I can see that girl growing up from a child to a woman – and these light songs are all the highlights of joy and sorrow” (Kathleen Ferrier)

Kindertotenlieder (Mahler / Rückert)

1. Nunn will die Sonn’ 4:49
2. Nun seh’ ich wohl 4:37
3. Wenn dein Mütterlein 4:31
4. Oft denk’ ich 2:56
5. In diesem Wetter 6:23

Frauenliebe und Leben Op.42 (song-cycle) (Schumann)

6. Seit ich ihn gesehen 2:40
7. Er der herrlichste von allen 3:19
8. Ich kann’s nicht fassen, nicht glauben 1:59
9. Du Ring an meinem Finger 3:00
10. Helft mir, ihr Schwestern 2:05
11. Süsser Freund 3:52
12. An meinem Herzen, an meiner Brust 1:24
13. Nun hast du mir den ersten Schmerz getan 3:56

Vier Ernste Gesänge Op.121 (Brahms)

14. No.1: Denn es gehet dem Menschen 4:59
15. No.2: Ich wandte mich und sahe 4:22
16. No.3: O Tod, wie bitter 4:12
17. No.4: Wenn ich mit Menschen – und mit Engelszungen redete 4:53
18. Gestille Sehnsucht Op.91 No.1 (Brahms / Rückert) 5:10
19. Geistliches Wiegenlied Op.91 No.2 (Brahms / Geibel)
with Max Gilbert (viola) 5:10
20. Sappische Ode (Brahms / Schmidt) 2:48
21. Botschaft (Brahms / Daumer) 2:08

Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (complete Glyndebourne edition)

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:38:27 +0000

(Orfeo) Stiedry’s approach ….now seems to accord with modern ideas of how to treat Gluck, not marmoreally as was then the general custom but as live drama. In consequence Ferrier’s “Che farò?” here sounds to today’s ears much more plausible than the famous, more leisurely (later version).” (Gramophone) “darkly intense reading… Ferrier emerges in full expressiveness…(Pengun Guide) (Alceste) “speaks up powerfully for the Italian version…. with a good deal of fire and spirit….But of course the real point of this recording is the assumption of the title-role by Kirsten Flagstad….It is a monumental performance in its way, with some spells of wonderfully free-flowing, open tone, and a passionate involvement …There are grand, noble things, of course, which any lover of her singing will want to hear, and it is a performance such as only a great singer could produce” (Gramophone)

Gluck: Alceste (5 highlights)

Kathleen Ferrier Sings Mahler

amuletts — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:37:19 +0000

“A finer performance than this would not be a song of earth”, wrote the Record Guide (Collins, 1955) of this legendary performance which was recorded in Vienna in May 1952. … And beyond this there is Ferrier, an artist born to sing this music and singing it here at a time so close to her own death as to make this a real, truly harrowing song of farewell.”
– Gramophone
“Ferrier’s recording of three of the Rückert Lieder, heartfelt and monumental…magnetically intense.”
– Penguin Guide

• In May 1952, four of Mahler’s greatest interpreters — Kathleen Ferrier, Julius Patzak, Mahler’s protégé Bruno, and the Vienna Philharmonic — made a recording of the composer’s Das Lied that is hailed to this day as one of the greatest classical recordings ever issued
• Also includes the three Rückert-Lieder recorded by Ferrier and Walter
• An essential disc for any classical fan — at an unbeatable price!

Gustav Mahler

3 Rückert-Lieder

1 Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen 5:33
2 Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft 2:49
3 Um Mitternacht 6:26

Das Lied von der Erde

4 Das Trinkleid vom Jammer der Erde 8:35
5 Der Einsame im Herbst 9:14
6 Von der Jugend 3:03
7 Von der Schönheit 6:44
8 Der Trunkene im Frühling 4:26
9 Der Abschied 28:01

Kathleen Ferrier, contralto
Julius Patzak, tenor
Vienna Philharmonic
Bruno Walter