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KATHLEEN FERRIER The Complete EMI Recordings
Issued to mark the centenary of Kathleen Ferrier’s birth, this 3CD set brings together for the first time all the EMI recordings by this great contralto, including two previously unissued tracks. In addition the booklet features three EMI publicity photos rarely seen since she first signed a contract with HMV/Colombia in 1944
Kathleen Ferrier (22 April 1912–8 October 1953) remains one of the best-loved British singers of our time. The eminent vocal expert Alan Blyth wrote of her in 1998: ‘Kathleen Ferrier, a legend in her own lifetime, has certainly become one since her untimely death in 1953. Her professional life, lasting little more than a decade, saw her rise from the obscurity of appearing with choirs in the north of England to the eminence of an international career in the company of such conductors as Barbirolli, Walter and Klemperer. It was an extraordinary transformation in every respect, but one wholly justified by the dignity and conviction of her singing and the commitment of her interpretations.’
CD1 begins with four test recordings of pieces by Gluck, Brahms and Elgar recorded by producer Walter Legge in June 1944 but not issued until 1978. Ferrier signed a one-year contract with EMI in September 1944 and her first commercial release was the two arias by the Baroque composer Maurice Greene that follow. Then come two Handel solos and five duets with soprano Isobel Baillie of compositions by Purcell and Mendelssohn. These completed Ferrier’s EMI contract and she then moved to Decca.
In 1949 Ferrier came back to EMI to record Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder in London with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bruno Walter, the great Mahlerian who had introduced Ferrier to this work, which closes CD1
CD2 begins with four items recorded at a rehearsal in June 1950 for a concert of the Bach Mass in B Minor in Vienna with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra conducted by Karajan. EMI was setting up its recording equipment in the Musikvereinssaal for another project while the rehearsal was taking place and the engineer, as a test, turned on the tape machine to capture, almost complete, these four precious Ferrier tracks, which include two solos and two duets with the soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.
Then comes a complete performance of Ferrier’s signature operatic role, that of Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck. This live recording dates from a radio broadcast in July 1951 in Amsterdam.
CD3 concludes with two bonus tracks; these are reserve takes of the first and the fifth movements of Kindertotenlieder being issued here for the first time. This work was originally recorded on 12-inch waxes, with a tape machine running as safety back-up, as was EMI’s practice in 1949. Masters from the waxes were used for most of the original 78-rpm sides, but for the release of the work on CD, the back-up tapes were used, and these reserve ‘takes’ have also survived.
Compact Disc 1
Christoph Willibald Gluck1714–1787
1 What is life without thee? (Orpheus and Eurydice)
Johannes Brahms 1833–1897
2 Liebestreu (Constancy) Op.3 No.1
3 Feinsliebchen (Sweetheart) Deutsche Volkslieder II, No.12
Edward Elgar 1857–1934
4 My work is done...It is because (The Dream of Gerontius)
Maurice Greene 1696–1755
5 I will lay me down in peace (O God of righteousness) arr. Roper
6 O praise the Lord (Praise the Lord, o my soul) arr. Roper
George Frideric Handel 1685–1759
7 Spring is coming (Ottone)
8 Come to me, soothing sleep (Ottone)
Henry Purcell 1659–1695
9 Sound the trumpet (Birthday Ode for Queen Mary)
10 Let us wander, not unseen (The Indian Queen) arr. Moffat
11 Shepherd, shepherd, cease decoying (King Arthur)
Felix Mendelssohn 1809–1847
12 I would that my love Op.63 No.1 (Heine, translated)
13 Greeting Op.63 No.3 (Eichendorff, translated)
Gustav Mahler 1860–1911
Kindertotenlieder (Rückert)
14 Nun will die Sonn’ so hell aufgeh’n
15 Nun seh’ ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen
16 Wenn dein Mütterlein, tritt zur Tür herein
17 Oft denk’ ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen!
18 In diesem Wetter, in diesem Braus
Compact Disc 2
Johann Sebastian Bach 1685–1750
Mass in B minor BWV232
1 Christe eleison
2 Qui sedes
3 Et in unum dominum
4 Agnus Dei
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Orfeo ed Euridice (Calzabigi)
5 Sinfonia (Orchestra)
ACT I
6 Ah! se intorno a quest’urna funesta (Chorus/Orfeo)
7 Amici, quel lamento (Orfeo)
8 Ballet of Shepherds and Nymphy (Orchestra)
9 Ah! se intorno a quest’urna funesta (Chorus/Orfeo)
10 Chiamo il mio ben così
11 Voi delle ombre oscura (Orfeo)
12 Amore assisterà l’infelice marito! (Amore/Orfeo)
13 Gli sguardi trattieni (Amore)
14 Che disse? Che ascoltai? (Orfeo)
ACT II
Scene 1
15 Dance of the Furies – Chi mai dell’Erebo (Orchestra/Chorus)
16 Deh! placatevi con me (Orfeo/Chorus)
17 Misero giovane! (Chorus)
18 Mille pene, ombre sdegnose (Orfeo)
19 Ah! quale incognito (Chorus/Orfeo)
Compact Disc 3
ACT II
Scene 2
1 Dance of the Blessed Spirits – Dance of the Heroes (Orchestra)
2 È quest’asile ameno e grato (Euridice/Chorus)
3 Che puro ciel! Che chiaro sol! (Orfeo)
4 Vien a’regni del riposo (Chorus)
5 Ballet of the Heroes (Orchestra)
6 Oh voi, ombre felici (Orfeo/Chorus)
7 Torna, o bello (Chorus)
ACT III
8 Ah vieni, o diletta, vien con me
9 Vieni! Vieni con me, vieni, o cara! (Orfeo/Euridice)
10 Ah, dovess’io saper (Euridice)
11 Che fiero momento
12 Ah, per me il duol ricomincia (Euridice/Orfeo)
13 Che feci mai?
14 Che farò senza Euridice?
15 Ah! finisca e per sempre (Orfeo)
16 Non più! che fai tu?
17 Gaudio, gaudio son al cuore (Amore/Orfeo/Euridice)
18 Trionfi Amore! (Chorus)
Gustav Mahler
Kindertotenlieder (Rückert)
19 Nun will die Sonn’ so hell aufgeh’n
20 In diesem Wetter, in diesem Braus
EMI 3cds 9562842
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