English contralto, 1912 - 1953 Biographical notes:
Kathleen Ferrier was born on April 22, 1912, in a Lancashire village in
the north of Enland. Despite the limited financial means of the
household, her mother insisted that Kathleen should have a proper
education. Very early on, she became fascinated by the piano. Although
a very bright student, she seemed to go on to university, but
unfortunately, funds were lacking and she had to leave school at the
age of 14 to start work as a telephone operator. As a pianist she
participated in the many local festivals and won numerous prizes. Very
soon, she accompanied her singing friends. In 1935 Ferrier
married and the couple moved to Carlisle (the marriage turned out
to be an unhappy one and was later annulled). It was her husband who
challenged her to enter the Carlisle Festival for singing. After
winning both the piano and singing prizes there in 1937, she decided to
work as a professional singer, learning by appearing wherever she was
asked. She studied with J.E. Hutchinson, who built her repertoire
(songs by Purcell, Bach’s B minor Mass and Passions according to Saint
John and Saint Matthew, excerpts from cantatas, Italian arias,
oratorios by Handel and Elgars’ The Dream of Gerontius). She continued
her studies with Roy Henderson, a former baritone and dedicated teacher
who also introduced her to German songs. Within a short time Kathleen
Ferrier became one of the world’s leading concert artists. She enjoyed
tremendous success in Mahler’s orchestral songs, in songs by Brahms,
Schubert and Schumann as well as in oratorios. She worked with all the
celebrated conductors of the time like Monteux, Enescu, Karajan, Van
Beinum, Erich Kleiber, Busch and Schuricht, to name but a few. The
artist also reintroduced many previously neglected British songs to her
audiences. She told in interviews that working with her mentor and
fatherly friend Bruno Walter was probably of the greatest importance to
her. Glyndebourne Festival saw her as Lucretia in Britten’s The Rape of
Lucretia and Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Eudridice (sung in English), her
only two operatic roles. In 1951, a first operation interrupted her
touring and, two years later, death of breast cancer put an early end
to her too brief career. “A soul full of joy” (Bruno Walter) Peter Pears, Kathleen Ferrier and Benjamin Britten - looking at the score of “The Rape of Lucretia” (the “score” was a telephone directory...) As Orfeo, Covent Garden, 1953 Official portrait, 1951
Recordings: (selection) |
Kathleen Ferrier Edition Vol. 1 - 10 (10 CD) |
Decca |
Vol. 1: Gluck - Orfeo ed Euridice (abridged) |
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Vol. 2: Bach - Matthäus-Passion (Arias and Choruses) |
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Vol. 3: Gluck / Händel / Bach / Mendelssohn / Pergolesi (Arias) |
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Vol. 4: Schumann - Frauenliebe und -leben / Brahms - Lieder / Schubert - Lieder |
“ |
Vol. 5: Brahms - Vier ernste Gesänge / Chausson - Poème de l’Amour et de la Mer - British Songs |
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Vol. 6: Broadcast Recitals |
“ |
Vol. 7: Bach / Händel (Oratorio Arias) |
“ |
Vol. 8: Blow the Wind Southerly (British Songs) |
“ |
Vol. 9: Schubert - Lieder / Brahms - Lieder / Schumann - Lieder (BBC Broadcast from the 1949 Edinburgh Festival,
with Bruno Walter, including an introduction by the artist) |
“ |
Vol. 10: Brahms - Alto Rhapsody and Lieder / Mahler - Rückert-Lieder |
“ |
Bach - Mass in B minor (Enescu) |
BBC Legends |
Bach - St. Matthew Passion / Pergolesi - Stabat mater |
Dutton |
Bach - St. Matthew Passion (Karajan) |
Archipel |
Brahms - Alto Rhapsodie and Songs / Beethoven - Symphony 5 (Furtwängler) |
Danacord |
Brahms - Symphony 1 / Alto Rhapsodie (Van Beinum/Krauss) |
Dutton |
Britten - The Rape of Lucretia (Amsterdam 1946) |
Gala |
Elgar’s Interpreters on Record Vol. 1 |
Dutton |
Gluck - Orfeo ed Euridice (Stiedry/abridged/Glyndebourne) |
Dutton |
Kathleen Ferrier - Historical Recordings 1947 - 1952 |
Gala |
Kathleen
Ferrier - Songs My Father Taught
Me
(K.F. in a tipsy mood after a party, singing and playing the piano. Roy
Henderson, Gerald Moore and Benjamin Britten talk about the artist) |
Gala |
Mahler - Symphony 2 (Klemperer) |
BBC Legends |
Mahler - Kindertotenlieder (Klemperer) / Brahms - Liebeslieder- Walzer (Seefried, Patzak, Günter/Curzon,
Gal) |
Decca |
Mahler - Kindertotenlieder (Walter) / Arias and songs by Gluck, Purcell, Handel, Greene, Mendelssohn (G. Moore)
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EMI Références |
Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde (Walter 1952/Patzak) |
Decca Legends |
Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde (Schuricht 1948/Svanholm) |
Naxos Historical |
Schubert in Historical Recordings |
Preiser |
Stars of English Oratorio Vol. 1 |
Dutton |
Stars of English Opera Vol. 2 |
Dutton |
Stars of English Opera Vol. 3 |
Dutton |
The World of Kathleen Ferrier Vol. 1 |
Decca |
The World of Kathleen Ferrier Vol. 2 |
Decca |
Mike Richter’s Opera Page: The Record of Singing Vol. 4 |
CD-ROM |
“A beautiful creature” (Gerald Moore) Comment:
Kathleen Ferrier’s singing was of great dignity and conviction. She
managed to bring into the studio the same commitment she showed
in live performance. Her voice was a true contralto.
The tragedy of her illness can color our feeling for her records. I
think this is not sentimental at all. It is impossible to hear her in
Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and not to be touched by the human situation
(she was already very ill) as well as by her singing. All
her Lieder recordings are treasures. She is superb in English songs and
gives to this material the same dignity and honesty she brings to
weightier songs. In Brahms’ Vier ernste Gesänge she gives us a deeply
felt and entirely moving interpretation.
Kathleen Ferrier was the greatest oratorio singer of the time. If some
people find the style too “romantic” by the parameters of what is today
considered “correct period style” in oratorio music, so I think, the
worse for that style. Oratorio has to be performed by singers who are
able to sing with inner emotion and conviction, qualities I cannot find
in most of the singers of today.
Bruno Walter said that Kathleen Ferrier was a woman of good humour and
that she should be remembered “in a major key.” The recording presented
here is one of her most deeply felt and incomparable achievements in
the field of German song.
Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer
(Brahms / Broadcast Edinburgh 1949 / Bruno Walter, live) My warmest thanks to Anthony Shuttleworth
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