Kathleen Ferrier (contralto)
Kathleen Ferrier sings Bach & Handel
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult
rec. 1946-1952. Mono
ALTO ALC1457 [78:30]
This is the recital Kathleen Ferrier recorded with Sir Adrian Boult for Decca in 1952, in its original mono version, not with the stereo orchestral redubbing made by Boult and producer John Culshaw in 1960, seven years after Ferrier succumbed to cancer – but it still sounds very good. Alto’s new issue is essentially indistinguishable from those from Decca and Naxos, the difference being that Decca provided no fillers and thus constitutes short measure, whereas Naxos added the 26-minute Bach Cantata BWV11 Praise to God and Alto here provide five “major bonus tracks”, making this a full, 80-minute recital. In Decca’s favour, a libretto is provided but as Ferrier is singing in English and her diction is crisp, that is hardly essential.
My MusicWeb colleague Robert Hugill comprehensively reviewed the Naxos disc back in 2008; I completely agree with, and endorse, his findings. Ferrier’s true contralto was uniquely warm and plangent. Voices of her type are rarer than ever today; the special nature of her singing is apparent right from the opening track with its beautifully played oboe d’amore accompaniment complementing her own oboe tones. The introductory, then accompanying, cello solo, too, in “All is fulfilled”, seems especially consonant with her voice, reinforcing its “instrumental” quality. Of course, this is devotional music played in the idiom of its era but its appeal does not diminish when it is performed with such art and sincerity. Coming as I did from reviewing a new opera recording, I was newly struck by how Ferrier’s “old-fashioned” vocal production, with a fast vibrato and rounded, fluty tone from top to bottom, was far removed from the pulsing, flapping gear-changing we hear all too often today.
Not everything here is “stately as a galleon”; despite its slow tempi, “The lion of Judah” passage in “All is fulfilled” is stirring and Handel’s “O thou that tellest” from Messiah has a lilt and lift to it. “Return, O God of hosts” from Handel’s oratorio Samson, opens the Handel section of the programme, but for me, the gem of the collection is the glorious “Father of Heaven” from Judas Maccabaeus, which invariably brings out the best in voice types such as Ferrier’s, as the versions by singers such as Janet Baker and Helen Watts attest.
The first of the bonus tracks is the aria “Like as the Love-lorn Turtle” from Handel’s “pastoral opera” Atalanta sung to the piano accompaniment of Ferrier’s friend Phylis Spurr in a radio broadcast from Sweden in good sound, demonstrating the delicacy of Ferrier’s articulation despite the size and depth of her voice. The arias from Rodelinda and Serse are a lifted from 78s originally recorded for EMI. The sound here is a little crackly, and we can hear that Ferrier’s voice here is marginally lighter, smaller and more youthful, as is the case in track 13, too, recorded in 1946. Track 12 is lifted from a complete recording of the cantata included in the Naxos disc.
As the Decca recital was her last recording, a nice symmetry is preserved here by concluding the programme with Ferrier’s first for that company, the aria ‘Have mercy, Lord, on me’ from the St Matthew Passion, made in February 1946 and conducted by Sir Malcom Sargent – and exquisitely sung and featuring the bonus of David McCallum’s sweetly played violin solo.
Ralph Moore
Contents
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685 – 1750)
1. No. 10, Qui Sedes (Mass in B minor) [5.43]
2. Part 1, No. 10 Grief for Sin (St. Matthew Passion) 5.57]
3. Part 2, No. 30 All is fulfilled (St. John Passion) 5.14]
4. No. 26, Agnus Dei (Mass in B minor) [5.36]
George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)
5. Part 1, No. 4, Return, O God of Hosts (Samson) [4.26]
6. Part 1, No. 9, O Thou, that tellest (Messiah) [5.37]
7. Part 3, No. 1 Father of Heaven (Judas Maccabeus) [7.48]
8. Part 2, No. 23, He was despised (Messiah) [6.39]
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult
rec. 7-8 October, 1952, Kingsway Hall, London
9. Like as the lovelorn turtle (Atalanta)
Phylis Spurr (piano)
Radio broadcast from Norway on 16 October 1949
10. Art thou troubled? (Rodelinda)
11. Largo: Ombra mai fu (Serse)
London Symphony Orchestra/Malcolm Sargent
rec. 7 October 1948, Kingsway Hall, London
12. Bach: Ah tarry yet, my dearest Saviour (Cantata BWV.11)
The Jacques Orchestra/Reginald Jacques
rec. 6 October and 1 November 1949, Kingsway Hall, London
13. ‘Have mercy, Lord, on me’ (Erbarme mich) (St Matthew Passion)
David McCallum (violin)
National Symphony Orchestra/Malcolm Sargent
rec. 6 February 1946, Kingsway Hall, London
