Kathleen Ferrier - your favourite of her recordings

[Barbirollians]

If I had to have only one it would have to be Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen .

Though it would be extremely hard to do without her Das Lied, Gluck,Bach and Handel ,Chausson , Schumann ,folksongs etc .

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

All of 'em are indispensible to me: her voice is the single most beautiful Musical sound I know.

But - my "if you could take only one" Desert Island Disc is her (and Patzak and Walter and the VPO's) Das Lied von der Erde.

What I'd give to hear her Abraham & Isaac and Gerontius, though.

[LeMartinPecheur]

I love most of her recordings, but for me the one where she's still completely unrivalled is Mahler's Um Mitternacht (Ruckert Lieder). That power! Even Dame Janet doesn't get close.

fhg: in case you don't know, there is a tiny sample of her her Gerontius Angel ("My work is done...It is because..."), piano-accompanied by Gerald Moore, from a 1944 HMV test pressing, first published 1978 on HMV Treasury HLM 7145. But this doesn't of course take away from your general point

[Dave2002]

Probably because of familiarity as we had the Decca 78 when I was young, it has to be "What is life" from Orfeo. The other side had "Art though troubled" from Handel's Rodelinda. The BBC also used to broadcast some of the folk songs frequently - e.g. "Blow the wind southerly" and the "Keel row", but I never liked them as much. I have the Das Lied recording with Walter somewhere - but I hardly ever play that.

[salymap]

Probably because of familiarity as we had the Decca 78 when I was young, it has to be "What is life" from Orfeo. The other side had "Art though troubled" from Handel's Rodelinda. The BBC also used to broadcast some of the folk songs frequently - e.g. "Blow the wind southerly" and the "Keel row", but I never liked them as much. I have the Das Lied recording with Walter somewhere - but I hardly ever play that.

Like you Dave I'm not so keen on the folk songs,otherwise I can't chose.

If it's lucky to be old, then I'm lucky to have seen her at rehearal and performance but I love her Das Lied and much more .

What I always remember is her infectious laughter and high spirits. I neverheard her as grumpy or pulling rank when with other musicians.

[Mary Chambers]

Probably because of familiarity as we had the Decca 78 when I was young, it has to be "What is life" from Orfeo. The other side had "Art though troubled" from Handel's Rodelinda. The BBC also used to broadcast some of the folk songs frequently - e.g. "Blow the wind southerly" and the "Keel row", but I never liked them as much. I have the Das Lied recording with Walter somewhere - but I hardly ever play that.

These are the sounds of my childhood. My mother was crazy about Kathleen Ferrier. I can't really listen to her recordings objectively, because they are so laden with nostalgia for me. She introduced many people to Mahler at a date when he wasn't well known in this country.

There was also the Mendelssohn duet known as "I would that my love", with Isobel Baillie. I was very fond of that.

[Hornspieler]

For me, it has to be her "Kindertotenlieder" with Bruno Walter and the VSO.
I have not heard such a depth of feeling in any other performance of the work.

HS

[jean]

What I'd give to hear her Abraham & Isaac...

Would her voice really work in that?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Would her voice really work in that?

- ooh, you tease, jean!

Actually, if there were anything that would appeal even more than the prospect of hearing Ferrier in Elgar and Britten, it would be hearing her sing inversionally combinatorial rotational hexachords in Hebrew.

[Mary Chambers]

Would her voice really work in that?

Britten thought it did! Such a shame that studio recording is lost.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I love most of her recordings, but for me the one where she's still completely unrivalled is Mahler's Um Mitternacht (Ruckert Lieder). That power! Even Dame Janet doesn't get close.

- I think it's the intensity caused by Ferrier singing at the limits of tessitura that does this, just as at the end of DLvdE: Mezzo voices with "room to spare" sound much more "comfortable". (Which brings alternative insights, of course - I don't want to be understood as implying that Baker isn't "as good" - but gives Ferrier the palm for me.

fhg: in case you don't know, there is a tiny sample of her her Gerontius Angel ("My work is done...It is because..."), piano-accompanied by Gerald Moore, from a 1944 HMV test pressing, first published 1978 on HMV Treasury HLM 7145. But this doesn't of course take away from your general point

Oh; I'd forgotten this (it's been years since I heard it) - a glimpse of what we might have had. I still hope that somebody somewhere uncovers an off-air recording of a complete Ferrier and Barbirolli performance. (Though I'm not picky - I would put up with a Ferrier and Walter complete Gerontius if I had to.)

[Dave2002]

There was also the Mendelssohn duet known as "I would that my love", with Isobel Baillie. I was very fond of that.

We also had "I know that my redeemer liveth" - not with Ferrier, but with Isobel Baillie, and almost inevitably the Mendelssohn "Oh for the wings of a dove" with you know who. Nostalgia!

[aeolium]

Kindertotenlieder for me, though all her Mahler recordings are wonderful. One of my favourite non-Mahler pieces sung by Ferrier (with Gerald Moore accompanying) is the English arrangement of Handel's Vieni o Figlio from Ottone, Come To Me Soothing Sleep: however inauthentic in style to our ears, this is quite compelling singing.

[Roehre]

Brahms' Four Serious Songs in English in the 1948 orchestration by Sargent.
I'm afraid that any of her recordings on German texts is seriously marred by her pronunciation - beautifully sung Kindertotenlieder e.g., but for me out of bounds.

[salymap]

Brahms' Four Serious Songs in English in the 1948 orchestration by Sargent.
I'm afraid that any of her recordings on German texts is seriously marred by her pronunciation - beautifully sung Kindertotenlieder e.g., but for me out of bounds.

Oh yes Roehre - must look out the record of the Sargent orchestration, one of my earliest Ferrier recordings.

Is it a significant reason now for this thread? I think she died in 1954, didn'tshe ?