Kathleen Ferrier
She studied with Dr Hutchinson in Newcastle and later with baritone Roy Henderson, who was a well known singing teacher at the time. The unique timbre of her voice was in part due to a medical anomaly: her throat was exceptionally wide.[citation needed]
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Achievements
Ferrier excelled in the music of Mahler, in Bach and in Handel. Her recitals often included songs by Schubert, Schumann and Brahms and towards the end of her career she sang Chausson's Poeme de l'amour et de la mer - her only major work from the French repertory. Ferrier is perhaps best-remembered for her interpretations of British folk songs, including Blow the wind southerly.
She was in demand throughout the UK, and also sang regularly in the Netherlands, where she was extremely popular, and in France, Germany, Italy and in Scandinavia. She paid three visits to North America (1948, 1949 and 1950) and sang at each of the first six Edinburgh International Festivals .
Benjamin Britten wrote several works specifically for her, including Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia, Abraham and Isaac (also written for Peter Pears), and part of the Spring Symphony (1949). Among other composers who wrote specifically for her were Lennox Berkeley, Arthur Bliss and Edmund Rubbra.
She worked with many famous conductors, including Bruno Walter, John Barbirolli, Malcolm Sargent, Clemens Krauss, Otto Klemperer, Herbert von Karajan, Eduard van Beinum and also with Benjamin Britten. She also worked with other famous singers such as Isobel Baillie, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Julius Patzak and Peter Pears.
She had previously sung Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice at Glyndebourne in 1947 and in the Netherlands in 1949 and 1951. A recording of the latter was found in the archives of the Dutch National Opera and released on vinyl in the early 1980s, but the Royal Opera House performance was sung in English.
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Final role
Her final role was in Christoph Willibald Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice at Covent Garden in February 1953.
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Illness/death
Already seriously ill with breast cancer, which had spread to her bones, she got through the opening night of Orfeo successfully, but at the second performance a bone in her leg broke while she was on stage. She managed to finish this performance, and left the theatre on a stretcher. It was her final performance: not long afterwards, she died on 8 October 1953, aged 41.[2]
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Popular recitals
Works she was particularly well known for include:
- Bach
- Brahms
- Alto Rhapsody
- Vier Ernste Gesange
- Chausson, Poeme de l'amour et de la Mer
- Mahler
- Gluck, Orfeo ed Euridice
- Handel, Messiah
- Schumann, Frauenliebe und -leben
- Various folk songs, including Blow the wind southerly, The Keel Row.
Ferrier performed some of these pieces in both their original language, and also in English. Examples include the St. Matthew Passion, arias by Bach and Handel, and Gluck's Orfeo. Ferrier made numerous recordings in her short career, though some of her performances were not recorded, or recordings were destroyed. These include performances of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, and Messiah.
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Music samples
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Have mercy, Lord on me From St. Matthew Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach. With National Symphony Orchestra of London conducted by Malcolm Sargent. Recorded at Kingsway Hall, London, 6 February 1946. What is life to me without thee? From Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph Willibald Gluck. With London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent. Recorded at Kingsway Hall, London, 27 February 1946. - Problems playing the files? See media help.
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Discography
- Bach, B Minor Mass, Suzanne Danco, Kathleen Ferrier, Peter Pears, Bruce Boyce, Norman Walker, BBC Chorus, Boyd Neel Orchestra, conducted by George Enescu, (1951), BBC
- Bach, St Matthew Passion, Greene, Suddaby, Ferrier, Cummings, Bach Choir, Jacques Orchestra, conducted by Reginald Jacques, Decca, now on Dutton. (1947/8)
- Bach and Handel arias (sung in English), London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Adrian Boult, Decca, recorded 7th and 8th October, 1952.
- Brahms, Alto Rhapsody, Op 53, Men of the Oslo Philharmonic Chorus, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Erik Tuxen, Oslo (1949), APR
- Brahms, Alto Rhapsody, Op 53, Danish Radio Male Chorus, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Busch (Copenhagen, 6 Oct., 1949, live perf.), Danacord
- Brahms, Alto Rhapsody, Op 53, London Philharmonic Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Clemens Krauss, (1947), Dutton (transferred from Decca)
- Benjamin Britten, The Rape of Lucretia (1946), Kathleen Ferrier, contralto (Lucretia), Peter Pears, Joan Cross, Owen Brannigan (Collatinus), Edmund Donleavy (Junius), Otakar Kraus, baritone (Tarquin), Anna Pollak (Bianca), Margaret Ritchie (Lucia) English Opera Group Orchestra directed by Hans Oppenheim, Gala
- Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Bruno Walter, Julius Patzak (tenor), Decca, Polygram
- Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde, Hallé Orchestra, John Barbirolli, Richard Lewis (tenor), 1952, APR
- Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde, New York Philharmonic, Bruno Walter, Set Svanholm (tenor), 1948, Naxos
- Mahler, Kindertotenlieder, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Bruno Walter, EMI, 1949
- Mahler, Kindertotenlieder, Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, Decca 1951
- Mahler, Symphony No. 2 in C minor "Resurrection", also Jo Vincent (Soprano), Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, (1951), Archipel
- Schumann, Frauenliebe und -leben, Brahms and Schubert lieder, live at the 1949 Edinburgh Festival accompanied on the piano by Bruno Walter, Decca, 1949
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Biography
- Kathleen Ferrier - An Ordinary Diva, BBC Films, distributed by Universal Music & Video
- The life of Kathleen Ferrier by Winifred Ferrier, Readers Union, 1956
- Letters and Diaries of Kathleen Ferrier by Christopher Fifield (Editor), The Boydell Press, 2003
- Kathleen Ferrier by Jérôme Spycket
- "Kathleen Ferrier" An article from Musical Opinion by Judith Monk
- La voix de Kathleen Ferrier Essai by Benoît Mailliet Le Penven
- Kathleen Ferrier, 1912-1953 A memoir by Neville Cardus, London, Hamilton, 1954
- Ferrier - A Career Recorded (detailed discography) by Paul Campion, Thames/Elkin, 2005
- Kathleen by Maurice Leonard, Hutchinson 1988
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References
- ^ Rupert Christiansen, "The glory of 'Klever Kaff'". Telegraph, 8 September 2003.
- ^ a b Everything you need to know about Kathleen Ferrier, BBC. URL last accessed on April 4, 2006.
- ^ "Klever Kaff", Ian Jack, Granta 76: Music
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External links
- Sir John Barbirolli's tribute
- iClassics discography
- Artist Profiles: Kathleen Ferrier
- Selected discography
- Kathleen Ferrier at Find A Grave
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