Kathleen Ferrier: The Complete EMI Recordings
J.S. Bach:
Mass in B minor, BWV232: Christe eleison
Mass in B minor, BWV232: Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris
Mass in B minor, BWV232: Et in unum dominum
Mass in B minor, BWV232: Agnus Dei
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano)
Wiener Symphoniker, Herbert von Karajan
recorded in rehearsal in Vienna on 15th June 1950
Brahms:
Liebestreu, Op. 3 No. 1
Feinsliebchen, du sollst mir nicht barfus gehen (No. 12 from Deutsche Volkslieder, WoO 33)
Gerald Moore (piano)
recorded on 30th September 1944
Elgar:
My work is done (from Dream of Gerontius)
Gerald Moore (piano)
recorded on 30th September 1944
Gluck:
What is life? (Orfeo ed Euridice)
Gerald Moore (piano)
recorded on 30th September 1944
Gluck:
Orfeo ed Euridice
Kathleen Ferrier (Orfeo), Greet Koeman (Euridice), Nel Duval (Amore)
Chorus & Orchestra of the Netherlands Opera, Charles Bruck
performed in the 1889 Ricordi Edition; recorded live on 10th July 1951
M. Greene:
I will lay me down in peace
O praise the Lord
Gerald Moore (piano)
recorded on 30th September 1944
Handel:
Spring is coming (from Ottone)
Come to me, soothing sleep (from Ottone)
Gerald Moore (piano)
recorded on 20th April 1945
Mahler:
Kindertotenlieder
Wiener Philharmoniker, Bruno Walter
recorded on 4th October 1949
Mendelssohn:
Ich wollt' meine Lieb' ergosse sich, Op. 63. No. 1 - sung in English as 'I would that my love'
Gruss, Op. 63 No. 3 - sung in English as 'Greeting'
Isobel Baillie (soprano), Gerald Moore (piano)
recorded on 21st September 1945
Purcell:
Sound the trumpet, beat the drum, Z335
Let us Wander not Unseen (from The Indian Queen, Z630)
Shepherd, shepherd, cease decoying (from King Arthur)
Isobel Baillie (soprano), Gerald Moore (piano)
recorded on 21st September 1945
Mahler:
Nun will die Sonn so hell aufgehn (Kindertotenlieder)
In diesem Wetter, in diesem Braus (Kindertotenlieder)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Bruno Walter
alternative take previously unissued; recorded 4th October 1949
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.
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.
