Search - Kathleen Ferrier, John Newmark, Phyllis Spurr :: Kathleen Ferrier Ovation #4: Schumann/Brahms/Schubert

Ferrier's Frauenliebe und Leben is beyond compare

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 01/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I couldn't let this installment in Decca's comprehensive Kathleen Ferrier edition pass by without a review at Amazon. The lead item, a studio acocunt of Schumann's Frauenliebe und leben from 1950, is one of the great recordings of the century. The accompanist, John Newmark, wasn't famous, but his playing is certainly repsectable. Ferrier had sung the same work at the Edinburgh Festival the year before, and that account is amazing for being totally different from this one but equally great. Bruno Walter, who adored the young singer, was her accompanist; despite his erratic piano playing, their collaborations were always inspired -- it can be found on CD 9 of Decca's series. The sound on the Schumann is veyr good, although other labels such as Urania have tamed the shrill highs much better than Decca did.



Yet it's Ferrier's incomparable artistry that leaves the listener breathless. Though her voice was considered a true contralto, like Marian Anderson's, Ferrier's tone here is as bright as a mezzo's and thrills with its lustrous tone. She sang Grman Lieer as well or better than the greatest native-born singers, a miracle for a provincial British girl. That Ferrier was a genius is well rememered in England but seemingly forgotten in the U.S. If you don't know her artistry, this is a good place to begin. At the end of the recital three songs accompanied by Benjamin Britten are fascinating, although the recorded sound is sketchy."