Search - Johannes Brahms, Ernest Chausson, Johann Sebastian Bach :: Restored Masterworks: Kathleen Ferrier, 1947/51

The moving Brahms selections are the main attraction

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 05/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My regard for the legendary Kathleen Ferrier is veyr high, although I must admit that an artist of such emotional intensity and earnestness isn't always the easiest to listen to. Here we get her well-known Alto Rhapsody with Clemens Krausss in good sound, but the rarity is a live recording of the Brahms Four Serious Songs. The Egnlish title is suitable for a reading in English, with Malcolm Sargent and the BBC Sym. Like me, most listeners won't have encountered any orchestrations of Brahms's Vier Ernste Gesange, but be patient: this is like hearing new movements to the German Requiem, and Ferrier, who also made a recording in German of the piano original, sings with great depth and feeling.



The two short Bach arias come from squeaky, scratchy LPs but are somewhat listenable; they have no flaws musically, given Gerrier's greatness as a Bach singer. The Chausson, which lasts nearly half an hour, has never struck me as worthy of its length, and this is a very dodgy air check (I think), but you can hear Ferrier sounding vibrantly intense, despite the distant placement that makes her French at times unintelligible."