These sides are so
familiar that little needs to be said
about interpretative qualities or such
particular matters as articulation,
diction and Ferrier’s particular plangency
of tone in these settings, ones that
are mainly folk songs but that also
include her art song records of Quilter,
Stanford, Parry, Vaughan Williams, Bridge
and Warlock. However what does emerge
strongly, though implicitly, is the
state of the Ferrier Industry and in
particular the estate – good or otherwise
– of Decca’s custodianship of it. All
these titles were recorded between 1949
and 1952. They’re not presented chronologically
though it’s often the case that sessions
are grouped together in their entirety,
respecting the continuity of the original
recordings. That will not be unduly
problematic; there’s no real reason
to impose that degree of chronology
on a disc that collates the British
songs she sang, though the scrupulous
may disagree, I suppose.
No, what marks out
this disc as different is the restoration
and engineering. This has been carried
out by Mark Obert-Thorn and I want to
draw attention to his statement that
previous Decca releases on CD and LP
of the studio sessions (there are some
broadcast items here) were flat to varying
degrees. I agree that the differences
between his restoration and the well-trodden
Decca releases may not seem dramatic
but having made a large number of A/B
comparisons with the latest and other
Decca reissues [Decca 475078-2 and 475
6291 which is part of a DVD set, and
previous incarnations on single LP disc
and boxed sets] I can say that the improvements
in both pitch and clarity are evident.
A few observations;
the piano introduction et seq
of I have a bonnet trimmed with blue
has greater clarity and definition in
Naxos’ transfer than in any Decca. In
The Keel row the muddiness enshrined
in successive Decca reissues has been
significantly improved. Not only that
but that dynamic gradients can be appreciated
that much better and the pitch adjustment
proves entirely necessary. Ye Banks
and Braes also demonstrates the
efficacy of Obert-Thorn’s work. Yes,
the shellac crackle quotient is slightly
higher than Decca but against that the
piano part sounds much clarified and
refined. The voice also sounds fractionally
lighter as a result of pitch adjustment.
With The Stuttering Lovers we
find that the greater sense of studio
presence of the Decca is counterbalanced
by Naxos’s brighter piano and voice
spectrum.
Both Naxos and Decca
replicate that rather strange veiled
quality that mars the beginning of Drink
to me only but of the two it’s the
Naxos that marginally has the better
sound. In the broadcast recordings of
1952 we find the famous Stanford A
Soft Day sounds more immediate in
Naxos’ hands; the voice is also fractionally
lighter than we are used to, as well.
Try Go Not, Happy Day for example;
neither the Decca nor Naxos can contain
the inherent overload and there’s still
a degree of this at climaxes but Naxos’s
transfer has greater air around the
voice.
The advantages of this
issue are twofold. Firstly the restorative
work, very necessary and very welcome
and secondly the programming. So many
recent Ferrier reissues have been all-purpose
selections that try to cover the ground
– folk song, oratorio, art song, Mahler,
Gluck - that they cannot help but seem
unsatisfactory. It’s good therefore
to find a solid and cohesive body of
her recordings presented in this way.
Frankly this is also a bit of a wake
up call to Decca. Obert-Thorn has not
had access to their masters, obviously,
but has managed to effect an improvement
to these recordings - and that can only
be a welcome piece of restoration.
Jonathan Woolf
see also review
by Em Marshall
