There
are two pieces of good news for Ferrier admirers here. The
first is that the Cantata
Lobet gott in seinen Reichen BWV
11 – sung in its English translation
Praise to God – is
making its first CD appearance. The other is that those pretty
wretched ‘stereo’ arias – in which Boult was asked to overlay
1960 stereo accompaniments to Ferrier’s 1952 mono originals – are
replaced by the original mono recordings. Decca is still
peddling those ‘remakes’, most recently on its two disc Tribute
set [475078-2] about which the Ferrier Custodians – who are,
like Ferrier detractors, generally an over-compensatory bunch
of axe-grinders – remain apparently blessedly ignorant, or
naively acquiescent.
These
Bach and Handel sides are woven into the tapestry of Ferrier’s
discography and those from Messiah in particular alert one
to that most tantalising of omissions – along with Gerontius – from
her commercially recorded list. It was offered to her as
an inducement to sign for Decca. By the time the recording
was made, with Boult in 1953, Ferrier was near death and
her place was taken by Norma Procter. Ferrier’s statuesque
nobility permeates these arias. The Mass in B arias - Agnus
Dei and Qui sedes - also reminds one tangentially of the
live recording with von Karajan that is so prominent a reminder
of her collaboration with him (it’s on Guild GHCD 2260/2)
and similarly with Enescu conducting (BBC BBCL40082 and Somm-Ariadne 5000; go for the
latter transfer). One should also
note that
He was Despised, the second of the Messiah
arias here, is shorn of its B section -
He
gave his back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them etc.
This has the effect of turning it into a simplified legato
lament, with the resultant loss of internal dramatic contrast
and subsequent intensification of emotive states. It would
be interesting to know if this was Ferrier’s habit in concert
performances.
The
Cantata recording was made in 1949. The orchestral playing
here is rather more tangy than that of the LPO for Boult,
which favoured a more all-pupose piety. The Jacques
Orchestra made a number of recordings under its founder Reginald
Jacques and both conductor and the other soloists were on
familiar terms with Ferrier, not least from the various singers’ exhausting
jaunts around the country in wartime and in the immediate
post-war period. Basil Lam is the – happily – audible harpsichord
continuo player and the brightness of the strings – with
a touch of asperity – is matched by the forthright contribution
of the winds. The recording as such is not ideal, emphasising
the choral sibilants, for example, in a rather swimmy kind
of a way – but it’s certainly serviceable. This has probably
not been CD transferred before now because of Ferrier’s limited
participation – one aria and one recitative – but it was
worth doing and has been well transferred.
Given
the foregoing the Ferrier completist will note that her CD
discography has taken a firm step forward with this well-transferred
disc.
Jonathan Woolf
see also review by Robert Hugill
Kathleen Ferrier (contralto) 
