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Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685 – 1750)
No. 10, Qui Sedes (Mass in B minor) [5.47]
Part 1, No. 10 Grief for Sin (St. Matthew Passion)
6.07]
Part 2, No. 30 All is fulfilled (St. John Passion)
5.24]
No. 26, Agnus Dei (Mass in B minor) [5.44]
Cantata BWV11 Praise to God [25.55] * George Frideric
HANDEL (1685 – 1759)
Part 1, No. 4, Return O God of Hosts (Samson)
[4.31]
Part 1, No. 9, O Thou, that tellest (Messiah)
[5.42]
Part 3, No. 1 Father of Heaven(Judas
Maccabeus) [7.55]
Part 2, No. 23, He was despised (Messiah) [6.45]
Kathleen
Ferrier (contralto)
Ena Mitchell (soprano)*,
William Herbert (tenor)*
William Parsons (bass)*
Basil Lam (harpsichord continuo)
Thomas Lofthouse (harpsichord continuo) *
Cantata Singers *
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult
Jacques Orchestra/Reginald Jacques*
rec. 7-8 October, 1952, Kingsway Hall, London
; 6 October, 1, 3 November 1949, Kingsway Hall, London
* NAXOS
HISTORICAL 8.111295 [73.49]
This
disc is made up of a 1952 recital which Ferrier made
for Decca with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under
Sir Adrian Boult and 1949 recording of Bach’s Cantata
No 22 made in the autumn of 1949, in time for the bicentennial
celebrations of the composer’s death. The Decca recital
had as its producer a young John Culshaw; it was re-issued
in 1960 overdubbed with a new stereo accompaniment made
by Boult and the LPO. The Bach Cantata was originally
paired with a performance of Cantata 67 made by the same
forces.
To
listen to the Bach and Handel arias from the Decca/Boult
recital on this disc is to enter another world. Boult’s
accompaniments do not seem to include extra instrumentation,
but in every other respect they are completely symphonic
in character. The strings play Bach and Handel just the
way they would play later music, beautifully phrased
but with the bow firmly on the string. The results are
striking in their differences from modern practice.
On
the other hand, we are not listening to this for Boult’s
accompaniments but for Ferrier’s performances. Her voice
had a classical dignity which entirely suited it to this
style of repertoire, particularly with the slow speeds
and lack of ornamentation which were the norm at the
time. She brought a strong emotional commitment to the
performances which make them profoundly moving, whereas
other singers of the period can merely seem mannered.
All
the Handel arias on the disc are unique, Ferrier never
recorded them elsewhere. In fact, the recital was partly
a sweetener by Decca, with the prospect of a complete Messiah in
the future. Decca did record the work but only after
Ferrier’s death, to our profound loss. The aria from
the St. John Passion is similarly unique in Ferrier’s
canon.
Though
the Bach Cantata was recorded earlier than the recital
disc, in performance practice terms we enter another
different world. Conductor Reginald Jacques had founded
the Bach choir and whilst the performance is hardly the
ultimate in modern views of performance practice, it
is recognisably attempting to get closer to what Bach
might have heard. This is not symphonic Bach, the strings
sound as if bows do occasionally come off the strings,
there is a harpsichord noticeably playing continuo. Granted,
the sound quality is not ideal and comes over as a bit
harsh, but overall this is a fascinating historical document.
Ferrier’s performance of the two contralto arias is profoundly
moving. The other soloists are not quite in her class
but the are entirely commendable.
All
items are sung in English and diction is superb, though
the rather period translations might begin to annoy after
a while.
Ferrier's
performances on this disc are sober and moving, very
much of her time and worlds away from the lighter approaches
to Bach and Handel that are current nowadays. And there
is the definite feeling that the Handel arias are treated
as sacred music, He was despised is profoundly
sober (and very moving) and O Thou that tellest lacks
the feeling of lightness and bounce which modern performances
bring to it. This is Handel firmly taken out of the theatre.
But
she takes the music seriously and gives us profoundly
moving performances, filled with strong musicality and
emotional truth; she transcends the limitations of contemporary
performance practice. No-one could suggest that this
is a disc of ideal performances, but it represents a
moving picture of a fine singer and no library should
be without it.
Robert Hugill
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