Traditional
01 - My bonny lad
02 - Keel row
03 - Blow the Southerly
04 - I have a bonnet trimmed with blue
05 - My Boy Willie
06 - I Know where I'm going
07 - The fidgety bairn
08 - I will walk with my love
09 - Ca'the yowes
10 - O waly,waly
11 - Willow,willow
12 - The stuttering lovers

Quilter (1977 - 1953)
13 - Now sleeps the crimson petal
14 - The fair house of joy
15 - To daisies
16 - Over the mountain

Traditional
17 - Have you seen but the whyte lillie grow
18 - Ye banks and braes
19 - Drink to me only
20 - Down by the Salley Gardens
21 - The lover's curse

Stanford (1852 - 1924)
22 - The fairy lough
23 - A soft day

Parry (1848 - 1918)
24 - Love is a battle,Op15. nº3

Vaughan Willians (1872 - 1958) 
25 - Silent moon

Bridge (1879 - 1941)
26 - Go not happy day

Warlock (1894 - 1930)
27 - Sleep
28 - Pretty ring time

Traditional
29 - Come you not from Newcastle
30 - Kitty my love

Kathleen Ferrier (contralto)
Phyllis Spurr (piano)
John Newmark (piano)
Frederick Stone (piano)

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, musicweb-international.com

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1. Arias & Choruses: No.1: Come, Ya Daughters - The Bach Chor
2. Arias & Choruses: No.9: My Master And My Lord.../No.10: Grief For Sin - Eric Greene
3. Arias & Choruses: No.33: Behold, My Savior Now Is Taken - Elsie Suddaby/Eric Greene/The Bach Chor
4. Arias & Choruses: No.36: Ah! Now Is My Saviour Gone - Eric Greene/The Bach Chor
5. Arias & Choruses: No.47: Have Mercy, Lord, On Me.../No.48: Lamb Of God, I Fall Before Thee - Eric Greene
6. Arias & Choruses: No.60: Gracious God!.../No.61: If My Tears Be Availing - Eric Greene
7. Arias & Choruses: No.63: O Sacred Head Surrounded - The Bach Chor
8. Arias & Choruses: No.69: Ah, Golgotha!.../No.70: See Ye! See The Saviour's Outstretched Hands - Eric Greene/The Bach Chor
9. Arias & Choruses: No.72: Be Near Me, Lord, When Dying - The Bach Chor
10. Arias & Choruses: No.77: And Now The Lord To Rest Is Laid.../No.78: In Tears Of Grief - The Bach Chor

Kathleen Ferrier - alto
Elsie Suddaby - soprano (tracks: 4) 
The Bach Choir
The Jacques Orchestra
Reginald Jacques - conductor

Bach, in this time, was performed slowly, and I most certainly do not see that as a problem. As far as I'm concerned, the music was very probably written to be performed at tempos slower than that at which they're taken today (2013), and most significantly slower than they were taken a decade or two ago. The slower tempo enables some listeners such as myself to hear the counterpoint much better --that is, the intertwining inner melodies, for anyone unfamiliar with the term.

The recitatives, however (the narrative interspersed between the choruses and arias) do need to be taken at a brisk pace, and should be more spoken than sung. The tenor Evangelist, does do a good job of singing with a close to spoken style, and with good pace.

I'm listening to the first few numbers, and I'm waiting for the first big alto aria by Kathleen Ferrier, which is a major part of the value of the recording... Oh man, it is gorgeous. To those of us who were a little in love with this wonderful woman, this purchase is a definite must. I gave 4 stars only because of the technical deficits, which are totally forgivable for recordings of the period. The orchestra is more than good.

Oh dear; I just heard a hiccup in the recording: an entire phrase cut out. Luckily I have a CD of this aria, and can repair the file if I really want to...Highly recommended. ---Archimedes, amazon.com

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1. Interview with Kathleen Ferrier, Montreal - 1950	Kathleen Ferrier	1:50	
2. Blow the Wind Southerly	Kathleen Ferrier & Phyliss Spurr		2:16	
3. The Keel Row	Kathleen Ferrier & Phyliss Spurr		1:41	
4. Come You Not from Newcastle?	Kathleen Ferrier & Frederick Stone	1:32	
5. Ye Banks and Braes	Kathleen Ferrier & Phyliss Spurr		3:08	
6. I Know Where I'm Going	Kathleen Ferrier & Phyliss Spurr		2:20	
7. Drink to Me Only	Kathleen Ferrier & Phyliss Spurr		3:00	
8. Ma Bonny Lad	Kathleen Ferrier & Phyliss Spurr		1:46	
9. Ca' the Yowes	Kathleen Ferrier & John Newmark	3:21
10. Der Musensohn	Kathleen Ferrier & Phyliss Spurr		2:13	
11. An die Musik	Kathleen Ferrier & Phyliss Spurr		3:03	
12. Have Mercy, Lord ('Erbame dich') (from St. Matthew Passion)	Kathleen Ferrier, National Symphony Orchestra & Malcolm Sargent	8:03
13. O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings (from Messiah)	Kathleen Ferrier, Londor Philharmonic & Adrian Boult	5:33
14. Ombra mai fu (from Xerxes)	Kathleen Ferrier, London Symphony Orchestra & Malcolm Sargent	4:38	
15. Art Thou Troubled? (from Rodelinda)	Kathleen Ferrier, London Symphony Orchestra & Malcolm Sargent	4:36	
16. O Rest in the Lord (from Elijah)	Kathleen Ferrier, Boyd Neel Orchestra & Boyd Neel	3:36
17. Silent Noon	Kathleen Ferrier & Frederick Stone	4:51	
18. Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal	Kathleen Ferrier & Phyliss Spurr		2:26	
19. Kitty My Love	Kathleen Ferrier & Frederick Stone	1:16	
20. Down By the Salley Gardens	Kathleen Ferrier & Phyliss Spurr		3:05	
21. Um Mitternacht	Kathleen Ferrier, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra & Bruno Walter	6:22
22. What is Life? ('Che faro') (from Orfeo ed Euridice)	Kathleen Ferrier, London Symphony Orchestra & Malcolm Sargent	4:23

Although her career was tragically short, Kathleen Ferrier was among the most famous English singers of the twentieth century. Her contralto voice -- a rarity in itself -- was characterized by a firm, warm tone that found its expressive niche in the great works of oratorio and art song, as well as in her two operatic roles (only two!): Lucretia in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia and Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice.

Born in Lancashire on April 22, 1912, Ferrier studied the piano with great success as a child and intended a concert career; her concurrent vocal studies were considered more recreational in nature. In her mid-20s, however, after taking two first prizes at the 1937 Carlisle Festival -- one for piano and one for singing -- she made the decision to pursue singing as her vocation. She studied with J.E. Hutchinson in Newcastle upon Tyne, then with Roy Henderson in London.

During the years of WWII Ferrier toured widely in England, gaining a reputation as an especially fine concert artist. She joined the Bach Choir in London, and was alto soloist for a 1943 performance of Handel's Messiah at Westminster Abbey. Benjamin Britten first put her on the operatic stage at Glyndebourne on July 12, 1946, in the premiere of his chamber opera The Rape of Lucretia. She then toured with the work throughout England and appeared on an historic recording of major extracts from the work conducted by the composer. Britten would later compose the alto part in his Canticle No. 2 for her.

She appeared in the United States for the first time in Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the New York Philharmonic and Bruno Walter; her subsequent recording of the work -- also under Walter's direction -- remains a classic. Walter also appeared as her accompanist in lieder recitals in Edinburgh and London. Another of Ferrier's notable successes was the part of the Angel in Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius.

In February 1953, Covent Garden staged Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice specifically for Ferrier, who was deemed ideal for the part of Orpheus. However, she was able to appear in only two of the scheduled four performances because of weakness caused by her already advanced cancer. These were her last appearances; she died in London on October 8, 1953. Before she died she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. ---Rovi

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