Customer Reviews

Mahler: Kindertotenlieder / Gluck / Greene / Handel / Mendelssohn / Purcell (Great Recordings of the Century)

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Voice fans, rejoice -- EMI has finally remastered these recordings and released them as one CD at budget price!
While Mahler's "Kindertotenlieder" would be the chief reason for purchasing this CD right away, it also contains several morsels, equally fascinating. Purcell and Mendelsohn's duets, Handel's arias, Greene's spirituals, and 3 live arias from Gluck's "Orfeo ed Euridice". In general, particularly Mahler, the sound is nothing short of phenomenal. BUT why could not these engineers do the same for "Orfeo" selections? There's a lot of noise on these. On all the selection Ferrier's exceptionally dark mezzo (or contralto with a huge upper register) shines brilliantly. Of course, Mahler's songs bemoaning the death of children are not an easy listen by any means. But the melodies are amazingly harmonious and Bruno Walter's superb orchestra provides ideal background for them, with Ferrier's voice blending gorgeously with strings. Only Mussorgsky could take a subject such as this and make it so breathtakingly captivating. It's actually frightening in by itself. Gerald Moore (well-known for his collaboration with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau) accompanies expertly on Purcell and Mendelsohn's selections.
It would be a treat to hear Ferrier in more alto repertoire; I am just not sure how many were commercially available at the time. Right now, Vivica Genaux is the leading artist in this area, but it would be fascinating to compare these two.
For the sheer vocal marvel experience, do not delay in getting this CD.

Nothing will change my opinion that Mahler should be approached with caution. Like Wagner, the scale and power of his work means that it is simply not for everyone, but inspite of that, this recording is an indespensible part of any serious music lover's collection. Music like this simply is not made any more, but rather this is a glimpse into a past where artists and not accountants ran the music industry.

Mahler's wife Alma bitterly opposed his setting of Ruckert's Kindertotenlieder to music and considering the death of their daughter soon after, it's doubtful if she ever forgave him for it. But the finished work has an indescribable beauty that Kathleen Ferrier and Mahler's protégé Bruno Walter give full expression to in away that no other interpreter's have even approached. More than 50 years on this is both a lasting tribute to the artists involved and an indictment of the decline in standards since.

I bought the CD for the Kindertotenlieder and that's what I am going to write about (though the rest of the program is equally impressive). Ferrier's Mahler interpretations are always in the 5+ star area. When Walter is accompanying her the results are even better (unlike the case of Klemperer). The first song - Nun Will Die Sonn'... the darkness of the music is so prominent, it's breathtaking. All the rest Kindertotenlieder come in the same fashion. If interested in a release with better sound but not these Olympian contritutors, Janet Baker and Christa Ludwig have made some very good discs

I said it before, in my review of the Ferrier/Walter performance of Das Lied von der Erde, recently rereleased by Decca; Ferrier is the authoritative interpreter of Mahler songs--and I have never heard anything to equal this performance of Kindertotenlieder.

This review duplicates the one written for Ferrier's Decca recording of Kindertotenlieder with the Concertgebouw in concert:

Kathleen Ferrier left so few commercial recordings that despite its scratchy, AM-radio sound, Decca was fully justified in releasing this inspired Kindertotenlieder from the Holland Festival. Sonically it can't compare with her studio recording, now refurbished on EMI, with the Vienna Phil. under her mentor Bruno Walter. But there are significant differences that can only be appreciated by hearing both versions.

The two orchestras are placed backward in both recordings, with considerable loss of inner detail. The focus is on Ferrier, who sounds darker and more sombr under Walter. Her voice is brighter and her mood less tragic for Klemperer. Contray to his reputation for slowness, Klemperer is also considerably faster in the second and fourth songs. It's no surprise, then, that Ferrier/Walter are more inward and searching.

Another reviewer here complains about the surface iss and scratches that weren't removed in Decca's remastering, but given that this was an early venture into historical recordings for them, the fact that they didn't rob Ferrier's voice of high frequencies is one advantage over the EMI engineering, where both orchestra and singer sound a bit muffled.

In the end, we are fortunate to possess both recordings, and one can hope that another label will redo the sound now that remastering technology has improved by leaps and bounds.

Wonderful, a lovely piece of music, a must have in any music collection, classic or otherwise. Vey good value for money.

I just downloaded the mp3 version of he is album. It is defective, with pops, clicks and 1-second gaps. These defects are not an artifact of downloading -- these are cheap recordings reproducing the defects of old 78-rmp platters. The performances are wonderful, but just unlistenable.

Este disco realiza un repaso bastante acertado a la carrera de la mitica contralto Kathleen Ferrier, una de esas voces que hicieron historia y que pasaron a la historia, y con razon.
Junto a unos duetos de Purcell y Mendelshon, y otras canciones, asi como unas arias de Haendel, en las que Ferrier ya va mostrando su gran talento, lo mejor de este disco esta indudablemente en la seleccion del 'Orfeo ed Euridice' de Gluck, tomada de unas funciones en directo a principios de los 50. La Ferrier sienta catedra en la interpretacion del personaje: lo lleva dentro, y lo canta de una forma admirable. Sin duda esta es una de las mejores encarnaciones de 'Orfeo' jamas escuchadas.
El otro pilar del disco son los 'Kindertotenlieder' de Mahler, otra de las maximas especialidades de Ferrier, de los que realiza una version antologica, por voz, diccion y expresion, magistralmente dirigida por Bruno Walter. Un lujazo, vamos.
El disco se consigue actualmente a precio medio, y las remasterizaciones son de calidades variadas (puesto que las grabaciones son de años diferentes) pero el nivel general de las mismas es bastante bueno.
Indudablemente este es un disco que hay que poseer, ya que quizas se trate de uno de los mejores documentos existentes para apreciar el tremendo talento de la gran Kathleen Ferrier.