Kathleen Ferrier
1912-1953
Centenary Year 2012
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News from Kathleen Ferrier Society
 The Centenary Celebrations commence on Monday 16th January 2012 in Scarborough
PRECISELY 60 years after Kathleen Ferrier performed in Scarborough, the concert is to be recreated at the same venue. It will be the first of many events around the country commemorating the centenary of the English contralto's birth. Ferrier, widely regarded as one of the finest singers Britain has produced, died the year after her Scarborough show. Her death from cancer, at the height of her fame, was a shock to the musical world and particularly to the public, who were kept in ignorance of the nature of her illness until after her death. The 60th anniversary concert is the brainchild of Maureen Eastwood, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately for Maureen, the diagnosis came early and swift action saved her life. A week after reporting “only the vaguest of symptoms” to her doctor, she was told she had breast cancer and needed surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy.
The 1952 concert programme will be recreated by mezzo-soprano Anna Stephany, winner of the Kathleen Ferrier award, accompanied by pianist Simon Lepper, who has won prizes named after Ferrier and Gerald Moore, who accompanied her at Queen Street. Simon Lepper and Anna Stephany will be interviewed about the concert on Radio 3's In Tune on January 13. The proceeds will go to Macmillan Cancer Support, St Catherine’s Hospice and the Kathleen Ferrier Cancer Research Fund, which is part of the University College London Hospitals Charity. The concert is due to start at 7.30pm.
Tickets cost £20 (concessions £15) and can be bought at the tourist information centre in the Brunswick Pavilion and online at www.kathleenferrieratscarborough.com.
Kathleen Ferrier CD Commemorative issues for 2012
Decca: Kathleen Ferrier edition
Decca’s entire Ferrier catalogue on 14 CDs plus the DVD.
Including Britten’s Spring Symphony, , Liebeslieder Walzer (Brahms) and Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Second Symphony (Klemperer) and Das Lied von der Erde (Walter, Vienna 1952) and the two Bach cantatas.
Decca boxed set & DVD
Decca: 478 3589 Release date February 2012
Naxos: Great Singers - Ferrier
Bach - St Matthew Passion and *Cantata no 67
With Kathleen Ferrier, Elsie Suddaby, Eric Greene, *William Parsons, Henry Cummings and *William Herbert.
Dr Reginald Jacques conducting the Jacques Orchestra with the Bach Choir and *Cantata Singers.
Naxos triple CD set: 8.111373/4/5 Release date February 2012
 Kathleen Ferrier - The Complete EMI Recordings
Issued to mark the centenary of Kathleen Ferrier's birth, this 3CD set brings together for the first time all the EMI recordings by this great contralto, including two previously unissued tracks.
Release date: 16 April 2012 UK Catalogue No.: 956 2842
Naxos: Kathleen Ferrier – Arias and Songs (1946-1950)
Songs and arias by Purcell, Bach, Handel, Gluck, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Wolf and Jensen accompanied by conductors and pianists including Sir Malcolm Sargent, Boyd Neel, Phyllis Spurr and John Newmark.
Naxos single CD: 8.112071 Release date September 2012
 2012 Message from Rhydian
"I still value winning the Kathleen Ferrier Bursary as one of my most special achievements to date. It was from that moment I gained a sense of confidence that being a professional singer was not out of the question. I can vividly remember the competition day with my amazing teacher Christine Cairns by my side and the supportive comments from the judges. Also the wonderful event at the Wigmore Hall when I received my beautiful silver salva and in my excitement giving one particular judge a big hug!
It has been so good to see several members of the Society at different concerts I have been in since, your ongoing support is greatly appreciated.
I wish the Society every success in its celebratory year and may you go from strength to strength in encouraging many generations of singers to be the very best"
Rhydian RobertsLetters and Diaries of Kathleen FerrierRevised and Enlarged Edition
Edited by CHRISTOPHER FIFIELD
Kathleen Ferrier, England's greatest lyric contralto, has been a glorious voice, but through the pages of these fascinating letters and diaries we get to the real person. Published to mark the centenary of her birth in 1912, this thoroughly updated, revised and enlarged paperback edition – including almost 80 additional letters as well as a complete new chapter on Ferrier's relationship with the BBC – provides a vivid picture of Kathleen Ferrier’s life.
DR CHRISTOPHER FIFIELD is a conductor, music historian, lecturer and broadcaster.
£14.99, October 2011, 978 1 84383 091 7, 17 b/w illus.; 514pp, 23.4 x 15.6, PB, Boydell Press
Signed copies available from Chris Fifield £18 incl. P & P
Website page of this book: www.boydellandbrewer.com/store/viewitem.asp?idproduct=13784
Do you have any Ferrier programmes or memorabilia?
The Society is currently compiling a performance chronology of Kathleen Ferrier in written form with the addition of photographs, letters and articles from the Society's own archive; this we hope to complete by 2012, the Centenary of Kathleen's birth, when it will be on sale to members.
Through one of our members, Anthony Shuttleworth, a web-based database is also being established.
If anyone has any programmes from Kathleen's performances, reviews, newspaper articles or photographs of Kathleen, the Society would love to hear from you. (We would only require copies/scans.)
If you can help us in any way with Kathleen's performance history please contact us.
Kathleen Ferrier North of the BorderKFS Member Elizabeth Dunlop gave a wonderful talk ‘Kathleen Ferrier North of the Border’ at our Society weekend in October 2010. A copy of her talk can be obtained from the Society for a donation of £5 plus p & p.
MAHLER: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor (The Resurrection): Ferrier/Vincent/Klemperer/Concertgebouw Orchestra. 12th July 1951.
A broadcast from the Holland Festival.
Reference: New Campion KF 173.
The late Andre Achtien, one of the founding members of the Kathleen Ferrier Society, gave the tape from which recording is derived to the Society some years ago. To ensure its greater accessibility the Kathleen Ferrier Society has donated it to Music Preserved.
This recording is available as a download from Music Preserved mplive@musicpreserved.org.uk
NewsletterThe Society always welcomes people’s memories of Kathleen, and articles about any activities connected with Kathleen Ferrier for our members Newsletter.
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