Gramophone Magazine
February 2020
Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month

John Newmark (piano), Kathleen Ferrier (contralto), Set Svanholm (tenor)

New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Bruno Walter

Bruno Walter interviewed by Arnold Michaelis, Pt. 1
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
Bruno Walter interviewed by Arnold Michaelis, Pt. 2
Bach, J S: Vergiss mein nicht, BWV 505 (Arr. for Voice & Piano)
Bach, J S: Ach, dass nicht die letzte Stunde, BWV 439 (Arr. for Voice & Piano)
Bach, J S: Bist du bei mir, BWV 508 (Arr. for Voice & Piano)

SOMM RECORDINGS announces the release of Kathleen Ferrier in New York, historic performances of Mahler and Bach by the much-loved contralto during her triumphant visits to the United States in 1948 and 1950. Recorded live on Ferriers only appearances in Carnegie Hall in January 1948, four months after her acclaimed performance at the inaugural Edinburgh International Festival, Mahlers Das Lied von der Erde reunited her with the conductor Bruno Walter and saw her making first appearances with tenor Set Svanholm and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Re-mastered by Norman White and Adrian Tuddenham, this remarkable account pre-dates Ferriers often-reissued 1952 recording by four years and finds her in exhilarating fresh voice a vivid, vital display of a great artist at her peak.

"A treasure, to be sure… this performance for me gives a far clearer sense of why Walter felt he had found the ideal singer for the piece than his later Vienna recording… Walter for his part owns the pacing and phrasing of the work – as well he might – and marries space and timelessness to an impassioned urgency." - Gramophone Magazine, February 2020.