Letters and Diaries of Kathleen Ferrier
Revised and Enlarged Edition
- Description
- Contents
- Reviews
A revised and enlarged paperback edition to mark the centenary of the much-loved singer's birth.
In 1953, at the age of 41, Kathleen Ferrier, England's greatest lyric contralto, lost her courageous battle with breast cancer. Her huge appeal to a wide audience - in concerts, on records, on the radio and in the opera house - has ensured her name endures to this day, despite a career which lasted barely ten years. In just half that time, this former telephone exchange operator was singing on stage at Covent Garden, before royalty at private parties, andat New York's Carnegie Hall.
This collection of letters and twelve years of her personal diaries was first published by Boydell Press in 2003. Here, an enlarged paperback edition contains a new chapter revealing her growingimportance to the BBC, an additional 90 letters, together with much revised material and a selection of moving tributes.
Published to mark the centenary of her birth in 1912, the book, of more than 400 letters, provides a vivid picture of a life which illuminated the war and post-war years of austerity and hardship.
Kathleen Ferrier was surely fun to know. Her personality was a mix of extreme modesty and self-determined ambition, topped with a mischievously blunt sense of earthy Lancastrian humour. She is known for her glorious voice, but through the pages of these fascinating letters and diaries we get to meet the real person.
DR CHRISTOPHER FIFIELD is a conductor, music historian, lecturer and broadcaster. He is the biographer of Max Bruch [Boydell Press 2005] and conductor Hans Richter, and the author of a history of the music agents Ibbs & Tillett.
In 1953, at the age of 41, Kathleen Ferrier, England's greatest lyric contralto, lost her courageous battle with breast cancer. Her huge appeal to a wide audience - in concerts, on records, on the radio and in the opera house - has ensured her name endures to this day, despite a career which lasted barely ten years. In just half that time, this former telephone exchange operator was singing on stage at Covent Garden, before royalty at private parties, andat New York's Carnegie Hall.
This collection of letters and twelve years of her personal diaries was first published by Boydell Press in 2003. Here, an enlarged paperback edition contains a new chapter revealing her growingimportance to the BBC, an additional 90 letters, together with much revised material and a selection of moving tributes.
Published to mark the centenary of her birth in 1912, the book, of more than 400 letters, provides a vivid picture of a life which illuminated the war and post-war years of austerity and hardship.
Kathleen Ferrier was surely fun to know. Her personality was a mix of extreme modesty and self-determined ambition, topped with a mischievously blunt sense of earthy Lancastrian humour. She is known for her glorious voice, but through the pages of these fascinating letters and diaries we get to meet the real person.
DR CHRISTOPHER FIFIELD is a conductor, music historian, lecturer and broadcaster. He is the biographer of Max Bruch [Boydell Press 2005] and conductor Hans Richter, and the author of a history of the music agents Ibbs & Tillett.
Introduction
Letters 1940-1947
Letters 1948
Letters 1949
Letters 1950
Letters 1951
Letters 1952
Letters 1953
Kathleen Ferrier and the BBC: Letters 1941-1953
The Diaries: Introduction
Diary for 1942
Diary for 1943
Diary for 1944
Diary for 1945
Diary for 1946
Diary for 1947
Diary for 1948
Diary for 1949
Diary for 1950
Diary for 1951
Diary for 1952
Letters 1940-1947
Letters 1948
Letters 1949
Letters 1950
Letters 1951
Letters 1952
Letters 1953
Kathleen Ferrier and the BBC: Letters 1941-1953
The Diaries: Introduction
Diary for 1942
Diary for 1943
Diary for 1944
Diary for 1945
Diary for 1946
Diary for 1947
Diary for 1948
Diary for 1949
Diary for 1950
Diary for 1951
Diary for 1952
"It is this treasury of information that makes this book such a valuable piece of scholarship. [...] a remarkable portrait of the life and times, the moods and concerns, the fun and the pain of Kathleen Ferrier. [...] Christopher Fifield [...] has written what may be regarded as an ideal model of this kind of book. [...] I strongly recommend this book." John France, MUSIC.WEB.INTERNATIONAL
"[The] letters and diaries [...] are wonderfully colourful; they are funny and down-to-earth, informative and detailed. Her courage, to the very end, never faltered." THE LANCASHIRE MAGAZINE
"Christopher Fifield edits the domestic and professional material with informed sensitivity, discretely offering clarifications or context when necessary. There will be few better - or truer - tributes to this still much-missed singer." CLASSICAL MUSIC [Editor's Choice]
"Fifty years on, a voice that still touches the heart." GRAMOPHONE
"A vivid self-portrait of a brave, secure woman in love with life and music, whose joie de vivre was palpable and supported both by a notable lack of inflated egoism and a singular sense of humour which rarely faltered, even toward the end. Anyone interested in Kathleen Ferrier's life and art, and the milieu of the Second World War years and their aftermath by which they were embraced, will find this welcome book required reading. It is above all, and despite the final descent, a celebration of living." JOHN TALBOT, BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
"On closing [this book] with a terrible sadness, I'm a fan too... The secret is her voice - the plain-speaking tone of a Lancashire lass who was also an aesthete, a joker and an exemplary friend. These letters...chronicle everything, from whom she knocked around with - Britten, Pears, Barbirolli, Danny Kaye, Rex Harrison - to what she sang and what she greedily ate." Michael Church, FINANCIAL TIMES
"Delightful letters and diaries." Rupert Christiansen, DAILY TELEGRAPH
"Editing and presentation are as fine as anyone could wish and Fifield's introductions to each chapter could not be better written." Best Buy5 Stars, CLASSIC FM
Paperback
9781843830917
October 2011
$29.95 / £19.99
Hardcover
9781843830122
August 2003
$49.95 / £35.00
Ebook (EPDF)
9781846151033
August 2003
$24.95 / £19.99
Ebook (EPUB)
9781782041450
August 2003
$24.95 / £19.99
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