"The extraordinary radiance of the voice. I still remember that. The extraordinary, enveloping, overwhelming beauty of Ferrier's voice."
When
Kathleen Ferrier died at 41 in October 1953, she was as famous as the newly crowned Queen.
A working class girl from Blackpool who had to quit school at 14 to work as a telephone operator, a young woman who lacked formal musical training and whose husband bet that she would never win a music contest, Ferrier -- under the guidance of the great conductor
Bruno Walter -- went on to become an international superstar. An "
ordinary diva" who humbly
worshipped "
Herr Doktor Bruno Walter", gave very few newspaper interviews, never appeared on television or in cinema newsreels. Her speaking voice can be heard only briefly and only twice, on a tape made at a post-concert New York party, and in a short speech she made for the BBC at an Edinburgh Festival. Her extraordinary career lasted only less than 12 years.
Half a century later, although her legacy lives on through her music,
Ferrier herself -- "Klever Kaff" -- remains elusive. More inside.
posted by matteo
on Dec 3, 2005 -
11 comments
