“an important addition to Ferrier’s discography…one of the most beautiful…ever committed to disc.”
“[This] is an important addition to Ferrier’s discography, and she is indeed marvellous in it, singing ‘Esurientes implevit bonis’ with that unique, indescribable tone and expressive sincerity that characterises her finest work. She also, one notices, exercises a steadying effect on some of her colleagues. … This is grand-manner Bach…Playing and choral singing are both enthusiastic… Irmgard Seefried, singing second soprano, is, as one might expect, glorious. … Its companion pieces are the English-language recordings of Cantatas Nos 11 (the Ascension Oratorio) and 67 that Ferrier made with Reginald Jacques… and both handsomely remastered… It’s easy to forget how pioneering they were in their day: they were among the first recordings of any of the choral cantatas to be made; and Jacques’s insistence on smallish forces and absolute clarity of texture and polyphony was deemed both novel and controversial at the time. Seventy years on the sharply focused playing and choral singing still impress… [Ferrier] comes into her own, though, in No 11, where she’s truly magnificent: her central aria, imploring the risen Christ to ‘tarry yet’ on earth, remains one of the most beautiful things she ever committed to disc.”
—Tim Ashley, Gramophone Magazine
See the full review in Gramophone Magazine’s July 2019 issue.
You must be logged in to post a comment.