Kathleen Ferrier (1912-1953) was an English contralto, one of the most beloved British singers of the twentieth century. Her career was tragically brief, but her recorded legacy remains central.

In the Pristine catalogue she appears in Mahler with Otto Klemperer and Bruno Walter, including the Resurrection Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde.

Ferrier’s singing combined dark warmth, dignity and an almost unbearable directness of feeling. Her Mahler has become part of the music’s afterlife.

Her page is essential. Ferrier’s voice seems lit from within by grief, courage and low English sunlight.