The already immortal English contralto Kathleen Ferrier (1912-1953) has just been further immortalized in a postage stamp from the British Royal Mail in its “Britons of Distinction” series. Other Britons in the series include Frederick Delius, Thomas Newcomen and Joan Mary Fry. The image used, this gorgeous shot of Ferrier as Orfeo in Gluck’s 1762 opera Orfeo ed Euridice, was taken by famed English theatrical photographer Angus McBean (1904-1990). The Harvard Theatre Collection is the home of McBean’s sizeable archive of over 30,000 glass plate negatives and their accompanying contact proofs.
Ferrier’s voice was unforgettable: warm, ample and expressive. One of her most ardent admirers was the conductor and pianist Bruno Walter, who accompanied her on many occasions. As Walter described her voice: “No summit of solemnity was inaccessible to her, and it was particularly music of spiritual meaning that seemed her most personal domain.” Walter described his relationship with Ferrier thus: “The greatest thing in music in my life has been to have known Kathleen Ferrier and Gustav Mahler—in that order”. When Ferrier sang Mahler, conducted by Walter – which happened often during her all-too-brief career – well, just think of the heights to which those lucky audience members were transported.
Ferrier died of cancer at the height of her fame, at age forty-one. She kept the cancer a secret from her adoring fans. In February 1953 she had to be helped off the stage by cast mates at the second of four scheduled performances of Orfeo; that was her last appearance on any stage. She died eight months later. The English journalist Rupert Christiansen, writing in 2003, maintained that “no singer in this country has ever been more deeply loved, as much for the person she was as for the voice she uttered.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOnMZm16dKk
Recordings capture her immortality, as does this McBean photograph. McBean was beloved by performers, for his portraits always brought out their most beautiful and magnetic qualities. As he described his ideal theatre, there must be “…beautiful people, monstrous Calibans; magic, imagination, illusion, fairies, oceans of blood and wine, and always happy endings…” He was able to create exactly this kind of world, a marvelous un-reality, through the magic of his lens. It makes one long to have been there.
Ferrier’s skin looks beautiful through McBean’s large camera and the large glass plate negatives he used – negatives that could capture rich contrasts, dark tones, and nearly thirty times the detail of a standard 35mm negative. He also carefully retouched all his negatives with a sharp pencil, spending countless hours in his studio.
The American singer Marian Anderson – herself an unforgettable contralto – said of Ferrier “What a voice – and what a face!” Indeed. Thanks to Angus McBean’s loving photographic lens this face is still with us – and is now traveling throughout England on pieces of first-class mail!
[Thanks to Luke Dennis, Curator of the Harvard Theatre Collection, for contributing this post.]