Kathleen Ferrier sings Bach: Erbarme dich (St Matthew Passion)

Kathleen Ferrier sings the aria "Erbarme dich, mein Gott" ("Have Mercy, my God") from J.S. Bach's St Matthew Passion, recorded live in Vienna on 9 June 1950 (with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan).

[@johannesdenee6007]

Kathleen Ferrier, the lady we grew up with in Holland during and after WW2. Her voice, on the radio, kept us alive. And then she died! I have never been able to get over her not being there in person with her wonderfull voice that made her so special.

[@frederiquecouture3924]

😊.

[@klee06able]

❤

[@babsclark8572]

UNforgettable the incomparable Kathleen Ferrier and the great J.S. Bach. We are so blessed.

[@margomoore4527]

Recorded 7 days before I was born. If my mother had listened to it, I would have responded with joy and empathy in the womb.

[@marie-claudebecker291]

Une grande ame.. Musique et spiritualite. Bach

[@Tenortalker]

What strikes me about this live recording is how full and wonderful Kathleen Ferrier's voice sounded even though she was already very ill and undergoing treatment that was exhausting. She sings Bach with a depth of humanity and spirituality combined. It is no wonder that Pablo Casals had invited her to sing at his festival in Prades, if only her health had permitted it. Kirsten Flagstad and Jussi Bjorling are two singers whose voices , along with Ferrier, stand out as totally natural , outstanding instruments. They worked to have great technical facility , but those voices were a gift that when joined to musicality and personality made them outstanding. They still speak to us today through their recordings and we feel that we know them.

[@keithhulks7049]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Karajan had tears running down his face by the end of this aria.

[@heurtemattefrancois4160]

Yes, Schwarzkopf mentions it in a tribute to Ferrier, but it was about the Agnus Dei of the Mass in B.

[@jonem21yt]

A choir of angels in one voice!

[@spmoran4703]

Kathleen Ferrier . My hero and my inspiration as a Contralto singer. And she is singing J S Bach. Perfection.

[@user-iq2hz1jc4t]

Disculpe mi ignorancía! Soy de educacíon basica! No se de que habla en está musica pero me hace sentir algo😢😢😢

[@jaybee7078]

My dad was a big fan ( I think he vaguely knew her before dhe found fame...) He must have passed his enthusiasm on to me. So beautiful.....

[@HomoMathematicus.]

Tears. Tears..

[@rossmcleod7983]

It doesn’t get any better than this.

[@woodrushwoodrush7076]

To grace the greatest piece of music ever composed, comes a voice of molten gold to break our hearts.

[@brentmarshall928]

The best Contralto ever and the technology of the time was limited, but it still showed how damn good she was. Lucky to hear her .

[@JRobbySh]

Even the best technology cannot put you into that oral space. The voice is unearthly.

[@DieFlabbergast]

Maybe, but there was also Marian Anderson, of whom Toscanini said she had "a voice heard once in a hundred years."

[@saltburner2]

@@DieFlabbergast I lived quite near her in Philadelphia in 1967/8, but never got to meet her. She was one of my mother's favourites - in the days before Ferrier arrived on the scene.

[@frederiquecouture3924]

...

[@mariabagnoli868]

Kathleen was made for this piece and this piece was made for her. Contralto like no other . My mum loved her

[@janettucker3196]

There is something unearthly about her voice. Her sound is unique. How wonderfully it expresses the religious intensity of Bach.

[@melindamello6089]

I know! I am not a religious person, but anytime I hear people dismiss it as nothing more than power and politics, I want to show them this song. The core of religion is transcendent

[@cgclx5013]

Very human and earthly voice, I know, it is so beautiful in this case, its a sublime experience to listen to it and feel that " divine" something...

[@garthly]

She sounds to me very English, I don’t know why.

[@clarencepalmer3826]

Heavenly!

[@user-iq2hz1jc4t]

Por Díos😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢 disculpen😢 no se que dice pero me hace sentir 😢

[@mariaasombrada3964]

I would give years of my own life so that she could have been on this Earth for longer and sing for us all.

[@resurgences5527]

Magnifique cadeau..

[@eileenhill7602]

l first fell in love with kathleens voice at the age of 9 and have loved it ever since my mother had her Lp in 1950 and it made a lasting impression on me .such a tragic loss to the world that she died so young .

[@frogmouth]

I was given her biography as Sunday School prize about 1960 so also 9 and I heard her voice on radio. Totally captivated by both.

[@RudolfKooijman]

I am 60 years old. I heard her for the first time at the age of appr. 20 years in the movie Que la bete meure. Since then I listen to her. Her voice is the most beautiful voice I know.

[@emlynjessen2957]

A perfect expression during this time of pandemic.

[@Fritz_Maisenbacher]

Pandemic is over, but not Ferrier.

[@johnfisher2269]

Kathleen Ferrier lived for a while (around 1940) in Silloth, a small seaside town in Cumbria (was Cumberland). Her home, old District Bank building is now a very nice cafe, its walls adorned with her photos and letters. All that is missing is the amazing sound of her voice - so unique and haunting - without equal.

[@Equinox1.5]

Does the café ever play her records?

[@bill1949d]

Has there been any greater singer since 1945???

[@bill1949d]

If you love opera, you might say Maria Callas, otherwise Kathleen Ferrier stands alone in my heart.

[@heatherwalton8900]

Heavens, silloth and the gondola swings childhood memories, didn’t know of the cafe , something in me is needing the beauty of her voice at this awful time

[@user-ig8qd4tt7b]

@@bill1949d My compatriot maria Callas is comparable to Renata Tempaldi, and may even lose on the small details. Ferrier was one of a kind- gretest contralto voice with a huge margin.

[@vladimirorivas7020]

What an intensely beautiful music is this! Kathleen Ferrier, sublime, with her supreme contralto voice.

[@juliamiranda5318]

Lucky to hear J. S. Bach, Divine Bach!. Amazing interpretation!

[@nikname1672]

Поистине, это шедевр! Какая бесподобная ровность звука, какая гармония, голос будто бы рождается из самих струнных, продолжая и усиливая их плачь, боль и страдания. Только чистейшая душа так может чувствовать и выразить такое.

[@yvettestaelens]

Sublime - listening to this has been my Easter ritual for many years on vinyl, so wonderful to access a live recording here. I don't think any other piece of music has ever made me cry so much, every time! I wish I had been alive to hear Kathleen Ferrier sing.

[@rafikbaladi6555]

Her voice is divine and charged with contrition

[@kennethlockridge8389]

When we are gone , all of us it now seems, and there is no one to remember, her singing of this Bach song will echo unwitnessed across this empty earth.

[@melindamello6089]

I don't know what it is but this song somehow perfectly captures the tragic aspect of humanity and our consciousness perfectly.

[@Nogah100]

Her singing will be here as long as humanity stays on planet Earth. Indeed, I believe people will carry her recorded singing into the farthest future, on other planets.

[@stevetaylor9807]

What a voice.So like crystal Bravo Kathleen

[@antonioschiavi6870]

Mamma mia... che bellezza!

[@dlhuo2340]

This could be the most beautiful "Erbarme dich" (by the beloved Ferrier and the great von Karajan)!

[@amcdougall9998]

This is singing at its very very best by a sublime voice. Intonation, line and phrasing are perfect. I queue up several versions and listen to them in sequence. Just finished listening to the wonderful Natalie Stutzman, who is superb, what a musician. If I was only going to listen to one this would be it

[@ruthimakoff5646]

what a heavenly voice, she was the best!!!!!

[@iansutton9746]

This is truly magnificent.

[@user-to9co5jc4b]

БРАВО!!! БЛАГОДАРЮ!!! ❤

[@RealCurrencies]

I've been listening to Kathleen singing this song for, at least, 30 years now. Could well be 35, I don't really know when exactly this song came into my life. But once it did, it never left.

[@LaDivinaLover]

M B isn’t it though! 😊 I really wish she had not given up her career just because she got married and had a child.

[@ludmillakislakovska6030]

She dies so early (not 50) from cancer 😩😢😢

[@frogmouth]

@@LaDivinaLover who gave up her career and had a child?

[@patdaley9098]

@@frogmouth Eula Beal, I think.

[@RomanGolubev_A]

@@patdaley9098 she died of breast cancer at the hight of her career, alas

[@WimGelok]

Beautiful forever, indeed!

[@chrisraffen5980]

Have always loved her beautiful voice, from when I first heard her singing, when I was a school - girl in Yorkshire, U.K.

[@zcatfanxq]

Absolutely superb. The violin and voice entwine passionately around the very heart of this aria.

[@priscianusjr]

The violinist here is David McCallum, Sr.

[@hansjuergenkohlhaas871]

@@priscianusjr In the description above they mention a "Walter" Schneiderhan as violinist. Well if I recall the then famous WOLFGANG Schneiderhan had been the concert master with the Vienna Philharmonic, and since this had been a Live recording under Herbert von Karajan it could well be that Karajan had invited Schneiderhan over to serve as a guest CM with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra on this occasion. Just my 2 cents opinion.

[@priscianusjr]

@@hansjuergenkohlhaas871 I'm sorry - you are right. I got this recording mixed up with a different one by Ferrier sung in English as "Have Mercy Lord on Me," with Malcolm Sargent and the National Symphony. David McCallum senior is the violinist on that. Do give it a listen. I love his playing.

[@frogmouth]

Superb contralto. My favourite voice for this aria. I like a lot of the countertenor and mezzo renditions but this is something else.

[@Wavewolfaroha]

She sings my prayer, in the voice I wish were mine!

[@johnshares444]

With love from new Mexico usa

[@francoisetrillot5996]

Inégalée! Même l'orchestre reste pâle derrière cette voix!

[@user-by2ow6zq3z]

케슬린 페리어는 신이주신 목소리 이렇게 감동에 찬 음악은 다시는 없을것이다 그녀는 진정한 예술가, 우리시대의 누구도 넘볼수없는 우뜩선 성악예술이다

[@guilhermetc2631]

I can't decide who sings this perfect piece better, Kathleen or Julia Hamari. So I keep listening, forever...

[@hansjuergenkohlhaas871]

Same with me, and also the heart rending violin solo of Otto Büchner as CM of the Karl-Richter-Bachorchester München who assist Julia Hamari.

[@guilhermetc2631]

@@hansjuergenkohlhaas871 I totally agree! Otto's accompaniment makes the entire performance sublime.

[@annamcguinn702]

Beautiful song and voice! I love her :)

[@christianguignard9980]

Kathleen was the most authentic singer ever heard, by far ... She always sang in perfect tune, with a unique delicacy and sensitivity . I recently bought a new Deca integral box of her vinyl records ... The first one edited ... so moving, so appealing. I knew Kathleen Ferrier when i was twenty years old, from my own researches, and instantly felt a warm feeling towards her ... 35 years later, it still thrills me more and more . Always looking at the sky if i cannot see her !

[@luzilimitada]

Luna de Miel Sabina Chavela

[@michavandam]

Do you know Marianne Anderson?

[@lawrencebrown3677]

I have been a lover of her voice tor 75 years first heard her when I was 3 years old.

[@lawrencebrown3677]

@@michavandam Another great contralto favourite of mine.

[@jrgptr935]

@@michavandam Du meinst die Washingtoner Konzertaufnahme von - ich weiß im Augenblick nicht genau - 1937 oder 1939? Die "Mutter aller" schwarzen klassischen Sängerinnen... 😢

[@galatee9930]

"Pitié Seigneur, car nous avons pêché" = "Have mercy, my God" ou "Aie pitié de nous Mon Dieu" et Kathleen Ferrier aura été une merveilleuse interprète du message "Christique" de Jean-Sébastien Bach, un des plus grands compositeurs qui ait été ; de nos jours il y a bien sûr de magnifiques artistes lyriques pour nous restituer ce message biblique et ce que nous devons à Dieu, et à la vie même puisque Dieu est la vie avant tout

[@Guiu65]

The all-time best voice!

[@cynic150]

the great advantage of You tube is that you can most easily compare different versions. Ferrier is the best ,so far, being the most expressive.

[@paulhwbooth]

No words could express...

[@janeormrod3229]

I can't imagine a more perfect performance of this piece. I wish that I had been alive to have heard Kathleen Ferrier. Beautiful recording and tribute.

[@voraciousreader3341]

Julia Hamari’s is my all time favorite, hands down (kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4Gkmntvjc2HfsU). Marian Anderson’s recording with Robert Shaw is also stellar.

[@nicolaspachecoarango]

I also like Kirsten Flagstad interpretation (she also sings the best Wagner).

[@maxcornise-qh2jk]

For me, If the Blessed Mother could sing, it would be through Kathleen’s voice.

[@jsphotos]

Erbarme dich, mein Gott, um meiner Zähren willen! Schaue hier, Herz und Auge weint vor dir bitterlich. Erbarme dich, mein Gott. Have mercy, my God, for the sake of my tears! See here, before you heart and eyes weep bitterly. Have mercy, my God.

[@willhovell9019]

A wonderful voice and wonderful human being. A blue plaque to her in Frognal Hampstead flat , her home for sometime. Another memorial to her in the basement of the new University College Hospital radiotherepy treatment center where i went for treatment last year. A true working class diva with a golden voice

[@paulivanoff571]

The Best!!!

[@HenJack-vl5cb]

Speechless!!

[@keithhulks7049]

I was too young to have heard Kathleen Ferrier dring her lifetime but I remember hearing her on what we then called the wireless. On Sundays there was a proramme called Two Way Family Favourites and very often there was a request for something by Kathleen. I had never heard such singing before but from that day I was hooked. I was in Junior School at the time and now I am approaching my 74th birthday.

[@lizapiney8262]

Your Hundred Best Tunes on Sunday evenings?

[@richardbunting1031]

I remember that show! My father was a huge fan of Ms Ferrier. My other memory of it is that The Glasgow Orpheus Choir used to feature often! This piece is sublime, and has a timeless, almost modern feel to me.

[@francisheperi1127]

Two Way.... was a BBC programme I think, we had a NZ version and so did Australia - very popular; on Saturday mornings. Those were the days.

[@spmoran4703]

@@lizapiney8262 I miss that. The stuff broadcast now at the time Hudred Best tunes was broadcast is not to my taste. Well, BBC Radio 2 has to cater to the Tredies now. I have stopped listening to it. Thank goodness for Radio 3 and Classics FM.

[@mmbmbmbmb]

Thank you !

[@alfredlawrence3182]

God Bless Kathleen,sat with the Angels as long as they can sing ,as good as You

[@barbaradelamoussaye9419]

This brings out emotions. I just cant name.

[@biolaloucosmeceuticibioeve4846]

Un angelo che ci canta il paradiso

[@frederiquecouture3924]

😉.

[@gerlindeczech8524]

​@@biolaloucosmeceuticibioeve4846 So ist es!

[@annabolena7663]

Magnifico!

[@luizamsalgado]

Wonderful aria! Divine unforgetable Kathleen Ferrier! Thanks for the upload!

[@camillaswarowski6345]

Danke 🙏💚🙏

[@gyulaugron3379]

Ez a felvétel is, bár 68 éves, még mindig élvezhető. Hang ereje és szépsége egészen különleges.

[@cluny]

I suggest the Naxos 3 CD box of St Matthew Passion, recorded in London. Buffed up. Recorded over a couple years and now complete. $15 well spent. In English, I think Elgar was on the team of translators.

[@_PROCLUS]

💝💝💝Thank you very much for the beautiful upload

[@MalisandreFeline]

La profondeur dramatique de sa voix est celle qui represente le mieux la force mystérieuse de l'oeuvre de Bach!

[@noya9852]

🥶

[@frederiquecouture3924]

VIVE LA GAULE!

[@davegraham3486]

Yes, this and Eula Beale with Menuhin are the Gold Standard on this one

[@dlefil1364]

The must heartbreaking interpretation for this piece.

[@TheAnneclark]

Sublime

[@tyxikosgatopoulos3094]

Its as if Bach composed this.just for this etherial woman

[@resurgences5527]

C'est au delà de la musique. L'incarnation.

[@janhalldin]

Warm thanks and greetings from Sweden!

[@frederiquecouture3924]

2023...

[@gatsby1962]

Erbarme dich, mein Gott, um meiner Zahren willen! Schaue hier, Herz und Auge weint vor dir bitterlich. Erbarme dich, mein Gott.

[@spmoran4703]

Hail! To the Godess of music.

[@davidwatson3035]

Simply sublime. Perfect composition. Perfect singing.

[@teresib]

Belleza suprema

[@rowejon]

There are singers who CAN sing and subsequentialy refine their art. There are others, with less talent, who study to elevate their lesser talent. Kathleen Ferrier was amongst the former.

[@user-tq2tb6vs5x]

Hermoso!🙏🙏🙏

[@francoispallud1215]

oui c'est sublime de beauté de sensibilité quelle émotion

[@user-yp6ks3qh9x]

Согласна с предыдущим комментарием!!!!! Редкий голос!!!!!

[@leonidgorokhovsky4281]

No Words

[@bifeldman]

On the day I listen to this heart stopping gem I note 43 souls out of 170+k disliked this. What can be the criticism?

[@livetwice7702]

Sorry 21 thumbs down ......are you deaf .......the voice of an angel

[@jandamskier6510]

just ignore them

[@mdarcy886]

Nous atteignons le sublime, unique.

[@michavandam]

That footage of her at the end! I always thought there were no film images of her, but here it is, even an extremely beautiful fragment in colour! Is there more?

[@frogmouth]

Yes. There is footage of her clowning around on the piano. She loved to laugh.

[@michavandam]

@@frogmouth I have that on CD. But I've never found it on KZbin, did you?

[@franckieparis16]

une voix unique et jamais égalée

[@voraciousreader3341]

Of course, that’s your opinion. Farrier’s voice is absolutely lovely, but there have been many voices which-in my opinion-are equal in beauty and expression, including Julia Hamari, Marian Anderson, and Tatiana Troyanos, who are my personal favorites!

[@t.m.9376]

​@@voraciousreader3341 und Aafje Heynis

[@ryhemchaabeni8180]

Erbarme dich, mein Gott Um meine zähren willen.

[@mickb-h8955]

A wonderful gift from Jesus, I pray that she had faith Jesus and she is in The Kingdom of Heaven.

[@jamesneilsongrahamloveinth1301]

Conductor, orchestra and soloist give the music space to breathe. We can appreciate the fullness of Bach's humanity in such a performance. There have since been more 'authentic' renditions - in terms of instrumentation, style, tempo etc. - but the essence is missing. Karajan and Ferrier capture the essence . . .

[@joangarcia-alsina2932]

All without effort, only the true way of getting the inside of the marvellous song.

[@josepmontella9255]

I cannot agree more!

[@catherineschickel2036]

QUEL'TRANSPORT VERS L''AGNEAU'DU DIEU' 'SEIGNEUR, QUELLE AME' Chante ds sa Fibre le Messie. KATHLEEN NOUS'donne'la une interprétation unique 'et vibrante que l' on'avec Émotion.

[@user-mf7ns7qs7b]

Необычайное контральто . Мягкое . Сколько талантов о которых мало знаешь.

[@frejat.boleyn2563]

Angelic

[@johnwatson8323]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@rickos1915]

This and Eula Beale's version are pretty much definitive.

[@chrispiesse1004]

♥️♥️♥️

[@Jean-BernardBrisset]

J. S. Bach aurait du être canonisé car il a contribué à élever nos ames d'avantage que bien des saints sermons ou traités de théologie.

[@frederiquecouture3924]

Aurevoir ✌️.

[@alesash49]

Есть очень хорошие певцы а есть гениальные. Эта певица относится ко второй категории

[@BalbirSingh-gr2qk]

❤️❤️🙏❤️❤️

[@markpeterson3220]

1950 Vienna - a plea for mercy is poignant.

[@alinguistsstudy]

Walter Schneiderhan violin

[@user-by2ow6zq3z]

케슬린 페리어는 아무도 범접할수 없는 위대한 음악가! 아무도 그녀의 예술에 도전자가 없다~ 다만 너무일찍 하나님의 부르심이 우리에게는 아쉽기만 하구나.

[@voraciousreader3341]

Julia Hamari is still my favorite singer of this aria, of anyone I’ve ever heard, and as a mezzo, I’ve heard many. I also love the live filmed recording of Hamari here on KZbin bc, as she sings this gorgeous aria, you can see her complete investment in the music and text, and her voice is just liquid gold! Next, I love Marian Anderson’s interpretation, bc her voice is so incredibly beautiful and she, too, is 100% lost in the music and text. While I really love Ferrier’s voice, I can’t say I enjoy her interpretation totally, bc she sometimes emphasizes words as though she’s been goosed, and that is disquieting, to say the least!

[@jakeyell]

ok.

[@sylviacline5398]

To voraciousreader. The conductor Herbert Von Karajan had tears running down his cheeks during this recording! Kathleen’s voice moved people’s souls; apparently you lack the ability to feel the divine!