The Life and Voice of Kathleen Ferrier Christopher Fifield.
Christopher Fifield is an English symphony orchestra conductor and classical music historian and musicologist based in London.He is also known to the classical music listening public for his concert intermission talks from The Proms and other broadcasts for BBC Radio 3, the BBC World Service, and Classic FM.
Today with words and music, he created a very warm and complete picture of Kathleen Ferrier, which really brought to life her personality and character.He drew often from her diaries which reveal her as a down-to-earth, Northern lass with a love of jokes as well as her love and understanding of the music she sang.
Hers was a short life with a professional singing career of only 10 years from 1943 but she was renowned throughout Europe and the States and even today, her voice is instantly recognizable.
If you would like to hear her voice, click the You Tube link below.
There is an intro so hang on.
My Relatives and other Setbacks Speaker Mel Rees.
It is difficult to write a report on Mel Rees's performance this morning.We were all hit by a continuous stream of hilarious anecdotes ; humour drawn mainly from observations the petty snobbery of suburban life and from the complexity of family relationships.
Mel Rees was born in Battersea, South London, and moved to Ash Vale, Surrey when he married, where he continues to live. He is the father of three children all of whom provided him with material for his discourse.
He wrote his first book in 1989 and when he was unable to find a publisher, he set up Trouser Press. Two of his books are shown above.
It is impossible to recount his stories as they depended so much on imaculate timing but amongst his subjects were his own and his families' inability to pass exams (of which he is very proud); as he said, everyone has a BA in media Studies but very few failed every GCSE.Then there were his first attempts to get a girlfriend at which he failed miserably as none of them seemed to share his passion for trainspotting. He talked about the status given to those with names like Sebastion knowing he said, that he would shop at Waitrose whereas poor Wayne would be carrying a Lidl bag.
Then there was the laughs to be got about our passion for the 'right' address and how postcode can make £10,000 difference in a small area.
And so he continued for an hour with no notes and no props cheerfully talking about the travails of his family and an irreverent swipe at the ridiculous.
I am sure Mel will be on Joyce's list for next year. It is good to laugh.
The cover of The Diaries of Kathleen Ferrier edited by Christopher Fifield
Photo of Christopher Fifield right.
