Kathleen Ferrier

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My mother Annette loved opera. There was usually someone singing on the hi-fi equipment in the drawing room and Kobbe was always to be found on a table near her chair. One of her best loved pieces was this unaccompanied song by Kathleen Ferrier - 'Blow The Wind Southerly'. Although she loved to listen to Victoria de Los Angeles, Joan Sutherland, Callas and Kiri Te Kanawa, I think Ferrier remained her favourite. She used to accompany her friend Kitty Bulman, who had a beautiful voice, on the piano and they often performed this piece. My father Patrick, whose taste was more Don Giovanni, may have particularly appreciated Ferrier because she looked a lot like his first wife, Catherine Stephenson - although he was too discreet ever to say so.....

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