Although her career was tragically short, Kathleen Ferrier was among the most famous English singers of the twentieth century. Her contralto voice -- a rarity in itself -- was characterized by a firm, warm tone that found its expressive niche in the great works of oratorio and art song, as well as in her two operatic roles (only two!): Lucretia in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia and Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice.

Born in Lancashire on April 22, 1912, Ferrier studied the piano with great success as a child and intended a concert career; her concurrent vocal studies were considered more recreational in nature. In her mid-20s, however, after taking two first prizes at the 1937 Carlisle Festival -- one for piano and one for singing -- she made the decision to pursue singing as her vocation. She studied with J.E. Hutchinson in Newcastle upon Tyne, then with Roy Henderson in London.

During the years of WWII Ferrier toured widely in England, gaining a reputation as an especially fine concert artist. She joined the Bach Choir in London, and was alto soloist for a 1943 performance of Handel's Messiah at Westminster Abbey. Benjamin Britten first put her on the operatic stage at Glyndebourne on July 12, 1946, in the premiere of his chamber opera The Rape of Lucretia. She then toured with the work throughout England and appeared on an historic recording of major extracts from the work conducted by the composer. Britten would later compose the alto part in his Canticle No. 2 for her.

She appeared in the United States for the first time in Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the New York Philharmonic and Bruno Walter; her subsequent recording of the work -- also under Walter's direction -- remains a classic. Walter also appeared as her accompanist in lieder recitals in Edinburgh and London. Another of Ferrier's notable successes was the part of the Angel in Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius.

In February 1953, Covent Garden staged Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice specifically for Ferrier, who was deemed ideal for the part of Orpheus. However, she was able to appear in only two of the scheduled four performances because of weakness caused by her already advanced cancer. These were her last appearances; she died in London on October 8, 1953. Before she died she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Although thoroughly trained as a musician, Viennese tenor Julius Patzak had little, if any, technical schooling in the vocal arts. Yet, he became a favorite among audiences in his native city and second only to Richard Tauber as a master stylist in the Central European repertory. His voice, though not large, was plangent and somewhat hard-edged, capable of encompassing both lyric and dramatic roles. His forays into Viennese operetta were exemplary, full of character and knowing gestures, and sung with an immaculate sense of both elegance and forcefulness. His famous recording of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with contralto Kathleen Ferrier and Bruno Walter directing the Vienna Philharmonic has achieved legendary status.

Patzak was born into a family whose heads of household had been schoolteachers for three generations. After schooling in Vienna, he served his military obligation in Serbia. Upon his return to Vienna, he entered a career as a civil servant, working for the city's Youth Council. By this means, he was able to finance his pursuit of music at the University of Vienna, undertaken to realize his dream of becoming a conductor. His studies brought him in contact with composer Franz Schmidt, musicologist Guido Adler, and Adler's accomplished student, composer, and musicologist Egon Wellesz.

During an amateur concert presented by the Vienna Schubert Society, Patzak's singing attracted the attention of several individuals with contacts in the operatic world. The result was a contract with Bohemia's Reichenberg Theater and in April, 1926, he made his stage debut in the demanding role of Radames. The following season found him in Brno, after which he was engaged by Munich and spent the next 17 years at the Bayerische Staatsoper performing leading roles. Following the death of his first wife shortly after his move to Munich, Patzak married Maria Walter, granddaughter of the famous Bohemian Wagner tenor, Gustav Walter.

Once WWII ended, Patzak returned to Vienna where he joined the Staatsoper, remaining there until his retirement in 1960. He became an important artist at the Salzburg Festival, taking part in several world premieres, Gottfried von Einem's Danton's Tod and Frank Martin's Le Vin Herbé in particular.

Patzak confined himself to primarily to Germany and Austria, although he sang in London in 1938. He returned with the Vienna Staatsoper company in 1947 to perform Herod and Florestan and was engaged directly by the Royal Opera House management for 1948, repeating Florestan and adding his fervid Hoffmann to London's production of Offenbach's opera. Patzak's pre-war Tamino, alternating with Richard Tauber's, was regarded as "manly," if slightly "reedy." In the post-war era, Patzak's London Herod was found "wonderfully characterized" and his Florestan was hailed as a great realization.

Only one engagement brought Patzak to America. He performed at the Cincinnati May Festival in 1954 when Joseph Krips was its director.

With his voice grown larger, Patzak was, in his Vienna years, able to do greater justice to roles wanting both expressive authority and sheer vocal power. Patzak became perhaps the greatest of all interpreters of Hans Pfitzner's Palestrina. He was a superb Lohengrin, despite the absence of a truly sensuous sound. He was revered as the Evangelist in both of Bach's Passions and was the most celebrated of all singers who undertook the tenor part in Franz Schmidt's oratorio, Das Buch mit sieben Sielgen.

Patzak became a respected teacher at both Vienna's Music Academy and the Salzburg Mozarteum.

Since its inception in 1842, the Wiener Philharmoniker (or Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in English) has represented the best in the Central European orchestral tradition. Before the Wiener Philharmoniker was founded, there was no permanent, professional orchestra to be found outside the opera halls in the city of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. The Wiener Philharmoniker is one of the most traditional orchestras in the world today, with much-beloved traditions, like the annual New Year's concerts of waltzes by the Strauss family.

In 1833, Franz Lachner, conductor at the Hofoper, had formed a musicians' association from the ranks of the opera orchestras to play symphonic music, but this was a temporary endeavor. Nine years later, a group of music critics and other interested parties persuaded Otto Nicolai, principal conductor of the Kärntertortheater, to conduct the first Wiener Philharmoniker concert at the Grosser Redoutensaal (Great Ballroom) on March 28, 1842. The group was founded as the first completely self-governing orchestra, and it has remained so ever since. Although concerts were irregular until 1860, the orchestra quickly built up a reputation. From 1860 to 1875, Otto Dessoff was the permanent conductor, bringing the music of Brahms, Wagner, and Liszt into the concert halls. Hans Richter succeeded Dessoff and conducted the orchestra until 1898, introducing Bruckner and Dvorák to Viennese audiences. Both of these conductors played major roles in establishing the Wiener Philharmoniker as one of the finest orchestras in the world. During this time, the Wiener Philharmoniker had numerous premieres of now-classic works such as Brahms' Second Symphony and Bruckner's Eighth; sometimes, as in the case of Bruckner's Third, the premiere was conducted by the composer himself. The great Gustav Mahler conducted from 1898 to 1901, but his tenure was marked by dissension within the orchestra.

The longest-term conductor of the post-Mahler era was Felix Weingartner, from 1908 to 1927. He was beloved by the orchestra for his measured, classical style and, in particular, for his Beethoven interpretations. From 1933 to 1938, the revered conductors Bruno Walter and Wilhelm Furtwängler shared the subscription concerts; after Hitler's annexation of Austria in 1938, the Nazi Party dissolved the orchestra, but the decision was reversed after Furtwängler intervened. The Wiener Philharmoniker led an uneasy life during the war but afterward reclaimed its place in the world's orchestral pantheon. The list of conductors who have led Wiener Philharmoniker subscription concerts reads like an honor roll of maestros; Richard Strauss, Arturo Toscanini, Herbert von Karajan, and Leonard Bernstein have each taken turns at the podium.

The Wiener Philharmoniker has held an annual New Year's Day Concert of Strauss family works, particularly those of Johann II, since 1941 when Clemens Krauss began the tradition; the first of these concerts was actually held on New Year's Eve in 1939, after which the concert has occurred on New Year's Day. Riccardo Muti led the orchestra in its 80th New Year's concert in 2021, marking his sixth appearance in the series. While some of its traditions are revered, others have come under fire in recent years. Though the Wiener Philharmoniker premiered a lot of music in its early days, it now prefers to play mostly music written before 1900, which created a controversy at the Salzburg Festival during the 1990s. The orchestra also refused until 1997 to accept a female musician as a full member, threatening to disband rather than cave in to political pressure. The first woman member of the Wiener Philharmoniker was harpist Anna Lelkes, who was granted full membership after 26 years of service. Simone Young was the first woman to conduct the Wiener Philharmoniker in 2005, and in 2008, Albena Danailova became the orchestra's first female concertmaster. Historically, the Wiener Philharmoniker has opposed hiring musicians who are not Central European in order to preserve what is perceived as a unique quality of sound. While the orchestra's policies may be controversial, it cannot be disputed that the Wiener Philharmoniker is one of the world's finest orchestras, performing with exceptional finesse and clarity, with a beautifully blended woodwind and brass sound that meshes perfectly with its subtle, lush strings.

The Wiener Philharmoniker is celebrated on 24-carat gold bullion coins issued by the Austrian Mint. In 2006, the design of the coinage was featured by Austrian Airlines on its airplanes to promote both the orchestra and the sale of the coins, which are among the most popular with investors. ~ Andrew Lindemann Malone

Bruno Walter was one of the great German conductors of the 20th century, and a respected Mahler interpreter. He was also an accomplished pianist, a prolific recording artist, and a composer during the first half of his life. He was born in 1876 to a Jewish family in Berlin. He was interested in music from a young age, and he began attending the Stern Conservatory in Berlin when he was eight years old. There he studied piano with Heinrich Ehrlich, music theory with Ludwig Bussler, and composition with Robert Radecke. At nine, he made his public debut as a pianist. He was inspired to conduct in 1889, after he saw a performance of the famous conductor Hans von Bülow with the Berlin Philharmonic. Walter found employment as a vocal coach with the Cologne Opera shortly afterward, and he made his conducting debut there in 1894. He left a short while later to accept an appointment at the Hamburg Opera as chorus director and assistant to Gustav Mahler. Walter’s time with Mahler had a great impact on his ideals and conducting style. After that position came to an end in 1896, Mahler helped him find employment at the Stadttheater in Bresleau as the second conductor. From 1898 to 1900 he conducted in Riga, Latvia, followed by a longer contract to conduct the Royal Opera of Berlin for five years. He left Berlin in 1901 to work with Mahler a second time at the Vienna Court Opera. Walter conducted his own Symphony No. 1 in Vienna in 1909, and his reputation grew exponentially in 1910 after a very popular series of performances in Prague, Rome, and at Covent Garden. It was around this time that he decided that he had more to offer as a conductor than as a composer and he stopped composing. After Mahler passed away in 1911, premieres of his Das Lied von der Erde, and Symphony No. 9 were both conducted by Walter, as requested by Mahler’s widow. He lived in Munich from 1913 to 1922, where he was appointed the Royal Bavarian Music Director, and director of the Bavarian State Opera. He made his United States debut in 1923 with the New York Symphony Orchestra, and from 1924 until World War I he was active in Berlin, Paris, and London. In the 1930s Walter performed and recorded both as an accompanist to Lotte Lehmann, and as the conductor with the Vienna Philharmonic. He moved permanently to Beverly Hills after the onset of World War II in 1939, and he based his career in the United States from then on. During this time, he worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Minneapolis Symphony, and the major ensembles of New York, such as the New York Philharmonic, the NBC Symphony, and the Metropolitan Opera. When the war ended, he resumed working with European orchestras through the late '40s and early '50s. His recording of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Vienna Philharmonic from 1952 was especially successful, and his records with the New York Philharmonic from this period were also highly acclaimed. After suffering a heart attack in 1957, he was forced to reduce his pace as a traveling guest conductor. In his final years he recorded the works of Mozart, Brahms, and Beethoven with the Colombia Symphony Orchestra with a gentler and more mature approach than in his earlier recordings. Walter died from a heart attack at his home in Beverly Hills in 1962. ~ RJ Lambert