For the music lover this is nice, for other reasons it’s not so nice but we shall come to these later. This disc takes us to a different time as one of the greatest contraltos of the mid-twentieth century renders German lied, English opera and folksong as only she can.

For the ardent Kathleen Ferrier fan Songs My Father Taught Me is a great find as it features the artist in a natural environment one would never have got at the time and some rare interview footage with Ferrier, Benjamin Britten and Gerald Moore. The record’s highlights include the opening track in which a drunken Ferrier tells the story of “The Antilope” and accompanying herself at the piano sings Willow The Whisp and Annie Lorry among others. The track demonstrates Katie’s prowess at the piano. There is also a pretty version of Handel’s Where E’er You Walk and Ferrier’s signature piece, Gluck’s Che Faro. But best by far are the closing extracts from Britten’s Rape of Lucretia which leave the listener, like Lucretia, at the edge of a precipice as if to jump off. One must hear the whole thing again in order to satisfy oneself.

“The grand personality” (as Britten calls her) does not come through so well in the transition from analogue to digital. The music is, in the humble scribes opinion, overshadowed by the tragic transfer job that has been done. Nonetheless it’s worth a listen just to hear that wonderful voice.