JuliusDrake
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Angelica Conner
Charlotte Bateman
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About Julius
The pianist Julius Drake lives in London and enjoys and international reputation as one of the finest instumentalists in his field, collaborating with many of the world’s leading artists, both in recital and on disc. His passionate interest in song has led to invitations to devise song series for Wigmore Hall, London; The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; 92nd St Y, New York; and the Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin. He curates an annual series of song recitals – Julius Drake and Friends – in the historic Middle Temple Hall in London. Julius Drake is a Professor of Collaborative Piano at the Guildhall School of Music in London, and he is regularly invited to give masterclasses worldwide.
Julius Drake’s many recordings include a widely acclaimed series with Gerald Finley for Hyperion Records, of which ‘Song by Samuel Barber’, ‘Schumann: Dichterliebe & other Heine Settings’ and ‘Britten: Songs & Proverbs of William Blake’ won the 2007, 2009 and 2011 Gramophone Awards; recordings with Ian Bostridge and Alice Coote for EMI; with Joyce DiDonato, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Matthew Polenzani for Wigmore Live; and with Anna Prohaska for Alpha. His recordings of Janáček’s ‘The Diary of One Who Disappeared’, with tenor Nicky Spence and mezzo soprano Václava Housková for Hyperion Records, won both the Gramophone and the BBC Music Magazine Awards in 2020.
Concerts this season include recitals at La Scala, Milan and the Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid, with Ludovic Tézier; return visits to the Boulez Saal Berlin for the series ‘Lied und Lyrik’; a recital tour in the USA with Ian Bostridge; the complete Mahler songs in five recitals in the Mahler Festival at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; recitals at the Opera Liceu in Barcelona with Gerald Finley, Sarah Connolly and Iréne Theorin; return visits to the Chamber Music Festivals of Santa Fe, West Cork and Oxford; concerts in Berlin and the Aldeburgh Festival with Andrè Schuen; piano duet recitals with Elisabeth Leonskaja in Austria, including at the Schubertiade Festival; recitals in the USA and Europe with Fleur Barron, Mercedes Gancedo, Christoph Prégardien, Julia Kleiter, Anna Prohaska and Roderick Williams; and at Wigmore Hall, London the Seasoning Opening concert celebrating the Fauré Anniversary, as well as recitals with Alice Coote, Stuart Jackson, Sofia Fomina and Brindley Sherratt.
Representation
Season Highlights
Video
Julius Drake on "Winterreise" for Sarah´s Music
Credit: Julius Drake
PlayingJulius Drake & Friends at Middle Temple Hall: Christine Rice 23/1/17
Julius Drake Credit: Julius Drake
Playing‘Urlicht’ – Sarah Connolly & Julius Drake (2021)
Julius Drake Credit: Julius Drake
Playing‘Intermezzo erotico’ de ‘Diari d’un desaparegut’ – Julius Drake (2020)
Julius Drake Credit: Julius Drake
Playing
Photos
News
Press
Oxford International Song Festival Recital with Nicky Spence
Oxford International Song FestivalOct 2024The finale, on Saturday at SJE Arts, opened with Gabriel Fauré’s La bonne chanson, settings of poems by Paul Verlaine for voice, piano and string quintet. Spence, joined by Julius Drake (piano), the Piatti Quartet and Leon Bosch (double bass), revelled in the delicate, impressionistic textures of the nine songs, so adored by Marcel Proust, though others thought the whole cycle, and its odd instrumentation, mad. On the night we would turn our clocks back, Spence gave particular zest to the last song, L’hiver a cessé (Winter Is Over), full of dreams of long days and blue skies. In the second half of the recital, with Drake game and willing on piano, the Scottish tenor displayed his unstoppable and expansive energy, adaptability and wit, from Ravel and Poulenc to John Dankworth, Victoria Wood and Stephen Sondheim. When he sang Richard Strauss – Zueignung and Cäcilie – he reminded us of his gifts for the long phrase, and for powerful expression, in whichever language. Tom Lehrer’s Masochism Tango had Spence rotating and boogying across the stage, bristling and masterful. In the midst of all came Noël Coward’s Any Little Fish. Only Nicky Spence could persuade a self-respecting Oxford audience to buzz, quack, woof, moo and coo along. It was over too soon.
- The Guardian
- 02 November 2024