Curated Projects
Temple Song
Artistic Director
“Middle Temple Hall, the setting for a first-rate concert series, is one of those London spaces that would make a tourist swoon. With its suits of armour and coats-of-arms it seems the perfect setting for stirring songs of martial derring-do. “
Ivan Hewitt, The Daily Telegraph 2015
Over the last few years, since the inauguration of Temple Song in 2006, I have performed in the glorious Middle Temple Hall with an array of the best singers in the world, most of them discovering the hall for the first time.
Olaf Bär, Thomas Allen, Felicity Lott, Christoph Pregardien, Ian Bostridge, Simon Keenlyside, Sergei Leiferkus, Gerald Finley, Willard White, Robert Holl, Danielle De Niese, Ann Sofie Von Otter – they all say it is one of the very best acoustics for song they know, a wonderful place to sing.
Julius Drake
Artistic Director Temple Song
May 2nd 2023
Kate Royal soprano
Christine Rice mezzo-soprano
Julius Drake piano
Opera stars Kate Royal and Christine Rice combine forces with one of the world’s pre-eminent collaborative pianists for an enchanting ensemble concert. From Brahms’ vibrant Zigeunerlieder cycle, through ravishing duets by Schumann and Brahms, the programme culminates with gems of music theatre by Kurt Weill including settings of Hammerstein and Brecht.
Johannes Brahms
Zigeunerlieder (solo version)
Die Schwestern
Die Meere
Phänomen
Walpurgisnacht
Robert Schumann
Herbstlied
Erste Begegnung
Sommerruh
In der Nacht
Kurt Weill
Berlin im Licht
Youkali
Nanna’s Lied
Buddy on the Night Shift
Es regnet
Je ne t’aime pas
Alabama Song
Duration: approximately 70 minutes (no interval) https://www.templemusic.org/concerts/kate-royal-christine-rice
June 17th 2023
Jamie Barton mezzo-soprano
Julius Drake piano
American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton is one of the world’s most celebrated singers. Winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition and possessing “a once-in-a-generation voice” (Opera Magazine), this sensation of the classical music world joins Julius Drake in the Elizabethan splendour of Middle Temple Hall, presenting a stunning selection of songs.
Dvorak: Cigánské Melodie
Duparc: four songs
L’Invitation au Voyage
Extase
La vie anterieure
Phydilé
Sibelius: five songs
Svarta rosor
Säv, säv, susa
Flickan kom
Marssnön
Var det en dröm?
Charles Ives: five songs
The Things Our Father Loved
Grantchester
Religion
The Cage
The Housatonic at Stockbridge
A selection of songs from the Great American Songbook
Duration: approximately 90 minutes (including interval) https://www.templemusic.org/concerts/jamie-barton
The Concertgebouw Amsterdam
Three recitals with brilliant young artists
Concert 1 December 21 2022
Feride Buyukdenktas
Mezzo-soprano Feride Büyükdenktas in a recital with top pianist Julius Drake. Featuring songs from her motherland Turkey combined with composers from her new habitat: Schumann and Schubert.
Concert 2 February 16 2023
Axelle Fanyo
The outstanding young French soprano sings a wonderful programme from her homeland of Aubert, Ravel, Poulenc as well as cabaret songs by Weill, Schoenberg and Bolcom. A programme that juxtaposes poetry and music by Eastern and Western creators around the interconnected motifs of home/homeland, childhood and dreams.
https://www.concertgebouw.nl/en/concerts/1556315-axelle-fanyo-and-julius-drake
Concert 3 April 29 2023
Fleur Barron
One of the most charismatic performers of her generation presents programme that juxtaposes poetry and music by Eastern and Western creators around the interconnected motifs of home/homeland, childhood and dreams.
https://www.concertgebouw.nl/en/concerts/1623908-fleur-barron-and-julius-drake
Lied & Lyric at Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal
The poet and the many facets of their imagination are at the centre of this Lied und Lyric series curated by Julius Drake.
October 10 2021
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Christoph Prégardien, tenor
Udo Samel, reader
Julius Drake, piano
Poems of Goethe and settings by Beethoven, Schubert, Loewe, Schumann Liszt, Wolf and Grieg.
March 18 2022
Bertold Brecht
Hanns Eisler
The Hollywood Songbook
Holger Falk, Bariton
Burghart Klaußner, Sprecher
Julius Drake, Klavier
Bertolt Brecht: Flucht
Bertolt Brecht: Hollywood
May 24 2022
John Donne and Thomas Hardy
Mark Padmore
Paul Rhys, reader
Julius Drake
Britten The Holy Sonnets of John Donne
Britten Winter Words
December 7 2022
Heinrich Heine
Julia Kleiter, soprano
Felix Kammerer, reader
Julius Drake, piano
Poems of Heine and settings by Felix Mendelssohn, Fanny Hensel, Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms and Charles Ives.
March 9 2023
Joseph von Eichendorff
Konstantin Krimmel, Bariton
Burghart Klaußner, Sprecher
Julius Drake, Klavier
Poems of Eichendorff and settings by Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Korngold, Zemlinsky, Pfizner and Reimann.
https://www.boulezsaal.de/en/event/konstantin-krimmel-julius-drake-104179
May 13 2023
Friedrich Rückert
Ian Bostridge, Tenor
Martina Gedeck, Reader
Julius Drake, Piano
Poems of Rückert and settings by Schubert, Schumann, Mahler and Henze.
https://www.boulezsaal.de/en/event/ian-bostridge-julius-drake-104224