News

Photographs captured during the "Piano in Lieder Repertoire" masterclass held at the Pollini Conservatory in Padova, Italy, on February 7th, 2024.

'Julius Drake is not just a pianist. He’s a specialist pianist. His great achievement is his work with singers and as a chamber musician. Talking to him about how he ended up as a professional pianist, he makes it sound as if it was something that just happened by...

  'Could, would, should Alice Coote give a Tina Turner encore at the end of this recital? It wasn’t a totally ridiculous idea. The magnificently mercurial British mezzo had already stood and delivered Joni Mitchell, David Bowie, and Elvis Costello and Burt...

Last night in the Recital Hall the British pianist & song accompanist Julius Drake received the Concertgebouw Medal at a concert with mezzo-soprano Feride Büyükdenktas. The presentation came as a complete surprise. At the close of his concert, this medal was...

This lunchtime concert, which was also broadcast on BBC R3, can be viewed by clicking the link below: https://wigmore-hall.org.uk/live-streams/christoph-pregardien-tenor-julius-drake-piano Also available to hear on BBC Sounds:...

Le 8 août 2022 par Patrice Lieberman Franz Schubert(1797-1828)  An den Mond, D.259; Wandrers Nachtlied I (Der du von dem Himmel bist), D.224; Im Frühling, D.882, Der Zwerg, D. 771; Ständchen, D. 957; Seligkeit, D.443; Abendstern, D.806; Der Tod und das Mädchen,...

Excellent review for Julius and Gerald Finley's new recording on Hyperion: 'Finley makes the music compellingly his own: with his Rolls-Royce bass-baritone on smooth, luxurious form throughout, there’s no sense of him trying to capture the youthfulness of the Miller...

Julius was interviewed recently before his concerts at the West Cork Music Festival. Follow the link to read the article. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/2022/06/20/julius-drake-i-do-mind-the-word-accompanist-i-dont-think-its-fit-for-purpose/  ...

Click the link to watch Julius and Catriona Morison in  their recent Wigmore Hall recital which was streamed live on Monday 23 May. Also available to hear on BBC Sounds https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0017drl https://youtu.be/LVnpCBNLvW8

Julius's new CD with Nicky Spence, Timothy Ridout and the Piatti Quartet is one of the choices of the Gramophone Editor this month: 'Celebrating another of the year's musical anniversaries, Nicky Spence, Julius Drake and the Piatti Quartet present On Wenlock Edge...

Sometimes you know the quality of music by the depth of the silence when it ends. Last night at Middle Temple Hall – and thank Mahler’s mystical heavens for it – the final ghostly “Ewig” of Der Abschied faded away into a soundless void that lasted just as long as it...

Pianist Julius Drake on perfection and partnerships Inside Music   Pianist Julius Drake explores how various pianists make the piano sing, with a selection of performers including Walter Gieseking, Sviatoslav Richter, Dinu Lipatti and Benjamin Britten. Julius's...

Julius appeared in the German news media in an article concerning freedom of movement for artists across the EU in the wake of Brexit. https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/brexit-pianist-julius-drake-regeln-fuer-kuenstler-sind.2849.de.html?drn:news_id=1217024 The renowned...

A very happy Julius with his Gramophone Award for The diary of one who disappeared with Nicky Spence. https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA68282

Watch Julius Drake and Nicky Spence receive their Gramophone Award in a windy Deptford Garden. https://vimeo.com/466590684  

Solo Vocal JANÁČEK The diary of one who disappeared, Nicky Spence & Julius Drake with Václava Housková and Victoria Samek​ (Hyperion) The Gramophone Review Nicky Spence’s last solo Hyperion outing, on the final volume of the label’s Strauss Lieder series, revealed...

Gerald Finley and Julius Drake for Schubert, Brahms (Hyperion) “Gerald Finley is never an artist, one feels, to let himself be rushed, allowing his interpretations to mellow and mature in their own good time. It’s been five years since his superbly eloquent and...

Janáček: The Diary of One who Disappeared (Hyperion) “The tenor, Nicky Spence, is brilliantly supported throughout by Julius Drake, who is ever alert to Janáček’s piano-writing – delicate and piercing by turns – and conjures up the cycle’s sound world superbly from...

Julius Drake and friends perform Beethoven’s Allegretto in B flat and Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet in the stunning surroundings and acoustic of an otherwise empty Temple Church.

Streamed as live from Blackheath Halls, Mark Padmore & Julius Drake perform Beethoven and Schumann as part of ‘The Wanderlust Series’

The BBC can help British classical music recover – if the government steps in too

Julius Drake has won the Vocal Award of the BBC Music Magazine for his Hyperion recording of Janáček: The Diary of One Who Disappeared; Nursery rhymes; Moravian folk poetry in songs with tenor Nicky Spence, mezzo-soprano Václava Housková and clarinettist Victoria...

Paradise Lost, the new album from Julius Drake and soprano Anna Prohaska is available 10 April, 2020 on Alpha Classics. The gestation of this project lasted two years. Anna Prohaska and Julius Drake finally concentrated their research on the themes of Eve,...

Julius Drake was “impeccable” (Richard Morrison, The Times) throughout Wigmore Hall’s Monday, 9 March lunchtime concert. Drake performed a programme featuring Tavener’s Akhmatova Songs, Kodály’s Sonatina for cello and piano, Deborah Pritchard’s Storm Song, Debussy’s...

Julius Drake has released the sixth volume of his acclaimed Liszt: The Complete Songs series on Hyperion. This tantalising recital, featuring soprano Julia Kleiter, was named a Gramophone Editor’s Choice in the February issue. Tim Ashley writes in the magazine’s...

Julius Drake is nominated for Best Vocal Recording at 2020 BBC Music Magazine Awards. He shares the honour with tenor Nicky Spence, mezzo-soprano Václava Housková and clarinettist Victoria Samek for their Hyperion release, Janáček: The Diary of One Who Disappeared;...

Julius Drake has received a nomination from the International Classical Music Awards under the “Choral Album” category for his work on the album Dvořák: Stabat Mater. The finalists of the awards will be known by December 16, and the ICMA winners will be...

Julius Drake is nominated in the Best Choral Music category at the 2019 International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) for his recording of Dvořák’s Stabat Mater on BR-KLASSIK. He shares the nomination with his fellow performers: soprano Julia Kleiter, tenors Gerhild...

Julius Drake and Christoph Prégardien were presented with the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritic onstage Wigmore hall by Eleonore Buening. Here they are after in the famous Green Room of Wigmore Hall, honoured to receive this for their Schubert disc,...

Julius Drake is to feature in a series of concerts in New York over the coming months. He will be performing with acclaimed singers at the 92nd Street Y in a series that celebrates Beethoven in the 250th anniversary of the composers birth, Beethoven and...

Frequent collaborators, Julius Drake and bass-baritone Gerald Finley have released their 12th album together, a new recording of Schubert: Schwanengesang; Brahms: Vier ernste Gesänge. The album, released on 27 September by Hyperion is available to purchase...

Julius Drake is to prominently feature in Life Victoria Barcelona 2019 over the coming months. Drake will be performing with acclaimed singers across multiple dates during the festival. This is the first of several projects Drake is involved with,...

Julius Drake has received a nomination in the 2019 Gramophone Awards for his work on the album LISZT: Complete Songs Vol 5 under the category of Solo Vocal. The Winner of the award shall be announced on October 16 at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in...

Julius Drake and his frequent collaborator, bass-baritone Gerald Finley, will release their new recording of Schubert: Schwanengesang; Brahms: Vier ernste Gesänge on 27 September. The Hyperion release is available for pre-order now.Richard Wigmore, in the...

Julius Drake’s recently released album “The Diary of One Who Disappeared and other works” is a collection of works composed by Leoš Janáček. Released on the 28 June under Hyperion Records, the album brings together Janáček’s “Říkadla ‘Nursery rhymes’”,...

Julius Drake’s recently released album “The Diary of One Who Disappeared and other works” is a collection of works composed by Leoš Janáček. Released on the 28 June under Hyperion Records, the album brings together Janáček’s “Říkadla 'Nursery rhymes'”,...

Julius Drake invites people behind the scenes with his new ‘A Day in the Life’ blog in Pianist magazine.‘A typical day for me? Today is one: a travel day. Tomorrow I have a concert in Bilbao with my friend, the superb German tenor, Christoph Prégardien. I...

Julius Drake and his frequent collaborator, the tenor Ian Bostridge, will perform at the Snape Proms on Tuesday, 20 August. The programme includes Schubert’s song settings of poetry by Rückert, Mahler’s Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Rückert Lieder, and Henze’s...

“The perfect duo” (The Arts Desk), Julius Drake and bass-baritone Gerald Finley return to London’s Wigmore Hall on 15 June. The programme features songs by Schubert, Rachmaninov, Turnage and some rarely performed songs by Britten, notably his early Walter de la Mare...

Tune in to BBC Radio 3 on 22 May at 13:00 (UK time) to listen to Julius Drake and baritone Benjamin Appl’s performance of Schumann’s Dichterliebe. The performance was recorded during the duo’s concert at The Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh on 25 March. The programme...

Julius Drake joins acclaimed Swedish mezzo-soprano Katarina Karnéus for her welcome return to Oxford. The 5 April concert, part of the Oxford Lieder series, features songs by Robert Schumann, including the Mary Stuart lieder, Clara Schumann, Alma Mahler and Berg’s...

Julius Drake and Richard Watkins’ new album, The Romantic Horn (Signum) is available in stores and online from 8 March, 2019. The recording features a selection of beloved works for the horn and highlights lyrical gems for the instrument by Beethoven, Schumann and...

On Saturday 9, March, BBC Radio 3 will broadcast Julius Drake and horn player Richard Watkins’ new Signum recording The Romantic Horn.The Romantic Horn highlights select lyrical gems of the European repertoire for the instrument with works by Beethoven,...

On 22 March, Julius Drake will perform with Dame Sarah Connolly as she makes her recital debut with The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The concert (featuring songs by Brahms, Wolf, Roussel, Debussy and...

Julius Drake and bass-baritone Gerald Finley - a long time collaborator and close friend of Julius - have been described as "the perfect duo" in light of their recent recital at Middle Temple Hall. Awarding the duo 5-stars in his Arts Desk review, David Nice writes...