Creating a biographical panorama of his career, the British tenor Ian Bostridge has personally selected each track in this 7CD Autograph collection. With a focus on both song (in German and English) and opera (from Monteverdi to Adès by way of Handel, Mozart and Britten), it demonstrates just why he is recognised as one of today’s most distinctive, intelligent and compelling singers. The tenor also complements his performances with an exclusive and illuminating audio interview.

Bostridge is a highly distinctive artist, an interpreter of exceptional intensity who uses his fundamentally lyrical voice to powerful dramatic effect. When he appeared in recital at Carnegie Hall in 2011 the New York Times wrote: “ ... this was a Dichterliebe in which an insightful vocal artist had a compelling idea about the words and music of every phrase.” (Schumann’s song cycle Dichterliebe appears on CD6 of this collection).

Bostridge expressed his philosophy as a performer to the Financial Times in an interview in 2013: “It may not be obvious at first why such music is enjoyable but it is consciousness-raising. It makes you think about what is valuable in life – the things music ultimately wants to address ... Art is part of the good life but it’s also part of what it means to be a human being ... Art has transcendent value and if you live in a democratic society, you want to bring it to as many as possible.”


Contents:
CD 1/2 Goethe, Heine and Eichendorff in the Lied
Schubert, Schumann, Wolf
Julius Drake (piano), Antonio Pappano (piano), Leif Ove Andsnes (piano)

CD 3 From Monteverdi to Mozart: Baroque and Classical Opera
Monteverdi, Purcell, Handel, Mozart
Le Concert d'Astrée / Emmanuelle Haim
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment / Harry Bicket
Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Charles Mackerras

CD 4 From Monteverdi to Mozart: Baroque and Classical Opera (continued)
Les Arts Florissants / William Christie
Shakespeare and Auden in Opera and Song
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Thomas Adès
Britten Sinfonia / Daniel Harding
Julius Drake (piano)

CD 5 Britten Operas
Aldeburgh Festival Ensemble / Oliver Knussen
London Symphony Orchestra / Daniel Harding

CD 6 Britten Operas (continued)
Allegories of Love – Schumann and Janáčék
Julius Drake (piano)
Thomas Adés (piano), Ruby Philogene (mezzo-soprano)

CD 7 Ian Bostridge – An Interview Portrait