‘Singing Philosopher’ Ian Bostridge Returns to Korea After 3 Years

Ian Bostridge. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The singing philosopher tenor Ian Bostridge will hold a concert in Korea for the first time in three years.

On the 26th, the concert planning company InArts Production announced that Ian Bostridge's concert in Korea will take place on December 3rd at 11:30 AM at Lotte Concert Hall.

In this concert, Bostridge is set to present the complete program of Schubert's great song cycle "Winterreise," beloved by Koreans.

On stage, pianist Julius Drake, who best brings out Bostridge's precise high notes and clear timbre, will perform alongside him.

The song cycle "Winterreise" to be performed in this concert is known as a masterpiece left by composer Schubert during the final, difficult period of his life. It is a song of frustrated love deeply imbued with the suffering of a young man, sung by a protagonist wandering aimlessly in the harsh winter after being heartbroken, moving between the dream world within his complex inner feelings and the bitter reality he faces.

Visiting Korea for the first time in three years since his 2019 performance at the Seoul Arts Center, Bostridge is regarded as a master of German Lieder for his philosophical approach to music and original interpretations.

He attracted attention from his debut due to his unique background. Bostridge, who earned doctoral degrees in philosophy and history from Oxford and Cambridge Universities in the UK, discovered his talent through private lessons while teaching history at Oxford University in 1990 and embarked on a career as a vocalist at the age of twenty-nine.

Praised for his transparent tone at his 1993 debut at London's Wigmore Hall, he won the Gramophone Solo Vocal Award with his first album of Schubert Lieder "Die sch?ne M?llerin" released on the Hyperion label in 1996. With his 1998 album of Schumann's song cycle "Dichterliebe," Bostridge won the Gramophone Best Solo Vocal Award and subsequently achieved numerous major recording awards and 15 Grammy nominations.

The lonely and beautiful Schubert "Winterreise" presented by Bostridge and pianist Julius Drake is anticipated as a concert that will embrace and heal emotional wounds at the heart of winter, closing out the year.