With all the attention rightly focused on the demise of the Minnesota Orchestra and the New York City Opera, it would be easy to believe that the musical arts are in dire straits in America. In some ways they are. But from the funding rubble of the financial crisis new groups and new facilities are sprouting too.
There are few London venues that manage to combine a real sense of intimacy with an international roster of artists quite as well as Julius Drake’s concert series at Middle Temple Hall. In this recital he was joined by German soprano Annette Dasch for a programme that began with a complete performance of Schumann’s Kerner Lieder.
Two figures occupied Usher Hall’s large stage. More accurately, two performers, as there was also a very focused page turner, removing played pages as though they were explosives. Seated at the piano was Lars Vogt, last seen in this hall during Edinburgh Festival 2012 in a joyous performance of Lutosławski’s Piano Concerto.
