MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schubert: Piano Sonata No.17, D.850 / Lieder: Der liebliche Stern; Tiefes Lied; Auf der Bruck; Der Wanderer, etc

Ian Bostridge studied both philosophy and history at Cambridge and Oxford Universities respectively, receiving his doctorate from the latter in 1990. Having won the 1991 National Federation of Music Societies / Esso Award and gained support from the Young Concert Artists' Trust he embarked on a full-time career as a singer in 1995.

He is an exclusive EMI Classics artist - his first solo disc was a disc of Schumann: Liederkreis/Dichterliebe, accompanied by the pianist Julius Drake as the first in a series of recitals for EMI Classics, released in February 1998. This was followed with a solo Schubert recital in May 1998, also accompanied by Julius Drake. In September 1998 he released Britten's Our Hunting Fathers with Daniel Harding and the Britten Sinfonia, as part of the British Composers Series. A special compilation of the vocal works from the original issue of Our Hunting Fathers was coupled with Britten's Serenade for Horn, Tenor and Strings, which itself had been released by EMI Germany a few years previously. In January 1999, he released Vaughan Williams' On Wenlock Edge with Bernard Haitink and the London Philharmonic Orchestra and this was followed by an album of English songs entitled The English Songbook with Julius Drake released in October 1999.

In September and October 2000 he released two discs on Virgin Classics; Handel's L'Allegro and a recording of arias from Bach cantatas respectively. A recording with EMI Classics of Henze's song cycle was released in February 2001 followed by Schubert Lieder (Volume 2) with Julius Drake in June 2001, and Janácek's The Diary of One Who Disappeared (with Thomas Adès).

In August 2002 EMI Classics released a disc of Schubert Lieder with the renowned pianist and EMI labelmate Leif Ove Andsnes, and a new recording of Idomeneo conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, with Bostridge in the title role, which was recorded at the Edinburgh Festival last year. Virgin Classics released a new recording of Britten's The Turn of the Screw in July 2002, and a new recording of Britten's Canticles (with Bostridge, David Daniels, Christopher Maltman and Julius Drake) in August 2002. Later in 2002 Bostridge ventured into new territory with a selection of Noël Coward songs for EMI Classics. His diverse choices for The Noël Coward Songbook included Poor Little Rich Girl, I Travel Alone, Twentieth Century Blues, Coward's earliest comic song, Any Little Fish, and two of Coward's great valedictories, Let's Say Goodbye and The Party's Over Now.