Ian Bostridge delivers first-class artistry in German lieder

By Lawrence A. Johnson Tenor Ian Bostridge performed songs of Beethoven and Schumann with pianist Imogen Cooper in a streamed recital presented by UChicago Presents. As in every large American city, the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent painful but necessary closing of concert venues eviscerated a year of high-profile events on Chicago’s music calendar—not least Lyric Opera’s long-planned Ring cycle.  But the loss of the 2020-21 season for the area’s smaller presenters was just as deeply felt. The University of Chicago Presents series had slated an especially rich and bountiful season that included such artists as Hélène Grimaud, Ian Bostridge, Susan Graham, Paul Jacobs, and Quatuor Diotima performing the late Beethoven quartets and complete Bartok quartets.   Like many presenting organizations, UChicago Presents under executive director Amy Iwano, is attempting to fill the current live-performance void with streamed concerts of some of the artists scheduled. Harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani performed Bach’s Goldberg Variations last weekend and Friday night the series offered Bostridge and pianist Imogen Cooper. The prerecorded stream will be available online through Sunday. Bostridge’s cancelled Mandel Hall recital was to be an all-Schubert evening, but this program of Beethoven and Schumann—taped live last September before a masked and socially distanced…
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