Tall Poppies and fortepianist Geoffrey Lancaster continue to journey through Joseph Haydn’ s complete keyboard sonatas. Lancaster presented the complete cycle of 52 sonatas in concert in Melbourne, Perth and Canberra to mark the Haydn Bicentenary in 2009, and has been recording the works using period instruments from the unique collection of early keyboards at the ANU School of Music, where Lancaster used to be professor of music. He is now based at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia.
Critically acclaimed as ‘a genius of the fortepiano’ , Lancaster is one of Australia’s most distinguished keyboardists and was the first Australian to win a major international keyboard competition. His honours include the ARIA Best Classical Album, Gramophone Best Recording, the Sounds Australian Award, the Order of Australia, and ACT Australian of the Year.
This series reveals the genius of Haydn. Lancaster plays with amiable virtuosity, finding all the latent humour and passion in these magnificent sonatas. His historically-informed performances bring clarity, originality, and insightful musical understanding to these works, the fortepianos responding with gusto to the drama and emotion in the music.
