Master Pianist Geoffrey Madge

Geoffrey Madge has devoted seventy years to an intensive study of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Early in his career, he won a Bach Championship in Australia, and his fascination with Bach has only grown since. Madge sees Bach as a composer who inspires each generation anew, with every era developing its own vision of his music.

The centrepiece of this recital is the Goldberg Variations, a work that first appeared in 1741. The opening aria returns at the end, but after thirty variations it inevitably sounds different - that return reveals how a musical journey transforms the listening experience.

Madge particularly admires the structure of the work: from the dance-like first variation through a French overture to passages reminiscent of Bach's passions. He regards the Goldberg Variations as a work of universal power and profound spiritual significance, with the twenty-fifth variation as its pinnacle.

This concert is part of the Master Pianists series.