Geoffrey Thomas

Women Found Handel Attractive: Sonatas and Stories - Geoffrey Thomas

Leicester Early Music Festival, Leicester Cathedral

Leicester Mercury

27th May 2009

There must be many accounts of Haydn’s life and music, but few interpretations can provide as engaging a portrait as that provided by actor and pianist Geoffrey Thomas.

Thomas’ dry acting style and vocal delivery provided an intriguing, lively and humorous picture of Haydn’s life through words, interspersed with excerpts from some of Haydn’s many piano Sonatas.

The music itself was played with feeling and intensity where a movement was played in full, while for more illustrative purposes, a more relaxed and perhaps even playful style might be adopted where a brief excerpt was used.

Using a small number of props and limited space around the piano, very effectively, Thomas drew the listener into Haydn’s early life as a chorister, his attempts at busking, early composition and accompanying, his marriage and his daily routine, culminating in an inspiring performance of the Adagio e Cantible from the Sonata in E flat Hob XVI/49.

The story continued with Haydn’s move to London, his years in Vienna and his death.  Interspersed with a bright performance of the Sonata in E flat, Hob. XVI/52:  A fitting reminder of the real legacy that this great composer has left us, which concluded an engaging evening of informative entertainment.