‘Olafsson is revitalising classical music’ enthused the Economist recently. The star Icelandic pianist’s combination of profound musical intelligence, quicksilver imagination and spirit of adventure is drawing new audiences to the world of the piano through scintillating recordings and performances of music old and new.

Bach’s miraculous musical alchemy transforms a gently ruminative tune into a vast unbroken stream of dance rhythms and a dizzying perpetual motion of new melodies and countermelodies. To experience it live is almost to enter a meditative state, broken – or perhaps completed – by the magical return to its beginning after over an hour of pianistic brilliance. In his Saffron Hall debut, one of the world’s great pianists bringing his unique blend of precision, fire and ingenuity to Bach’s masterpiece is an enticing prospect.