The Australian pianist talks whiskey, cheese toasties, and why he’d like to be stuck on a desert island with Alfred Brendel.

1. Three pieces of music you couldn’t live without?

Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie, Enno Poppe’s Speicher, and Pierre Boulez’s Sur Incises.

Jacob Abela. Photo © Cameron Jamieson Photography

2. Three recordings everyone should own?

Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie – Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with Riccardo Chailly, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Takashi Harada. This is such an incredibly faithful yet passionate reading of one of the most ravishing scores of the 20th century.

Enno Poppe: Interzone – Omar Ebrahim, Neue Vocalsolisten, ensemble mosaik, and Jonathan Stockhammer. When I first heard this, I was completely gripped from beginning to end, especially by Omar Ebrahim’s performance as narrator.

Monteverdi: Teatro d’Amore – Christina Pluhar, Philipe Jarousky, L’Arpeggiata. I’d never heard such joyful music making before hearing this album – most notably in the Scherzi Musicali.

3. Top five musical heroes?

Jennifer Walshe, Claire Chase, Steve Schick, Simone Young, and the members of my ensemble, Rubiks.

4. Three really underrated composers?

More people should know about Johannes Kreidler, a composer working in the realm of conceptual music. Jennifer Walshe is an Irish composer...