Magazine: CLASSICAL GAS - February 2012

Piano Recital (Piano Not Included) sounds like a concert sponsored by Ryanair but it’s being billed as a hilarious show for anyone who has ever had a really bad day. The show is inspired by the true story of a non-appearing pianist who was due to perform with the Goldman Ensemble (shown below) at a London concert in 2008. It is a show chock full of humour, combining music and theatre as the backstage disasters as well as the daily joys and struggles of professional musicians are explored. The Goldman Ensemble are an unusual bunch, comprising of violin, French horn, tuba and percussion (without an Irish fiddle to be seen !) and they bring their zany show to the Norwich Assembly House on the 9th February. A visit to their excellent website will tell you all you need to know.

Two days later, on the 11th February, Ely Cathedral are holding a Valentine’s Day Concert (obviously they work to some strange calendar in the Fens). This is indeed a piano recital, presumably with both piano and pianist included. The programme really is the piano equivalent of Your 100 Best Tunes, with Chopin’s Fantasy-Impromptu, Debussy’s Clair de Lune, Beethoven’s Pathetique and Rhapsody In Blue by Gershwin all guaranteed to put you in a romantic mood. If that doesn’t work, the free glass of champagne on offer probably will. Book tickets online or via the Cathedral box office on 01353 660349.

After last month's diatribe on how classical music is under-represented in the local media, I was very pleased to receive an email from Nick Greenland, Station Co-ordinator of Ipswich Community Radio. He has corrected me on my claim that ICR doesn't play any classical music, writing ...

"Tim Glover plays an hour of classical piano music every Sunday afternoon between 5 and 6pm (Great 88), and that’s followed by two hours of Foreground Music with Robert Kensit. Robert has hugely eclectic tastes and some weeks will venture into jazz (he’s featured Miles Davis albums in the past), and even pop/rock (the Indigo Girls seem a particular favourite). Probably three-quarters of his programmes focus on classical music, though."

I duly tuned in on 105.7 FM at 5pm on a cold Sunday in January and - after nodding approvingly as the evening's local music listings were read from Grapevine magazine - enjoyed catching some of both Tim and Robert's programmes. Tim's show certainly does what it says on the tin and the word eclectic is well-chosen for Robert as it's not often you hear Ligeti, Lloyd Webber and Led Zep on the same radio station. If there are any other community stations playing classical music in our region, let me know and publicity via these pages is yours for free.

Meanwhile, my mission to get classical music into the mainstream on other fronts still needs some work. Whilst browsing in the local HMV recently, I noticed that the token classical music section has been relegated to a small space entitled “Specialist Music”, whereas the obscure likes of VNV Nation, Ohbijou and even the Butthole Surfers find shelf room in the mainstream Rock and Pop department. I’m really not sure I like the sound of that last band, but Foz tells me that he has enjoyed all of their many releases. I can feel an email coming on … (yes from my solicitor, Foz)

David Butcher