Toad Lane Concert: Dimitra Ananiadou violin and Richard Whalley piano

Frau Christina Osei, Deputy Mayor of Bielefeld, Olaf Selonke, Bielefeld Council Officer for International Relations and Twinning, Councillor Janet Emsley Deputy Leader Rochdale Council, Dimitra Ananiadou & Richard Whalley

Fortuitously, this week's Toad Lane concert on Wednesday 17 May coincided with celebrating 70 years of Rochdale being twinned with Bielefeld. So, some of our German friends were in town for our Mayor-making. What better place to spend a Wednesday lunchtime in Rochdale than a concert at St Mary in the Baum?

Adding to the international feel, was the Greek violinist Dimitra Ananiadou. A graduate of the Universities of Greece, York and Manchester. Along with her violin playing she has master’s degrees in Musicology and Historical Performance and is a teaching assistant and doctoral researcher at the University of Manchester.

Dimitra opened with the challenging unaccompanied Chaconne in D minor by JS Bach. Like recent classical guitar and harp performances, such an accomplished player uses their full expressive range in the superb acoustic of St Mary in the Baum without amplification.

She was then joined by the industrious pianist and composer, Richard Whalley, Senior Lecturer in Composition at the University of Manchester, a York graduate and Harvard PhD.

Their performance of the dramatic Beethoven Violin Sonata Op. 30 No. 2 was compelling and stunning as it moved through changing moods from serenity to storms in the skilful and energetic hands of these fine interpreters.

Similarly, the highly charged ‘Praeludium and Allegro in the style of Pugnani’, a Romantic pastiche of Italian Baroque by Austrian violinist-composer Fritz Kreisler, was a delight.

What a glorious way to spend a lunchtime… and improve international relations.

The Queen’s Award-winning Toad Lane Concerts are every Wednesday at 12.30pm at St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane, Rochdale, OL16 1DZ. Entrance fee is £6. No refreshments available. Contact 01706 648872 for further information.

To see details of forthcoming Toad Lane Concerts, click here.

Dr Joe Dawson