Toad Lane Concerts: Maria King piano

Maria King

Great classical music can also be great fun, as seen on Wednesday 20 September at St Mary in the Baum.

Maria King graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music, followed by study in Paris, before returning to work there as an accompanist for eight years. A keen fundraiser, she also plays for several charities.

Maria has also honed her gift for entertaining for many years on first class cruise liners with her own show.

The programme brought together all these gifts. Her memory skills alone were enough to put her in the front rank of players.

The sparkle of her introductory piano matched the glitter on her microphone as Maria launched into a breathtaking hour of music and wit with irrepressible energy and fun.

Beautifully played works by Debussy established her classical credentials before Liberace’s hilarious version of Chopsticks pricked the bubble with its fragments of cartoon music and celebrated virtuoso passages.

A Rachmaninov prelude showed her power and phenomenal technique, followed by added vocals in the late Victoria Wood’s riotous ‘Let’s do it’.

Smile by Chaplin left everyone beaming as she closed with a seminal piece, the fantastic Mephisto Waltz by Liszt. Earning the accolade ‘concert pianist extraordinaire’.

The Queen’s Award-winning Toad Lane Concerts are every Wednesday at 12.30pm at the Grade 1 listed church of 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