Toad Lane Concerts: Tim Kennedy's solo piano recital

Tim Kennedy's solo piano recital

Standing in at very short notice, Tim Kennedy gave a varied and enjoyable solo piano recital on the refurbished heritage 1935 Challen Grand Piano at St Mary in the Baum.

No stranger to this concert series as an accompanist or solo tenor, Tim studied music at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, but he has now been based in Manchester as a freelance professional musician for more than fifteen years.

As well as being a piano accompanist, he also works as a professional singer, vocal coach and organist. He is a staff accompanist at the RNCM and an official accompanist for festivals, regional events and competitions. [For further information, see www.tim-kennedy.co.uk]

The old saying about ‘quality’ in music, ‘too good to be popular or too popular to be good,’ was resolved in Tim’s recital because the playing was immaculate and exciting, all very good and also very popular.

Firstly, the ‘good’ category included Sonata No. 16 in C, by Mozart with its blistering scales; haunting and lingering Debussy; expressive Frank Bridge (Benjamin Britten’s teacher); and inspiring Arno Babajanian. But they all proved popular too.

Secondly, ‘popular’ could include the jazzy Danny Boy arranged by Nikki Iles, which was also good. As was the Suite from HBO tv series “Succession” by Nicholas Brittell, four sections of striking fresh and vivid contemporary piano sounds. One movement, clearly derived from the harmony of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata transformed into an atmospheric scene, which suggested that if Mozart and Beethoven etc were living today they would be writing for tv and films.

As a finale we had an alluring medley of Burt Bacharach hit standards. Again, this was also definitely good, memorable gems proving popular for this audience.

The Queen’s Award-winning Toad Lane Concerts are every Wednesday at 12.30pm at the Grade-1 building of St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane, Rochdale, OL16 1DZ. Entrance fee is £6. No refreshments available.

Contact 01706 648872 for further information.

Dr Joe Dawson