Torch Theatre
Friday 18 March 2016
When Milford Haven’s Torch Theatre asked me to review Worbey & Farrell: Two Hands at One Piano I naturally asked them ‘What’s it about?’ They said it’s a piano recital. I wasn’t filled with enthusiasm.
But they had me once again. Like the trepidation that was flung out of the window with my first foray into contemporary dance with Pixelated Squid & The Universe last month (read my review here), within minutes of watching this show – I realised that this was not a normal piano recital.
In fact, Stephen Worbey & Kevin Farrell informed the large crowd at the outset that they were on a mission to ‘make piano recitals fun’. And boy did they deliver.
What you have here are two musicians who are masters of their instrument. So much so that they can casually converse with the audience in-between grueling arrangements of hefty classics as though they’d just tinkled a little tune they’d been working on.
Yet, with the huge video projection of their exquisite playing on the big cinema screen behind them, you could see – with a birds eye view – the massive complexities of the arrangements. It was breathtaking. To see four hands tackle Bach, Rachmaninov, Gershwin and Lady Gaga on one piano in one concert was no mean feat and their recital of Rachmaninov’s 18th Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with their own Deviations on a Theme of Paganini – was a particular highlight.
An unexpected treat was the funny stories shared by the duo. Kevin Farrell was especially adept at spinning a yarn. They even got political with us at one point prior to a rendition of Highland Cathedral – the boys helpfully explaining that after “that ghastly business” with the Scottish Independence Referendum last year, it would likely become Scotland’s anthem in the light of them leaving the UK (although technically Highland Cathedral was written by a couple of German guys…)
Prolonged applause and cheering at the end of each number along with a standing ovation from many in the audience will have sent these two hugely talented performers back to their Edinburgh base with hwyl in their hearts. Let’s hope they come back to Wales to spread more of their music across the land of song in the not too distant future!
words JACK BARKER