If you want a high quality piano recital cheerfully enlivened with a bit of stand up comedy than catch Steven Worbey and Kevin Farrell in action. Although they aren\u2019t yet a household name they have performed in over 150 countries and seem to astound audiences everywhere they go \u2013 we reviewed them here when they played The Carnival of \u00a0Animals<\/em> with Barry Wordsworth and Brighton Philharmonic earlier this year.<\/p>\n Yes, they follow in the tradition of Victor Borge and Liberace but their USP – and it\u2019s quite a coup – is that they play four hands on one piano and arrange the music accordingly. It\u2019s an original take on the concept of piano transcription. \u00a0This concert included their versions of Scott Joplin, Vidor\u2019s Toccata and Fugue<\/em>, Bumble Boogie<\/em>, Sidesaddle <\/em>and much more \u2013 culminating in a stunning rendering of Rhapsody in Blue<\/em>.<\/p>\n Worbey and Farrell, who were at the Royal College of Music together, are partners in life as well as in music. Normally I\u2019d regard that as a complete irrelevance but here it isn\u2019t. There\u2019s a comfortable intimacy in the way they play because this is definitely not piano duetting in any conventional sense. \u00a0Sharing a single piano stool, they lean across each other, tucking notes in beneath each other\u2019s hands as they race up and down the keys taking most works at phenomenal speed. They told the audience that Joplin stipulated that his rags should be played slowly. \u201cWe\u2019ve come to the conclusion\u201d, Farrell said chirpily, \u201cThat he just couldn\u2019t play them as fast as we can! So we\u2019ll meet him in the middle.\u201d The joke, of course, was the accelerando in the Maple Leaf Rag<\/em> after a gentle start.<\/p>\n In addition to lots of humour \u2013 they spark well off of each other as comedians too \u2013 the concert included extracts from The Carnival of Animals <\/em>which they developed for the BPO concert. Each number is preceded by an introductory verse which they\u2019ve written and they\u2019re pretty witty.<\/p>\n I also really like the projection above and behind their heads which, with a camera placed near the piano, allows the audience to watch their hands. It\u2019s carefully thought out too. Worbey was wearing floral cuffs while Farrell\u2019s shirt had a scarlet band at the wrist so there was never any visual doubt whose hands were whose.<\/p>\n They are musically highly attuned to each other and achieve some astonishing effects with prestissimo<\/em>, fortissimo<\/em> playing especially in the Vidor. Such virtuosic flamboyance is testament to a lot of talent, the chemistry between Worbey and Farrell and many thousands of hours of work and practice. And it makes for an entertaining concert.<\/p>\n Susan Elkin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cadogan Hall, 6 September 2018 If you want a high quality piano recital cheerfully enlivened with a bit of stand up comedy than catch Steven Worbey and Kevin Farrell in action. Although they aren\u2019t yet a household name they … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Worbey-and-Farrell.jpg\")
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