Classical music is anything but gloomy

Outrageous and, in his own way, surreal, Danny Kaye (1911 - 1987) was a famous American actor, singer, comedian and dancer who starred in innumerable movies, shows and theatrical works. His gestures and charades prompted bursts of delirious laughter of a mostly English-speaking audience who adored skits such as reciting an endless cascade of words so quickly, it seemed Kaye would drown in the attempt.

Zapata – the tenor from Granada, José Manuel Zapata-, a singer and showman with no complexes and with an enormous stage charisma, pays tribute to Kaye by reviving one of his little-known sides: the music amateur who would stand up in front of important American orchestras to “replace” conductors of the likes of Eugene Ormandy or Zubin Mehta, and imitate them, conducting orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic. These events were televised all across the United States and one of them - in 1981 - was nominated for an Emmy award.

In a stage production and script shared with Paco Mir (Tricicle), Zapata engages us in musical mischief with some crazy gags that dismantle the more serious and sober clichés of the genre. Not only will the audience be greatly entertained, but it will also listen to a varied selection of musical pieces which, like the multifaceted Danny Kaye, will go from Brahms to AC/DC, or from Beethoven to Johann Strauss. And since there is a very serious side to humour, which is also an aspect of Zapata, the gags are well thought-out, refined, subtle, and project an ironic side of the world of classical music. However, as in everything Zapata does, his viewpoint demonstrates a most profound love of the genre. So, it’s time for this cultured and serious audience to relax and look at itself, with a similar mindset and humour as composers like the smiling Rossini and so many others. Can we laugh while listening to classical music? Of course we can! Classical music is anything but gloomy. Music, Zapata, let’s laugh and have some fun!