James Rhodes, the "pitiful" pianist who played to celebrate Pedro Sánchez receiving "a fucking ton of pasta" from the EU

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"He is a very bad pianist who sells very well. He

has a very well constructed extra-musical story and the man reaches many people. He has his story and will surely have raised many consciences. From a strictly musical point of view, what he does is regrettable. It is a marketing product. "

Juan Carlos Garbayo (pianist, National Music Prize winner with his Arbós Trio, conductor, director of the South Music Festival of Motril and favorite son of Granada) thus defined

in an interview with the newspaper 'Granada Hoy' a couple ago weeks.

The declaration took on new life this Wednesday on the occasion of the presentation of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Spanish Economy: that is, the reform program to receive

.

Before the event, a video of Rhodes was aired in which he performed at his home piano and 'Hymn to Joy' by Ludwig Van Beethoven.

The appointment of Rhodes to accompany the presentation has been associated with controversy for several reasons.

One is marked by Rhodes's questionable pianistic skills, as experts such as Garbayo have highlighted,

.

Another controversial aspect is the strategy carried out by Rhodes since he decided to settle in Spain in 2017 from his native England.

This tactic has made him a relatively well-known figure for reasons other than music (at first, for the publication of his book 'Instrumental', where he recounted how he was sexually abused as a child by his gymnastics teacher), although this has ended up translating into positive effects for his career in these latitudes.

On the occasion of the independence referendum in Catalonia on October 1, the director and screenwriter

('Eight Basque surnames', 'Fe de etarras', 'Pagafantas') made a joke about it:

different

. "

But a not inconsiderable success: he has played on stages such as the

(within the Universal Music Festival), the

, the Palau de la Música Catalana or the Sónar Festival, among others.

Pro Manuela Carmena and pro Pedro Sánchez

An admirer of Manuela Carmena, he came to 'quasi' preside over several official acts of the Madrid City Council.

After the fall of the mayor because of the municipal elections of 2019,

chose him to name his bill for the protection of children, just

.

Rhodes, for his part, has always shown his public support for the parties that are currently part of the Government of Spain, as well as his opposition to the PP and Vox.

Regarding the leader of this last formation,

, the Briton once told him through his Twitter account: "The RAE dictionary contains 88,000 words. But I could never combine any of them [sic] well enough to explain

. "

Conversely, he justified his action on Wednesday and rejected that it was a propaganda act in another text, also through his Twitter account.

"

recovery plan

today," he wrote previously.

"Proud to be part of Europe. But even prouder to call Spain my home."

Once the piece was aired, he said: "It's fun, if a little sad, to see how many people are furious that someone plays Beethoven to

to help our country recover."

And, "for the haters", he wanted to make another aspect clear: "I have not received a penny (in fact I have refused to cover the costs of the tuner etc)".

James Rhodes has also made headlines recently for his relationship with Argentine actress and model

and who appeared without clothes on the cover of the late 'Interviú' magazine.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the instrumentalist preferred solitude to his company.

His inability to cook was made up for by the generosity of his fans, who entertained him mainly with croquettes.

As soon as the seclusion was over, he asked Breque to marry him.

All this, related in detail through their social networks.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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