Armando Iannucci and James Rhodes met on the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss the transcendent power of music, using the concert grand at Cadogan Hall to help tell their remarkable stories. The chair is broadcaster, author and leading voice on all things musical, Clemency Burton-Hill. James Rhodes is known as the wild man of concert pianists. His approach to the piano is raw and unbridled – the diametric opposite to the composed figure in white tie and tails of classical music convention. His knowledge of, and passion for, the great composers is unrestrained, pouring forth in recitals, documentaries, best-selling albums and his 2015 memoir, Instrumental. Armando Iannucci is one of Britain's leading comedy writers, the creator of Alan Partridge, Veep and The Thick of It. He is also an obsessive classical music fan, devoted since childhood to what he calls ‘the single most inspiring, most moving, most magical thread running through my whole cultural experience’. He longs to enthuse the public with his conviction that the greatest artistic miracle of all is man’s ability to create something as extraordinary as Bach’s Goldberg Variations. This event was recorded on the 31st of January 2018, at Cadogan Hall in London. It was originally produced by Executive Producer Hannah Kaye — We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be about. Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to [email protected]. At Intelligence Squared we’ve got our own online streaming platform, Intelligence Squared+ and we’d love you to give it a go. It’s packed with more than 20 years’ worth of video debates and conversations on the world’s most important topics as well as exclusive podcast content. Tune in to live events, ask your questions or watch on-demand, totally ad-free with hours of discussion to dive into. Visit intelligencesquaredplus.com to start watching today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices