ROMANCE will be in the air at Keswick's Theatre by the Lake on Valentine's Day when distinguished French pianist Pascal Rogé duets with his wife Ami.

The couple will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of visionary French composer Erik Satie, presenting his music in the context of compatriots including Debussy, Ravel and Poulenc.

Satie was very much ahead of his time, as Mary Cooke, honorary secretary of Keswick Music Society explained. Born in 1866, he collaborated in the theatre with Cocteau, Picasso and the artistic avant-garde of the age.

"The story of his life reads sometimes like a surrealist fantasy – at one point he would eat only white food, at another having inherited a small sum of money he bought seven identical corduroy suits to make getting dressed simpler," Mary told the Gazette.

Pascal and Ami Rogé have travelled the world with their programmes for piano solo and duet, and in their performances they are said to act intuitively as one.

There will be a pre-concert talk by local musician John Cooper Green at 6.45pm, before the concert at 7.30pm on Sunday, February 14. Box office 017687-74411.