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This is Benjamin Grosvenor, playing
at the first night of the Proms

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just a few weeks ago.

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At 19, he's the youngest ever
soloist to perform at
the first night of the Proms,

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and his virtuosity has dazzled both
the audience and the critics.

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RAPTUROUS APPLAUSE

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Six years ago, Imagine discovered
this musical prodigy in the making.

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This is an 11-year-old
Benjamin Grosvenor on his way
to winning the piano section

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at the Young Musician Of The Year
competition in 2004.

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I'm absolutely bowled over by him.

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It was fabulous really.

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Completely natural feeling for
colour and gesture, extraordinary.

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I really felt like I was
witnessing some historic moment.

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Benjamin's very
clear about his future.

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In about
10 years time or 20 years time,
I'd like to be a concert pianist.

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It's what I want to do in life.

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But what does it mean to be a
concert pianist today and what is
Benjamin letting himself in for?

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The idea of having to walk
on stage and play the piano

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in a packed concert hall
is one of those universal
fantasies, or is it nightmares?

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Unfortunately, I can only
play the piano in my dreams.

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Yet, I'm still magnetically
drawn to the instrument.

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I can never resist sitting down
at a piano and touching the keys.

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Unlike the violin, it is at
least easy to get a sound from.

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But at the same time, there's
something so improbable
about serious piano-playing.

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The speed, the technique,
the memory.

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Great piano players appear to be
endowed with mystical qualities.

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What's more, the swaying, crouching,
tormented figure hammering

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and caressing the ivories
is still one of those
archetypal romantic images.

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It's not hard to understand why
a young boy like Benjamin Grosvenor

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might want to be a concert pianist.
Who wouldn't?

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Great!

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Concert piano playing really began
in the 1830s when the composer,

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Franz Liszt, first introduced the
notion of the solo piano concert.

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Piano recitals rapidly became
a widespread and highly popular
form of musical entertainment.

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Liszt and his friend,
Frederic Chopin, were the first

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in a long line of great pianists
who became the cultural heroes
and pin-ups of their time.

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They were followed by such piano
giants as Ignacy Paderewski,

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whose fame as a pianist led him
to become Prime Minister
in his native Poland.

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The Virtuoso pianist
and composer, Sergei Rachmaninov
and Artur Rubinstein,

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who in his 70-year-long career,
became the ultimate
international superstar.

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The tradition of heroic pianists
continued

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throughout the twentieth century,
with iconic figures like Horowitz...

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Richter...

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..and Glenn Gould.

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In today's fiendishly competitive
music world, the star pianist
still retains an elite status.

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'I went to see the leading British
composer, George Benjamin, who both
writes and performs at the piano,

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'to talk about Benjamin
Grosvenor's chances of success.'

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When a young pianist like Benjamin
Grosvenor, for instance, here he is,
he's at the beginning of this.

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It's a hugely competitive area.

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What is it that's going to make a
concert pianist for today stand out

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in this very
competitive environment?

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It's very difficult because
there are thousands wanting
to be concert pianists.

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Obviously, natural virtuosity,
the ability to learn and
to conquer the instrument.

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All the obvious things.

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Depth of interpretation,
understanding,

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the ability to listen to oneself,
to hear the piano while playing it.

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Also, charisma for the audience,
having that quality that forces

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the listener to empathise with you
while you're playing and to force
the public to listen.

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Essentially, if you want to master
it, you have to start young.

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I think so, on the whole,
there's always exceptions.

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Usually, people do start
pretty young - six, seven, eight.

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To conquer music...

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People can be extraordinarily
brilliant at music at an early age.

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More than anything else,
mathematics is the equivalent.

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One must be born with talent.
That is the most important thing.

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You must be born with talent
and then you can only develop it
when there's nothing to learn.

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You can't learn talent.

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There's no question, becoming a
concert pianist is an olympian task

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and it certainly
helps to start young.

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Not all but most of today's top
pianists began playing
at an extremely early age.

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Piano for me is like
my childhood friend.

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My parents bought a piano,
an upright piano for me

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when I was one year
and eight months,

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almost two years old.

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My mother tells me I started to
play the piano when I was three.

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I was just a kid
who played the piano.

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I guess nature
decided for me from the beginning.

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I started to play the piano
at aged two,

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or to be precise, when I was
two years and two months old -

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as soon as I was tall
enough to reach the keyboard.

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Do you have a first
memory of the piano?

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When you first heard a piano?

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No!

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I don't think I was a Mozart

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and went up to the piano and started
playing when I was about three.

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I started when I was
about six and a half.

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I think then I wasn't really

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very determined and confident.

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I didn't want to practise a lot.

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I suppose a bit more like Beethoven,

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he tried to avoid music
lessons when he was younger.

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Over the years, I got
used to it and it grew on me.

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There has to be a moment
when you think to yourself,

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I want to do this.
I remember a couple of years ago,

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playing on the stage at the local
cricket pavilion, the concert hall,

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a charity ball or something.

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When I came off, I said to my mum, I
really want to be a concert pianist.

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I had so much fun being on that
stage and playing to the people.

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So there's
definitely a performer in you,

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someone who likes the
appreciation of the audience?

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Likes that scary moment when you
get up on stage? Is it scary?

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No. It's fun, I suppose.

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When you receive the audience's
applause it's...

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..I suppose it gives
you self-confidence.

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There's no doubt that Ben has the
necessary enthusiasm as well as
a huge dose of natural talent,

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but he also needs to
be immensely dedicated.

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He practises for up to
eight hours a day, six days a week.

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On Sundays, he travels up
to London with his mother

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for lessons with Christopher Elton,
head of the piano department
at the Royal Academy Of Music.

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There are different types of prodigy.

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In a way, I don't
like using the word.

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There are those who're
incredibly well developed physically.

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They can tear around the piano
in a very gymnastic way.

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There are also people
who are prodigious in,

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just somehow, and who knows where
from, having a deep understanding,

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sensitivity and even spirituality.

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For me, this is the
more interesting one

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and I would have to say that Benjamin
is stronger on that front than the
purely pianistic front for his age.

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He's capable of giving a
performance which is very moving,

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which has enormous integrity to it,
which is natural.

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He finds his own voice in many ways,
but he also works very hard

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at the physical side of things, as
has to be done, in order to be able

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to deliver and to communicate
what it is he wants to say.

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Change, change...

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Good.

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Hold on...

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That was fine, the pedalling there.

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The first time, there was almost none
which is a fantastic way
to practise it.

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There's no point evading
the fact that playing the piano is
physical to a large extent.

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It's easier to train physically
when you're young, to develop muscles

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which are supple, to develop
strength when you're young.

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If a pianist hasn't got the basic
technique really sorted out by the
time they're 15 or 16, they may

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advance and get very good, but there
are always going to be some hang-ups,

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feelings of insecurity,
fillings that they aren't
naturally developed enough.

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How does this all fit into your
school routine? I take it you
still have to go to school.

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I have quite a lot of time off
school.

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I have 16 free periods a week off.

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It's quite a lot of time.

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With school, I don't really get
the amount of practice I
want to get done.

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I'd like to practice
eight hours a day, but I can't
do that because of school.

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What do you do in your time off
or don't you get any?

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Most of the time, I'm practising.

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You get enough satisfaction
without worrying about all
the things you're missing.

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I don't really see what I am missing,

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because it's not like...
I do do other things.

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I'm not always on the piano.

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Most of the time, I'm on the
piano but I do do other things.

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For the moment, Ben is carrying
on at his local grammar school

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with just a weekly visit
to London for a lesson.

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But for how much longer?

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Most teenage wannabe pianists
will sooner or later head off

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for full-time piano education
at one of the music hothouses.

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The Juilliard School in New York
attracts piano students
from all over the world.

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They come here often at
huge personal and financial cost
to study.

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Unsurprisingly, there are
no slackers at the Juilliard.

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Juilliard provides incomparable
atmosphere for budding artists.

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You have to be incredibly strong
and confident in a certain way

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to be able to survive the
pressures of the school.

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It can ruin a person.

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It's notorious for being a
competitive place because everyone
plays at such a high level.

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There are 25
students in this college class.

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All of whom come in here

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with the wish to fulfil a dream,

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a dream that they've
had since childhood,

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of being able to make music
and share it with an audience.

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I would say that almost all of
them want to be concert pianists.

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Many of them come in here having
no idea what their potential is.

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Some come with inflated views
of what they can do,

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some come
with very little confidence.

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They all want to find out,
find out how far they can take it,
and that's what they're here for.

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The one common thread here
is their love of music,
which becomes almost their religion.

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I was five and
half and I started winning
competitions after competitions.

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Finally, my piano teacher said

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"There's no more room for her
to grow artistically here.

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"I feel like I've
taught everything I know.

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"You should take her to America
where there are more
opportunities and more...

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"I guess, just a wider horizon
for music."

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My mother took me here when I was...
I think I just turned 11.

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She was always a very successful
businesswoman in China.

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We had a very well established
life and were comfortable.

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When we came here, all of a sudden,
we were starting from the beginning.

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Given the incredible opportunity
to do it and to have my parents
go against all odds

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to make that possible for me,
has only fuelled this drive that I've
always had to be successful at this.

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I love playing and I love performing.

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Yeah, I basically just work!

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Because of the enormous pressures,
students need to be actively
discouraged from overplaying.

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An optimum number of hours for
practising for a concert pianist is
between four and five.

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Six is a maximum and beyond
that, the law of diminishing
returns starts setting in.

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The muscles are worn,
they're depleted of blood

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and fluid supplies and they're much
more likely to become injured.

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At some point, it becomes apparent
which students have the potential
to make the transition into artists.

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I know that a student has the
making of an artist when you give
them an idea and they fly with it.

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They don't just...

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simply reproduce what you tell them.

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They take the idea
and take it a step further

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and that step
opens the door for them.

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Teachers in general can
teach them what to do at
this spot, what to do at that spot.

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Once you get that down
in your system,

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you have to
go into a practice room

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and think about it all over again
from the first note to the last.

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I'm quite surprised when
we have masterclasses

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and somebody else is playing the
same piece that I worked on.

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We have the same teacher
but it sounds totally different and
I don't understand how that can be.

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That's when the
personality thing kicks in.

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The scene today is such that the
percentages of the people who are
actually going to make it is low.

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They know realistically
that their chances

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of making it are slim statistically,
but they want the chance to try so
that there are no regrets later on.

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They give it their best shot
and some are lucky, some are not.

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In my last 20 to 30 years of
listening to young pianists,
I remember only

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maybe a couple or three whom I say,
I think you can make a big career.

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So every year, hundreds of brilliant
piano students get to the end of a
training for which they've literally

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given up the whole of their
life so far, only to discover
there's still a long way to go.

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If they're serious about being
a pianist on the concert stage,

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they'll need to continue studying,
maybe with one of the great masters.

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I had a few very fine pupils.

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I have a passion for it.

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I love it.
What do you try to communicate?

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What is it that you want to teach,
to instil into them?

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I not so much communicate, I try
to discover who they are for them.

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I think that one has relied too
much, too long on methods
for everyone,

220
00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:22,000
and that's very wrong in art.

221
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:29,280
The great master, the great
professor, the one who discovers
possibilities and impossibilities

222
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:34,360
in his pupil. I have good
results with it, I must say.

223
00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:40,120
You have to develop something
powerful, authentic and original
to say about the music that you play.

224
00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:44,040
That means a profundity of soul
and an insight into the music.

225
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:46,960
That's something
you can't tell if it's going to come.

226
00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,760
It can come along later than
you expect or not at all.

227
00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:56,280
Just absolutely brilliant, pianistic,
virtuosity is in the
end uninteresting

228
00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:59,560
and won't feed a whole life.

229
00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:06,640
The Portuguese pianist, Maria Joao
Pires, is one of the great figures
on the world concert platform

230
00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:13,240
and an inspirational teacher,
who gives masterclasses to a select
group of exceptional students.

231
00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:14,920
Now, what is the meaning of this?

232
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:18,840
What means this?

233
00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:20,560
What do you feel?

234
00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:24,640
I feel like it's not a
clear image, like a ghost

235
00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:28,560
that is passing by, that you can
never really see what it really is.

236
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:33,440
But after, you have felt this...

237
00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:39,800
Then you cannot play, ba ba ba ba...

238
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,440
because it doesn't fit. Feel
with your body, don't feel it here,

239
00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:48,240
don't hear what I am saying,
I am not talking to you.

240
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,240
I don't exist. You are...

241
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,600
You are...feeling now something.

242
00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,840
I'm just helping you to feel
something.

243
00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,720
Feel it with all your being.

244
00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:03,720
(Go, go, go, go!)

245
00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:12,840
Why is it staccato?

246
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:16,760
Who says? You?

247
00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:18,960
You're feeling that it is staccato?

248
00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:21,040
Really? Promise me?

249
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,040
My feeling of...

250
00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:26,520
My brain says...

251
00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:32,080
My sense of style says
I have to play everything staccato.

252
00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,720
Also not good. No!

253
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:44,920
We encounter most people trying to
read literally what the score says.

254
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,760
The score says a lot of things,

255
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:52,040
but we're looking for that thing
that is beyond the notes, the bars,

256
00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:54,080
the crescendo, the innuendo there.

257
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:56,960
It is a safe haven for teachers.

258
00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:01,240
Most teachers rely on a literal
reading, very accurate,

259
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:04,880
exact reading of what's written.
Then you hear this music

260
00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,920
played this way and it's that -
it doesn't express anything.

261
00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,800
It is very literal
reading of the score.

262
00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:16,560
As Mahler used to say,
the print of the score

263
00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,960
has everything you need to know
about the music except
the essential.

264
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:23,520
Time.

265
00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:45,080
What is the difference between
my way of playing and yours?

266
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,120
It is just one thing

267
00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:51,000
and one little thing.

268
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,440
I think it's something to do

269
00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,120
with giving space

270
00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:01,720
to certain notes.

271
00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:06,320
The space is given by time. No time,

272
00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:09,440
all the world is mine.

273
00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,880
I have the space,
I don't have to do.

274
00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:14,720
I just feel.

275
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:26,840
Time.

276
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:37,120
The paradox of being a pianist
is that much of your life is spent
in almost monastic isolation,

277
00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:41,960
in the relentless soul-searching
business of practising alone
at the keyboard.

278
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:46,240
But eventually, you have to emerge
in front of a large crowd of people

279
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:50,000
and perform for an hour
or even two on a stage.

280
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:53,560
There's no doubt that part of
our fascination with the pianist,

281
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:58,240
lies in witnessing something very
private being revealed in public.

282
00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,920
The business of people playing
music, for others listening
to music,

283
00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:09,200
in the ceremony of a concert hall
is incredibly important.

284
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:15,720
Not only is it some form of social
gathering and it's a ritual,
but people love to be played to.

285
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:20,760
People who play music yearn to play
for others, so there's an osmosis

286
00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:25,680
between performer and audience,
which is the heart of music.

287
00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:32,560
The recordings are fantastic things,
incredibly useful, a wonderful gift
to a musical civilisation,

288
00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:38,840
but the truth is the danger of the
concert, the risk of the theatre
of a concert where so much

289
00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:42,160
can go wrong and so much can
go mysteriously right.

290
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:46,960
Where in the best moments,
a magic performer playing a great
piece can hypnotise hundreds,

291
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:51,200
if not thousands of people and
take them to another world and
move them very deeply.

292
00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:56,480
A young pianist who's recently
joined the upper echelons

293
00:26:56,480 --> 00:27:02,560
of the piano world, is the
22-year-old Chinese virtuoso,
Lang Lang.

294
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:10,760
'Five minutes, please.
Five minutes, thank you.'

295
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:16,040
Lang Lang now performs an
exhausting schedule of concerts
right around the world.

296
00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:20,960
Tomorrow, he's playing in Berlin,
but tonight, it's Symphony
Hall in Birmingham.

297
00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,600
Talking about performance day
which is a great subject to talk.

298
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:33,880
It is a little bit hard because
now I have 100 concerts a year.

299
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:39,800
And so basically three days,
one concert, plus the travelling.

300
00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:44,440
It's very different between
the performances.

301
00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:57,880
Before the concert, I rehearse a
little bit and normally I like
to eat some chocolate or fruit.

302
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:04,520
Also I just like to stand up,
not playing piano,
but just thinking about this music

303
00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:08,040
and then start...not conducting,

304
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:11,640
because I really don't know how
to conduct,

305
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:13,720
but something...

306
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:19,000
Look out to the
moon and start touching the air.

307
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:27,000
Sometimes I start thinking about
images, or thinking about

308
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,520
a good vacation,
lying on a beach or in a mountain.

309
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,080
Basically thinking about nature.

310
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:39,840
Sometimes I even play with closed
eyes and it's very helpful.

311
00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:41,640
Very helpful.

312
00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:45,640
'All soloists, this is your call
to the stage, please. Thank you.'

313
00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:10,560
Perhaps
I don't think I need to be nervous.

314
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:15,240
Even when you're nervous, it
can start to help you.

315
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:23,560
Please go, I don't want to be late!

316
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:32,480
Maybe the first time I performed,
you're quite nervous when
you walk the stage.

317
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:39,000
Then you see the audience,
the piano, the light in the
concert hall, it is very warm.

318
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:43,680
For me, that's the reason
I love to perform.

319
00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:58,120
When I was
five, I gave the first recital.

320
00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:04,160
In the beginning, I was
nervous because I didn't know
what the stage was like.

321
00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:08,520
The stage lights are
there, it's very beautiful.

322
00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:12,680
Basically it is big yellow shining
lights

323
00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:17,400
and then you don't feel
any cold, or any nervousness.

324
00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:20,640
It feels like home sweet home.

325
00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:07,400
This piece, it's the Beethoven
Piano Concerto Number Four.

326
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:09,600
It's quite a religious piece.

327
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:15,800
It is very mysterious and the
second movement is like a mystery.

328
00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,120
It's like how to solve mystery.

329
00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:22,960
It is like, kind of a pre-movement.

330
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:47,440
Then I think the most
sad thing is the end of the piece.

331
00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:49,480
This note...

332
00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,520
It is dead inside.

333
00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:29,680
I do find it easy to play, but I
certainly find to play the piano

334
00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:32,800
is such an enjoyable
thing to do in life.

335
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:38,040
Sometimes I'm tired,
but after I play a few notes...

336
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:43,280
Those don't count,
but I play something!

337
00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:49,520
Then I'm like... It's like I get
out from a vacation for 10 days.

338
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:52,000
It is that kind of freshness.

339
00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:23,160
APPLAUSE

340
00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:44,560
Are you cultivating a personality
for your concert performances?

341
00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:46,240
I don't want to play concerts.

342
00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:48,680
I don't like to dress up.

343
00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:55,560
I don't imagine myself going on with
tails and flapping out of the seat!

344
00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,200
I play in a BHS shirt!

345
00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:02,400
Totally casual I suppose.

346
00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:09,000
I tried all my life to find
the best way of feeling
well-disposed for a concert.

347
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:15,680
I spend the day eating a big steak
at luncheon, I lie down to rest.

348
00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:17,960
I read a book,

349
00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:22,640
I go for a short walk,
I had slept 10 hours that night.

350
00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:26,680
Everything that a little good
boy should do, yes?

351
00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:31,560
In the evening, I come out
and suddenly, something drops in me.

352
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:33,360
There is no inspiration,

353
00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,120
not a real wish to play.

354
00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:41,560
On other days, I arrive half
dead from a trip. I hadn't slept,

355
00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:46,760
it was very inconvenient,
they didn't give me any
good things to eat.

356
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:50,040
I'm nervous, very restless,

357
00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:56,360
I feel weak, I imagine
some pains in my arm, a headache.

358
00:36:56,360 --> 00:37:02,000
I come out to the audience
and all those things drop from me

359
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:04,440
and I'm the highest of spirits.

360
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:11,360
Jo MacGregor, one of Britain's most
innovative and popular classical

361
00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:14,920
musicians, is playing one
of the keyboard masterpieces,

362
00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:18,880
Bach's Goldberg Variations,
at London's Wigmore Hall.

363
00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:30,600
I've waited a long time to play
this piece. I've had the score of it
for 20 years.

364
00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:34,000
I didn't think I was anywhere
near ready to play this.

365
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:38,720
Obviously, I've known the two Glenn
Gould recordings since I was young.

366
00:38:38,720 --> 00:38:42,320
I have lots
of recordings of people playing it.

367
00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:46,400
I just waited until I thought
the time was right
for me to start playing.

368
00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:01,240
I always think of these pieces
as you make these friendships.

369
00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:06,000
You take them into your life,
if nothing too bad goes wrong with
the piece first time round,

370
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,680
you go, OK, you're part of my life
and come back to them.

371
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:12,000
Your relationship with
them gets deeper and deeper.

372
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:14,480
There's an element of...

373
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:19,000
a spiritual connection that you have
with these pieces.

374
00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:27,760
When you practise the piano for hours
every day, for months and years,

375
00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:30,600
which is what you're doing,
even when travelling,

376
00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:34,360
there are certain parts of
you that become very focused.

377
00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:38,320
You learn to deal
with solitude, learn to...

378
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:42,200
direct your time on your own.
You become very self-sufficient.

379
00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:46,520
You also begin to have
a strong fantasy life.

380
00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:48,960
You have a strong creative landscape.

381
00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:55,320
You become somebody who
reacts strongly to pieces

382
00:39:55,320 --> 00:40:01,600
and you extract things from them that
can only come because you've spent
hundreds of hours on these pieces.

383
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:04,000
That's what the
audience sees on stage.

384
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:32,480
You have to be not mad
while you're doing it too.

385
00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:34,880
You have to
keep things in proportion.

386
00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:37,640
You feel very cut off

387
00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:41,960
sometimes when you're playing
and become so...

388
00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:43,800
self-critical,

389
00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:48,000
so hard on yourself
if things don't go well.

390
00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:49,520
That can be hard.

391
00:40:56,840 --> 00:41:01,320
I've always thought that
pianists, like boxers, should
have trainers in the corner.

392
00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:05,920
You go back to
them after each piece and they go,
"You're doing really well!"

393
00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:09,320
You don't have that, as a
pianist, you're on your own.

394
00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:13,280
You do it for yourself and
have to be very strong.

395
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:12,000
It's interesting to me how you...

396
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:14,800
you think to yourself,
"I want to be a pianist.

397
00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:18,160
"Lots of people have played this,
lots of people I've admired."

398
00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:21,160
How do you make it your own,
the pieces? Is that easy to do?

399
00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:28,160
Well, the Chopin Ballade, I've got
about...ten recordings of it.

400
00:42:28,160 --> 00:42:31,280
I listen to all of them.

401
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:35,080
From them, I get my own
interpretation of it.

402
00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:39,560
What do you think it is that you
want to bring to those pieces
when you listen?

403
00:42:39,560 --> 00:42:42,160
What is it that you have
to offer do you think?

404
00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:45,520
It's got to sound natural.
What do you mean by natural?

405
00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:51,920
If it doesn't sound convincing,
you can do anything, but if it sounds
convincing it will sound all right.

406
00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:58,040
So I suppose you think
of your interpretation
and keep practising it.

407
00:42:58,040 --> 00:43:00,120
Make the piece your own.

408
00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:02,800
There's one bit...

409
00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:10,040
Rubinstein goes like that.

410
00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:11,760
I prefer it to go...

411
00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:24,920
So, we all do it differently
I suppose.

412
00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:54,960
Rachmaninov's second piano concerto
is one of the most popular

413
00:43:54,960 --> 00:43:57,720
and frequently performed
pieces in the repertoire.

414
00:43:57,720 --> 00:44:03,440
The challenge for every pianist
is to somehow forge
a fresh interpretation.

415
00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:19,400
Top British pianist, Stephen Hough,
received widespread acclaim for
his recent Rachmaninov recording -

416
00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:23,040
an interpretation in the spirit
of the composer's own playing.

417
00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:28,280
Today he's rehearsing the work
with conductor Richard Hickox and
the National Orchestra Of Wales.

418
00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:34,200
Rachmaninov's second is perhaps
the most popular piano concerto

419
00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:38,360
because it's just
a most beautiful piece of music.

420
00:44:38,360 --> 00:44:43,360
It's filled with gorgeous tunes
and everyone loves a great melody.

421
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:47,840
The piece is fascinating
for all sorts of reasons,
partly because of its popularity.

422
00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:52,320
Something that, 100 years after it
was written, is still the most
popular concerto.

423
00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:54,080
It has to be doing something right.

424
00:44:54,080 --> 00:44:57,320
It's a very well-constructed piece.

425
00:44:57,320 --> 00:45:00,800
I don't think there are any bars
in it that you feel could be cut.

426
00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:06,280
It's very exciting.
It's a wonderful piece to sit in
an audience and listen to.

427
00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:09,160
We know that Rachmaninov
was a nervous performer.

428
00:45:09,160 --> 00:45:12,520
We're told that sometimes he had
to be pushed onto the platform.

429
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:15,280
He was terrified of playing
in public.

430
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:18,680
I have a
personal feeling about the piece.

431
00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:25,800
It's perfect for the nervous pianist
because it begins with some chords
to warm up, to feel the instrument.

432
00:45:25,800 --> 00:45:29,200
You're sitting down at the piano
and thinking, what's this like?

433
00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:34,680
You're playing these chords
to feel the instrument.

434
00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:36,720
Then you reach the big one.

435
00:45:46,240 --> 00:45:50,600
From that moment, you can't hear
the piano for another two minutes.

436
00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:55,800
He's playing lots of notes, warming
his fingers, but he's given this
luscious theme to the orchestra.

437
00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:58,280
They're covering him,
perhaps deliberately,

438
00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:01,240
because you always are nervous -
am I warmed up enough?

439
00:46:10,280 --> 00:46:14,320
Here you try the piano out,
play for two minutes without anyone

440
00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:17,160
hearing whether
you're playing any wrong notes.

441
00:46:17,160 --> 00:46:22,400
Then you have a glorious melody
to prove what a marvellous
lyrical gift you have.

442
00:46:43,240 --> 00:46:48,960
Whenever I learn a new piece for the
first time, I've got to want to
play it.

443
00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:53,600
That is the first stage. If you want
to play a piece because you love it

444
00:46:53,600 --> 00:46:57,160
and feel you have something
to say about it, it's a good start.

445
00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:05,080
It's not the sort of inspiration
when you're sitting in a field,
looking at the sky thinking

446
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:12,440
artistic thoughts. It's graft.
It's sitting on a piano stool with a
piano there, a pencil and a score,

447
00:47:12,440 --> 00:47:18,280
cutting through the thicket of this
music and finding your way to the
heart of what the music is about.

448
00:47:18,280 --> 00:47:20,520
This is hard work.

449
00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:47,760
For me, to avoid listening to
too many other recordings or
performances is essential.

450
00:47:47,760 --> 00:47:52,280
To know the tradition
and the tradition of Rachmaninov,

451
00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:56,200
of the composer's own style
of playing and the pianist
that he liked,

452
00:47:56,200 --> 00:48:00,760
but once you have that language,
you have to speak your
own words with it.

453
00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:16,880
I hope that having something
original to say makes it worth
going to the other side of the world

454
00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:23,560
and stepping out onto the stage
and wanting to share what I
feel about piece with the audience.

455
00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:39,760
I think this burning quality, this
compulsion to play, it should
be there in every human being.

456
00:48:39,760 --> 00:48:45,080
In order to live a full life,
you have to burn about something.

457
00:48:50,040 --> 00:48:54,920
Let's not pretend that this
is a nicely air-conditioned room.

458
00:48:54,920 --> 00:48:57,640
This is a furnace at
times and so it should be.

459
00:48:57,640 --> 00:49:02,480
You're dealing with things which
are at the heart of what it
means to live a meaningful life.

460
00:49:34,400 --> 00:49:37,960
Fantastic. Thank you, Stephen. Bravo!

461
00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:44,920
Stephen Hough is one of Benjamin
Grosvenor's two favourite pianists,
the other is Yevgeny Kissin.

462
00:49:47,840 --> 00:49:50,640
I admire Kissin's
phenomenal technique.

463
00:49:50,640 --> 00:49:52,880
It's amazing really.

464
00:49:52,880 --> 00:49:54,720
It's to be in awe of.

465
00:49:54,720 --> 00:49:58,000
I like the sound he creates.

466
00:49:58,000 --> 00:50:04,640
He can play extremely fast
and can get round notes
octaves down the piano.

467
00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:09,080
He's extremely confident
on the stage.

468
00:50:09,080 --> 00:50:10,800
He is known to have nerves of steel!

469
00:50:12,600 --> 00:50:15,440
Kissin
started the piano earlier than I did.

470
00:50:15,440 --> 00:50:20,280
I know that he was always
doing technical exercises
like thirds and tenths.

471
00:50:20,280 --> 00:50:24,760
I'm always preparing pieces
and I don't get time to do
the technical exercises.

472
00:50:24,760 --> 00:50:27,360
He did the two Chopin piano
concerto's when he was 12.

473
00:50:27,360 --> 00:50:30,880
I'm going to do that next autumn.

474
00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:33,160
I'm trying
to follow in his footsteps.

475
00:50:33,160 --> 00:50:35,800
I'm a bit behind him.

476
00:50:44,440 --> 00:50:48,720
Russian prodigy, Yevgeny Kissin,
exploded onto the world stage

477
00:50:48,720 --> 00:50:54,280
in the 1990s, astounding audiences
with the physical virtuosity
of his playing.

478
00:50:54,280 --> 00:51:00,040
He was the first ever solo
artist to perform an entire prom
concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

479
00:51:00,040 --> 00:51:06,680
For young players like Benjamin
Grosvenor, Kissin is undoubtedly
the pianist pin-up of the moment.

480
00:51:06,680 --> 00:51:11,880
I've been very lucky because
from since when I was a child,
I was in very good hands.

481
00:51:14,440 --> 00:51:17,800
My teachers
as well as those of my parents.

482
00:51:19,200 --> 00:51:22,040
Looking back, I realised that...

483
00:51:26,280 --> 00:51:31,400
..they brought me up
in the right way.

484
00:51:31,400 --> 00:51:35,040
I became famous quite early.

485
00:51:35,040 --> 00:51:38,120
And...

486
00:51:38,120 --> 00:51:44,760
they realised how a child should
be brought up in such circumstances.

487
00:51:46,440 --> 00:51:50,080
They kept
criticising me all the time,

488
00:51:50,080 --> 00:51:54,120
and looking back I realised
that was the right thing to do.

489
00:51:54,120 --> 00:51:58,240
However, I also know that by nature,

490
00:51:58,240 --> 00:52:03,480
I have never been
ambitious, let alone vain.

491
00:52:05,120 --> 00:52:07,360
So...

492
00:52:07,360 --> 00:52:13,440
As far as I can remember,
I never really cared

493
00:52:13,440 --> 00:52:19,400
when other people used to
speak about me and my playing

494
00:52:19,400 --> 00:52:21,080
in some lofty terms.

495
00:52:23,400 --> 00:52:29,400
As I say, what I cared about most
was music itself, music as such.

496
00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:33,960
Usually, the number...

497
00:52:35,680 --> 00:52:40,960
..of my concerts remains below
50 per year.

498
00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:48,280
The paradox
is that I love playing in public.

499
00:52:48,280 --> 00:52:50,400
On the other hand,

500
00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:54,640
each concert...is an event for me.

501
00:52:54,640 --> 00:52:59,200
I could also say that each concert
is a stress for me.

502
00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:06,280
Kissin is notorious for
his total dedication
and note-perfect performances.

503
00:53:06,280 --> 00:53:12,360
This afternoon, he's rehearsing hard
in an empty Royal Festival Hall
for the evening's recital.

504
00:53:40,240 --> 00:53:42,480
I give a lot.

505
00:53:42,480 --> 00:53:48,440
I give everything
I have at that particular moment
during my concerts.

506
00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:51,720
So, I need some time

507
00:53:51,720 --> 00:53:54,960
to sort of refill myself.

508
00:54:01,000 --> 00:54:06,600
I often have problems
falling asleep afterwards. Why?

509
00:54:06,600 --> 00:54:13,880
Do I keep hearing the music I played
a few hours earlier in my ears?

510
00:54:13,880 --> 00:54:16,560
No, not necessarily.

511
00:54:16,560 --> 00:54:20,360
Do I keep thinking about it? No.

512
00:54:23,440 --> 00:54:28,640
During my concerts,
my adrenalin boils

513
00:54:28,640 --> 00:54:33,760
to such a high temperature that it
takes a while for it to cool down.

514
00:54:35,000 --> 00:54:38,960
Also, after my concerts...

515
00:54:41,960 --> 00:54:48,680
..when I put on my trousers,
I realise each time
that I've lost weight.

516
00:54:57,960 --> 00:55:05,520
Sometimes, I'm being asked if I
ever want to escape from music

517
00:55:05,520 --> 00:55:08,240
and my answer is no.

518
00:55:08,240 --> 00:55:12,960
I simply wouldn't find it possible.

519
00:55:12,960 --> 00:55:20,720
Even if I don't touch the piano for
several weeks in a row, that doesn't
mean that I'm escaping from music.

520
00:55:20,720 --> 00:55:23,920
Music is always in me

521
00:55:23,920 --> 00:55:26,160
and will always remain there.

522
00:55:26,160 --> 00:55:27,960
This is the way I am.

523
00:56:10,800 --> 00:56:14,240
Why do we
try to communicate something?

524
00:56:14,240 --> 00:56:19,440
Why do people still come and want
to be communicated, want
to receive a message?

525
00:56:19,440 --> 00:56:22,680
That is the main question.

526
00:56:22,680 --> 00:56:25,440
Art is not just entertainment.

527
00:56:25,440 --> 00:56:27,960
I never thought that
from my childhood.

528
00:56:27,960 --> 00:56:31,160
Art is something terribly
essential, terribly important.

529
00:56:31,160 --> 00:56:34,960
It communicates something eternal.

530
00:56:34,960 --> 00:56:38,480
When it doesn't,
then it's entertainment.

531
00:56:38,480 --> 00:56:40,920
When I make music,

532
00:56:40,920 --> 00:56:43,320
it is so heavenly.

533
00:56:43,320 --> 00:56:46,400
I am in love with music.

534
00:56:46,400 --> 00:56:50,080
Actually, when I play, I make love.

535
00:56:50,080 --> 00:56:52,320
It is the same thing.

536
00:56:59,880 --> 00:57:07,760
If there's one thing that unites all
of these pianists, it must be their
absolute and obsessive commitment.

537
00:57:11,320 --> 00:57:15,320
The great technical challenge
of the piano, is that basically

538
00:57:15,320 --> 00:57:20,760
it's a machine, you press a key
and it makes a sound.

539
00:57:20,760 --> 00:57:24,480
What pianists do,
is dedicate their waking life,

540
00:57:24,480 --> 00:57:30,760
practically their whole being,
into battling with this machine,
to make that sound their own.

541
00:57:30,760 --> 00:57:33,920
It's a subtle and yet
superhuman struggle

542
00:57:33,920 --> 00:57:40,520
and it's this struggle that can make
the performance of great pianists
feel so close to musical perfection.

543
00:57:42,120 --> 00:57:46,960
Benjamin, of course,
will never need to find out
how to be a great pianist.

544
00:57:46,960 --> 00:57:49,760
He'll either be one or he won't.

545
00:58:06,480 --> 00:58:09,960
You can see more of Benjamin
Grosvenor's Proms performance

546
00:58:09,960 --> 00:58:12,200
when he returns to
the Royal Albert Hall

547
00:58:12,200 --> 00:58:15,400
and is joined by the National
Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

548
00:58:15,400 --> 00:58:18,760
That's on BBC2 on 13th August 2011.

549
00:58:18,760 --> 00:58:23,040
E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk