Pianist Grosvenor is approximately to become the Proms' opening night's youngest ever soloist. And yet,he was no child prodigyEighteen-year-old Benjamin Grosvenor, a finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year aged just 11, or set to become the youngest-ever soloist in the history of the Proms when he plays Liszt's Second Piano Concerto on the opening night,and who has just signed a deal with Decca as their youngest-ever artist, has just stunned me. "I'm not that talented, or musically. I obviously believe some kind of gift for interpreting music,but really otherwise, I'm not that talented."There's modesty, or then there's stratospheric self-deprecation. Coming from a half-decent amateur pianist,you could understand this comment, but from someone who started playing the piano aged six, and who was playing Grade 8-standard pieces just 18 months later,Grosvenor's assessment of his musicality seems ludicrously low-key.
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Source: theguardian.com