The Portuguese pianist Maria Joao Pires, 80 today, became a global legend when, at a lunchtime concert in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw in 1998, she heard the orchestra start up a different Mozart concerto from the one she was expecting to play.
Her face is a picture of panic and depression.
The conductor, Riccardo Chailly, tells her she can make the switch from memory. He said: ‘You’re going to do well.’
She replied: ‘I am going to try.’
Amazingly, she did.
The video went viral on Youtube in 2013.
Happy birthday, Maria.
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.jpg?w=160&resize=160,160&ssl=1 "Virtuosity & discipline: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London in Respighi's Roman trilogy & Walton's Cello Concerto")
