Sounds interesting.
Read the whole Guardian article here

Here is an excerpt

But there was something that struck him about the young boy – then about 14. He listened to one of his recordings. "He had just learned Beethoven's Les Adieux Sonata," Brendel says, sipping tea in his north London drawing room. "He played the first two movements remarkably well and by heart. Then he brought me a CD of a little recital that he gave at the Royal Academy where he played the Chopin B flat Nocturne so beautifully that I thought to myself, 'I have to make time for him.' It was a performance that really led you from the first to the last note. It's very rare to find any musician with this kind of overview and the necessary subtlety."

Brendel was nearing the end of a career that had begun at the age of 17 in his home town of Graz. He gave his final concert at the Musikverein in Vienna in December 2008 – and there in the audience was his young pupil Kit, who was already deeply immersed in his studies with Brendel, more than 60 years his senior.

They meet at Brendel's house whenever schedules allow – sometimes for hours on end, occasionally on consecutive days. The film records snatches of these lessons as the older pianist talks, plays, wills – and even dances – his perceptions and intentions to the young Kit.

As Brendel is bowing out of the public eye, so Armstrong is nudging his way into it – restrained by Brendel, ever nervous about prodigy burn-out. The younger Armstrong, now 19, is a restless, impatient presence away from the lessons – always learning new languages; taking himself off to France to study maths, writing computer code or playing tennis. All under the watchful eye of his ever-present mother.

On top of all this he composes – a significant factor in Brendel agreeing to take him on.

Thanks for posting that. I forget now where I first hear of (and heard) Kit Armstrong, but I was highly impressed and hadn't thought of him in some time.

I noticed in the article that a non-existent piece is mentioned ('the Chopin B flat Nocturne'). I wonder which piece it really was, but I'm relieved that the British press makes the same kind of errors in the reporting of details as anywhere else.

Stickler for details?
It is probably 9/1 and they "forgot" to say minor.
Kit Armstrong, Conrad Tao: poster children for those who -humbly- admit the existence of "gifts".

Oh yeah, I admit I am. I know I overthink and have some OCD tendencies -- I blame the TV show 'Monk' for their worsening, because he gave me new ideas -- but one of the most troubling things to me about little mistakes like that one is that means their could be many more lurking.


I figured realistically that was most likely, too -- although my mind just has to consider all possible alternatives. Maybe the Nocturne was in B ... or in A-flat or D-flat or E-flat. Or maybe it wasn't a Nocturne at all ... or even a piece by Chopin. You never know!

I apologize if this seems silly. Such a minute detail doesn't detract from the article or diminish the importance of its subject matter -- so, again, thanks for posting the link.