The Piano review: This show's standout performer? A romantic OAP with dementia, ... trends now
The Piano (Channel 4)
Anybody who's ever struggled through Grade 1 scales and broken chords will tell you that playing the piano isn't as easy as it can look.
So imagine what it must be like with Lang Lang, one of the world's most renowned pianists, peering over your shoulder.
The Piano was one of the surprise hits of last year. It's essentially Britain's Got Talent for the keyboard, and the second series began last night in Manchester's Piccadilly railway station.
Which meant that one moment we were listening to the tricky third movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and the next we heard that the Northern Service train to Windermere was at Platform 14.
But last night's undoubted star was modest Duncan, 80 (pictured), a retired solicitor who had a love story with a poignant twist
He and his wife, Fran (pictured), first met in 1964 but she married somebody else. They eventually found each other again, and have been married for 42 years
Now suffering from dementia, he played — from memory — a song he wrote for Fran
Claudia Winkleman (centre) presents the show with the help of Mika (right) and Lang Lang (left) as judges
At least, I think that's what she said. Sometimes it's tricky to tell with rail announcements.
It was contestant Emma who had Lang Lang hovering behind her. She'd originally played The Winner Takes It All, but the judges weren't at all impressed. Far too easy. They asked if she might play something else and she gave a flawless performance of a work by Ludovico Einaudi. Presumably unrehearsed, too.
Lang Lang, by the way, had never heard
