Fiendishly difficult piano concerto is an Olympic-level test of endurance

ENDURANCE piano playing isn't yet an Olympic sport but if it comes to pass, then Ferruccio Busoni's 1904 Piano Concerto could be the test piece.

- Nick Kimberley

It's not only fiendishly difficult, it's also very long at just over 70 minutes; Beethoven's Emperor Concerto is puny in comparison at a mere 40 minutes. And as if sheer length isn't enough, the composer summons a large male chorus for the closing movement. No wonder we don't get to hear the piece very often.

It's not a concerto that any pianist takes on lightly and Benjamin Grosvenor was certainly well prepared.

This year, he has already played it in Reykjavik and Berlin. For last night's performance (the first at the Proms for 36 years), he was alongside the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, the Rodolfus Choir and conductor Edward Gardner; a pretty weighty line-up.