Chopin Saved My Life

Chopin's Ballade Number One is an extraordinary piece of piano music. This moving film tells the story of how the Ballade has transformed the lives of two young pianists. Chopin's Ballade Number 1 is less than 10 minutes long but has become one of the most iconic and influential pieces in piano repertoire. It is considered extremely challenging, demanding extraordinary feats of dexterity, control, speed, memory and power. It's also an internet sensation with more than 2000 versions on YouTube alone. One by the legendary Vladimir Horowitz has received over 3.5 million hits. Before this programme, pianist James Rhodes discusses memory techniques and the enduring appeal of classical music with Benedict Cumberbatch. Afterwards, Rhodes and Derren Brown talk about performance nerves and learning to play the piano. This hour-long documentary, directed by BAFTA and Emmy award-winning director James Kent, meets Japanese teenager Momoka and Scottish music student Paul Murray to explore how Chopin’s extraordinary Ballade Number 1 transforms the lives of ordinary people and illustrates how classical music still penetrates contemporary life in unexpected and powerful ways. It introduces Momoka, a 15-year-old pianist from Sendai, Japan, whose community was decimated by the 2011 tsunami and earthquakes. For Momoka, the Ballade embodies the anguish and rebellion she feels but doesn’t allow to surface. For 22-year-old Paul from Glasgow, the piece is life-changing. Paul grew up in Bellshill, a poor, working class suburb of Glasgow. He first played piano at 15, and it opened up a whole new world for him. During his first term at uni Paul was diagnosed with a brain tumour and then MS, which both eventually caused him to lose the ability to walk and to play with his right hand. Waiting in his hospital bed in between operations over three months, he played the Ballade again and again on the iPod his dad Stephen had given him. It was that single piece’s emotional pull that Paul credits with the return of his memory. Also commenting on the Ballade are four of the greatest pianists alive today: Russian conductor and concert pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy; 29-year-old Chinese pianist Lang Lang; London-born Imogen Cooper; and the UK's number one pianist, Stephen Hough. Those who know and love Chopin's piece say everything is contained in these 10 minutes: love, tragedy, life, death, hope and anguish; Stephen Hough brings these together with musical virtuosity to perform the piece in its entirety as the film's finale. Part of a season of programmes, Mad4Music, offering a unique perspective on the power of classical music in people's lives. Dir: James Kent; Exec Prod: Nicolas Kent; Prod: Susannah Price; Prod Co: Oxford Film and Television