This year is the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, and a variety of commemorative activities have been launched. Liu Shikun, an internationally known concert pianist Maestro, said beginners should not think of learning to be as skillful as Mozart when playing pianos.

Liu said, "I learn to play piano when I was three years old. Earlier, my father had let me listen to different phonograph records of Mozart's works, thus I could even sing Mozart's Cradle Song when I was two. When I was five, I was already able to play some of Mozart's works."

When talking about the musical styles of Mozart, Liu said, his music was cheerful and buoyant, but it doesn't mean his music reveals no sadness. As a result, teenagers could find it relatively easier to understand Mozart's technique than that of Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt.

Currently learning to play piano is popular in China. Asked how he would view this phenomenon, Liu said, "Numerous teenagers are learning to play piano, but not every one of them can be a master at it. It will be a success if one pianist worthy of the name can come to the fore emerged from among 1,000 learners. Chinese musicians will become excessive if 1% of learners make them as professional players. Piano learning should be considered as a kind of quality-oriented education."

(Chinanews.cn August 2, 2006)