“I am very close to contemporary music, and for this reason people have commissioned works for me to play. Sometimes in my recital programmes I will include a new piece, to bring the public closer to the actual creation of music. That is part of my own personality, and also reflects the influence of Pollini. He was one of the first to put Stockhausen or Boulez in the first half of a recital and Beethoven in the second.

“As a young man I collected all Pollini’s recordings, and would never miss one of his Parisian concerts. For me, he was the only artist who could be equally great in the classical and the modern repertoire. He was my idol – I even modelled my programmes on his. You can imagine how moved I was when recently I saw Pollini among the audience in Milan, when I was playing Ivan Fedele’s Concerto for Two Pianos. Such a busy man! How could he find time, on a Sunday evening, to come and listen to modern music played by young musicians?”