Lucas Debargue, 24, who only began serious piano-playing at 20 after working for three years in a supermarket, turned up in Moscow last month and quite simply outplayed dozens of pianists who have been training from their early youth. His artistry, originality and technical brilliance was (and is) available for all to hear in the copious broadcasts and streams made by Medici TV (an online resource of ballet, opera and classical music performances) of all the contestants. Debargue was not expected to win once the contestants reached the final, concerto stage for he had never before played with an orchestra (again, a barely believable fact). But though the international jury placed him last and the Moscow-trained Dmitri Masleev first, the competition’s chairman, Valery Gergiev, broke protocol by having the Frenchman play in the winners’ gala on Thursday - in front of President Putin, no less.