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One of the world’s most renowned classical pianists walked out of a concert in anger because an audience member was filming him.

When he returned to the stage, Krystian Zimerman explained that he had lost contracts with record labels because audience members had already posted films of his performances on YouTube, the video-sharing website.

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Zimerman, from Poland, who was performing at the Ruhr Piano Festival in Essen, western Germany, spotted someone filming him from a balcony.

He broke off the concert to ask the audience member to stop and then left the stage.

The destruction of music through YouTube is enormous.

When Zimerman, 56, returned a few minutes later, he said: “The destruction of music through YouTube is enormous.”

He added that he had lost work in the past as a result, with record label executives telling him: “Sorry, that’s already on YouTube.”

A spokesman for the piano festival said it had not been possible to identify the audience member concerned.