Artur Rubinstein, Alfred Brendel, Daniel Barenboim - some of the greatest classical pianists of the last century, and all of them Westerners.

But a new name could be about to join ranks of the great maestros - 28-year-old Chinese pianist Lang Lang.

He is in London to appear at the Albert Hall this week and the Today programme's John Humphrys went to hear him putting in a bit of practice where he heard how his father "went crazy", such was his passion about his son's music career.

He described how at the age of nine he was fired by a teacher in Beijing and his father gave him a bottle of pills to kill himself.

But he went on to say how his love of music made him believe that "this is my destiny".

He described in China, classical music is not considered old "which is a good thing".

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