Whether you’re the most seasoned business traveller or the most excited holidaymaker, no one likes being at the airport. That’s why travellers in Milan were so enchanted when a six-year-old piano prodigy named Martina Meola entertained them with an impromptu performance of Chopin.
It was 2019, and Martina happened to be at the Bergamo Milan airport. As she passed through, she saw a public piano which almost seemed to be calling to her. So little Martina took a seat and made the day for everyone in the airport.
A video captured on a mobile phone shows her surrounded by luggage and harassed members of the public rushing to their gates and the shops. As her music starts to weave through the crowd, a miraculous change comes over them. They stop and begin to smile, their postures becoming more relaxed.
Martina’s skill is incredible. She seems to be at one with the piano and so deeply embedded in the music that it seems part of her. She has musical expressiveness far beyond her years, and her fingers fly across the keys with such precision.
She also looks incredibly sweet. She’s perfectly tuned out with a white-flowered headband, a Demin jacket and a cute pink and white striped bag. She is also so small it seems impossible that her fingers could stretch across the keys or her feet reach the pedals. Yet, somehow, she manages it and plays beautifully.
So, what has become of this talented young lady? In 2022 Martina entered Romania’s Got Talent. Unsurprisingly she received a golden buzzer and went straight through to the final after playing the piano blindfolded! Most of us can’t play that well with perfect 20:20 vision, but she could do it blindfolded. This kind of ability is what separates talented musicians from prodigies.
Sadly, she did not win, but she was placed third and received a lot of positive attention. Since then, she has been admitted to the Milan Conservatory, despite only being nine-years-old. She is so talented that she was granted an exception to enrol early and continue to study music and develop her exceptional skills. If you’ve never seen this video before, tune in and enjoy.