YouTube sensation makes London debut

A pianist who launched her career by posting videos of herself on YouTube has translated her online success into reality with a solo at one of the world’s most famous music venues.

Ukrainian-born Valentina Lisitsa dazzled a crowd of thousands at London’s Royal Albert Hall, her fingers flying through a two-and-a-half-hour virtuoso performance.

The blonde 42-year-old, known as the Justin Bieber of the classical music world because of her route to fame, had advertised the concert on her YouTube page and website, allowing fans from around the world to pick her programme.

The experience had been surreal, she said after the performance, adding “I’m relaxed... I’m coping.”

Ms Lisitsa, who began playing the piano at the age of three in Kiev, began promoting her talent on the video-sharing website five years ago when she posted a video of herself playing the Rachmaninov etude.

What happened next took the musician completely by surprise.

Five years later, her 180-odd videos have garnered nearly 50 million hits. She has been signed by the Decca Classics label owned by Universal and her concert on Tuesday was broadcast live over YouTube in a historic first for classical music.

“It’s word of mouth,” she said of her grassroots success. “I learned how to make videos. You have to be honest, there’s no fake stuff.”

Admitting she had been completely “illiterate” about social media prior to 2007, she put much of her popularity down to engagement with her fans.

“I write a short description about most pieces and answer comments,” she said. “It starts a conversation.”

The transition from a computer screen to a live solo concert before thousands was “difficult”, she admitted.

The pianist laughed at the Bieber comparison but said she took the young pop star’s rise from YouTube wannabe to one of the biggest acts in music in the world seriously.

“I thought, how did it happen? He was looking for his niche, and he found it. I thought, OK, good thing to learn,” she said.