BBC Documentaries

The Piano: A Passion (2006x75)

Air date: Sep 26, 2006

Alexander Waugh has been passionate about pianos ever since he was a small boy. Fuelled by an insatiable curiosity about the roots of his musical addiction, he sets out in search of other like-minded piano-obsessives to discover what it is about this instrument that has the power to turn seemingly rational people into compulsive lifelong piano junkies. Framed and punctuated by Alexander's effort to teach a novice to play the piano in a week, the film follows him on his quest around the concert halls and homes of classical and pop pianists like Paul Lewis, Jools Holland and Damon Albarn as well as a wide range of enthusiastic amateurs, including a child prodigy, a pilot and a national newspaper editor.