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  • Beautiful.

  • It's me? Oh!

  • First of all, I love Paris.

  • This is the most...

  • I would say Paris is the most beautiful

  • and romantic city in the world.

  • And to record Chopin music

  • and also the Tchaikovsky Seasons,

  • I think it's a good place to record.

  • First of all, Versailles has this magic feeling.

  • I love Versailles.

  • I always wanted to do something in the Hall of Mirrors.

  • We are very fortunate, you know. We can do that

  • in this... such a... special room.

  • But in the beginning,

  • we were a little bit worried about the sound,

  • because you see a lot of mirrors, and chandeliers, and gold.

  • But actually, it sounds very good!

  • And quite bright, actually.

  • You really feel the brilliance of the room.

  • Pharrell!

  • I had the great privilege to work with him,

  • at the Grammies, this year.

  • It's really amazing.

  • It's really a kind of a happy song - it's called 'Happy'.

  • But the version we did is

  • almost like a huge Hollywood movie plus a piano concerto, plus voice.

  • Hans did an incredible job to enlarge the ensembles.

  • Herbie Hancock, of course.

  • Yes.

  • Herbie and I became very close friends in 2007.

  • We had our first meeting at the Disney Hall in Los Angeles.

  • I have been a big admirer of his work,

  • and also his beautiful touch, incredible, colorful.

  • He has such incredible feelings in his touch.

  • And then we had a wonderful tour, after the Grammies, in 2008.

  • We did a big tour of Europe and the US,

  • and we also went to China.

  • He really encouraged me to start improvising.

  • I was always quite nervous when thinking about improvising.

  • He said : "Don't worry about it,

  • "let's do something, just chill down,

  • "and don't force yourself."

  • So he helped me tremendously in this way.

  • I'm not a jazz pianist,

  • but I really enjoyed the moments working

  • with those great musicians.

  • 'Rhapsody In Blue' has been quite an important piece to me

  • for the last eight years.

  • This year, in Paris, I played in front of the great Eiffel Tower

  • for the National Day.

  • It was a beautiful evening that I will never forget.

  • This piece became a beautiful bridge

  • between different cultures.

  • And somehow, it's a kind of a welcoming piece

  • for everybody, no matter where we're from.

  • So it became one of my favorite pieces.

  • This one, it was a really, really big hit

  • a little bit more than 20 years ago.

  • The great heavy metal group Metallica,

  • I worked with them last year.

  • And this is the song called 'One'.

  • Really interesting name: 'One'.

  • I remember, I tried to learn this piece,

  • because it's really heavy,

  • later, it becomes exciting and gets to a heavy metal level.

  • So I listened to it many, many times,

  • to try to get emotionally involved in the same level.

  • I still remember before the concert,

  • in order to get so excited,

  • they were doing sports.

  • On the stage, actually, before the curtain goes up.

  • I think Kirk, the main guitar,

  • he did almost like...

  • 50 sit-ups.

  • And then he was totally sweating, and he said :

  • "I'm ready, I'm ready!" That's the spirit.

  • And I remember, after listening to it for the 20th time,

  • my head became heavy metal.

  • I don't listen to rock music,

  • not very often, I must say.

  • I like rock n' roll, but not every day.

  • But because of Metallica, I started to listen more.

  • Before Metallica, I also worked

  • on a few occasions with Paul McCartney,

  • because I played one of his piano works.

  • It's really interesting how people like him...

  • He said to me: "You know, we are actually in the same category."

  • I said: "Why?"

  • He said: "Because I'm a classic rocker."

  • Yeah, the Beijing Olympics,

  • in 2008.

  • The television audience was 4 billion people.

  • It was quite a...

  • actually a quite unique night,

  • because it's so different... I was playing with a little girl.

  • I am kind of representing the new generation of China,

  • and then, the little girl is representing the future,

  • that's the idea.

  • So my job is to play a little bit,

  • and also to babysit the girl, because she's very active!

  • Really sweet, and cute, and she moves a lot.

  • The thing I remember most is that she asked me: "After my five bars,

  • "can I go home?"

  • A piece by a very, very dear friend of mine.

  • He's a very important person.

  • Because of him, I did my first Hollywood film,

  • a score, in 2006.

  • And you know what? Actually, it won, in 2008...

  • I mean 2007, it won a Golden Globe Award.

  • This was my first project,

  • and I went to the Golden Globes party,

  • and then I met all the wonderful people

  • that I used to see on television or movies.

  • I still remember, I was so nervous! I was more nervous than Alexandre,

  • we were in the same room. And then,

  • when the announcer said "Oh!",

  • I saw his face, I knew it had to be Alexandre.

  • Because, you know, you can see when a new name comes out.

  • And I was so proud of him.

  • Yes, of course!

  • M. Jarre, yeah. Of course.

  • It's so familiar!

  • So...

  • He's an incredible person.

  • I spent a few days with him, at his incredible studio.

  • And he asked me: "Can you just improvise?"

  • I said: "But on what?"

  • He said: "I will give you something.

  • "Please listen and see what you can do.

  • "And I will also tell you the mood, what's going on.

  • "I will give you a sign.

  • "But I'm not conducting,

  • "I just want to give you the picture,

  • "the kind of sound I'm looking for."

  • So that was the most creative project.

  • I remember we did a first recording,

  • I played like five times, but each time different.

  • Really different.

  • But you know, I kind of got into this really colorful,

  • but also quite mysterious mood.

  • Less than five minutes each take.

  • And then, afterwards, he cut it, he called me and said:

  • "It's really, really interesting,

  • "but can you come back tomorrow?"

  • I'm like: "Yeah, I'm totally in."

  • Because normally, the second time is better.

  • And when I came in, we talked about what we could improve,

  • what kind of harmony...

  • So, it was like cooking a new dish.

  • Seriously! It was a very special feeling.

  • I got involved

  • in composing something that already existed.

Beautiful.

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