It may lie on the tip of the tongue to accuse Leopold Mozart of forcing his children into child labour. On the other hand, Wolfgang Mozart not only immensely enjoyed his performances, but his musical genius compelled him to perform. Mozart.com
But we can know Alma Deutscher as playful, spontaneous, and unself-conscious. Also with a belief in beauty and sensitivity to just about everything.
Here she is playing her own violin concerto and her own p iano concerto.
"By the time Alma was 4, I had taught her all I could about music. We were living in Oxford then so I talked to some music teachers there and suggested that they teach her theory. They laughed and told me to come back in 10 years.
"Then I found a book by Robert Gjerdingen about the Naples conservatory in the 18th and early 19th centuries and its method to teach the youngest students the principles of music -- not as theory but through active experience. I knew this was the right way for Alma.
"Since Alma was 5, Gjerdingen has been monitoring her development from afar. Every few months he sends her exercises and we send him some of the pieces she's writing. He returns them with comments, which she doesn't always accept. We've never met him in person."
-- from an interview with Alma's father
It took her three years to write her first opera, so she didn't finish it until she was 11.
