Here's what happens when pianists turn their hand to conducting

10 April 2018, 08:53 | Updated: 10 April 2018, 11:34

Sometimes, pianists like to get their conducting game on – and it can be quite entertaining.

Pianists: the passionate virtuoso and the graceful duet partner. We love them. Their instrument is one of the most beautiful in the world.

But sometimes, they conduct at the same time as playing the piano… and that doesn't always work out. 

Art Song Transpositions – find them on YouTube – have created this video of some of the greatest pianists attempting to conduct from the piano.

The pianists include Andrei Gavrilov, Friedrich Gulda, Van Cliburn, Mitsuko Uchida, András Schiff, Daniel Barenboim, Emile Naoumoff and Chad Heltzel – and their signature moves include ‘The Metal Detector’, ‘Caught Me A Fish’ and our personal favourite, ‘The Shiatsu Slice’.

Now, here’s the brilliant Mitsuko Uchida doing what she does best: