As handshakes go, it is a notable bone cruncher. Vardan Mamikonian may be described in the Arts Festival programme as 'one of the great pianists of the future' but he's not of the lily-fingered, languid variety.
If anything, he has the stockiness of a footballer (Maradona, the Hand of God himself, springs to mind) and his fingers are on the short and stubby side. 'The hands are wide here,' he says, briefly stroking the back of them. 'So the fingers do not look so long. But they are exactly what I need.' Indeed. Mamikonian is Armenian, remarkably gifted - and 26. Tonight he will demonstrate his prize-winning talent by playing the Chaconne of Bach/Busoni, and works by Chopin and Liszt at the Cultural Centre's Concert Hall.
It is his first visit to Asia, although Armenia lies on the cusp of Europe and Asia and has been pulled in both directions for centuries. (When Adolf Hitler was asked how he thought he could get away with genocide, he replied: 'Who still speaks of the extermination of the Armenians?') Mamikonian carries the name of a great, third-century general - 'the Napoleon of Armenia,' he says - to whom the family claims kinship. Perhaps the powerful energy of his performance, which has impressed the critics , has rubbed off.
There is certainly an inherited predisposition to make music: his parents are both violinists and his sister, 12 years his senior, is also a professional pianist.
'In our family, music was something very usual,' he shrugs politely.
His first public performance, before a 400-strong audience, took place when he was seven. 'That was really one of the happiest days of my life, I was impatient to be on the stage. And as I didn't know that I should be nervous, I wasn't. I was rehearsing how I would get my flowers, like this . . .' And Mamikonian laughs, jumps to his feet and throws his arms wide open, mimicking a child's stagger under the weight of invisible bouquets.
