Why Are Classical Audiences Fascinated By Child Prodigies?

“Is it a sense of magic, or the feeling that perhaps a higher power does exist and bestows talent upon the chosen? Is … Is it the victory of nurture over nature, like a tamed tiger at Siegfried and Roy’s? To be able to juggle, all you need is excellent physical coordination. The spectacle of a child playing a Scarlatti sonata is more than that – it can be seen as a kind of acculturation to a specific, Western tradition. A kid playing adult music is performing adult emoti