Fingerless child reveals himself as a piano player

Sixteen-year-old Alexey Romanov of Tatarstan is a remarkable prodigy.

Romanov was only two years ago by friends in contact with Mozart and Vivaldi classical music. They also learned to read sheet music for him. His foster parents encouraged his enthusiasm by giving him a synthesizer. With great tenacity he taught himself to play with the stumps of his hands. Today he is the most famous pupil of the music school in the capital Kazan.

Romanov plays seemingly unfazed when a television camera right hangs above his hands during a live broadcast. His fame extends all outside Tatarstan. Elsewhere in Russia, he is known. He calls his ability without playing piano fingers' an invisible force.