Former four-year-old child prodigy pianist is releasing an album aged 97 and people are in bits

Virgin Radio

14 Jan 2022, 10:52

Most of us were eating mud when we were this age. Turn back the clock to the 1920s and child star Ruth Slenczynska was busy honing her talent on the piano. The (almost) 97-year-old is now releasing a new album after signing a deal with record label Decca.

My Life In Music will celebrate Slenczynska's career, which has seen her play for famous figures including previous US President Ronald Reagan, Michelle Obama and former Japanese Empress Michiko.

The tiny American musician first wowed during her concert debut aged just four, performed on TV aged five and made her European concert debut in Berlin aged six.

The star, born in 1925 in Sacramento, California to Polish immigrants, said of her album which she recorded last year: "Unbelievable! Whoever heard of a pianist my age making another album?

"I’m grateful if they like the music. Music is meant to bring joy. If mine still brings joy to people, then it is doing what it is supposed to do."

What's more, it's her 97th birthday on Saturday 15 January, and her new offering will be released on March 18.

Co-presidents of the Decca Label Group, Laura Monks and Tom Lewis, said: "It’s remarkable to think that Ruth made her concert debut before the birth of colour movies, and around the same time as the birth of television.

"The fact that she is still at the top of her game over nine decades later is extraordinary. It’s very hard to think of anyone, in any profession, who has achieved such a sustained period of excellence."

Label director Dominic Fyfe added: "We are privileged to have Ruth record for Decca again, some 66 years since she first recorded for the label in New York.

"One of her earliest producers was Thomas Frost and we were delighted to unite her with Thomas’ son David, the multi Grammy award-winning producer, for this new album."

People praised the star on the internet and wrote: "Very lucky to see this."

Another added: "In this crazy world we live in there is still some sublime culture left. Thank you Madame. Looking forward to hear you new album."

A third penned: "What an incredible life, legacy and gift for a century. It’s incredible to think of the amount of life she has witnessed both musically and historically."

Let's hope the record sales go through the Ruth.