It's me? Oh!

First of all, I love Paris.

This is the most...

I would say Paris is the most beautiful

and romantic city in the world.

And to record Chopin music

and also the Tchaikovsky Seasons,

I think it's a good place to record.

First of all, Versailles has this magic feeling.

I love Versailles.

I always wanted to do something in the Hall of Mirrors.

We are very fortunate, you know. We can do that

in this... such a... special room.

But in the beginning,

we were a little bit worried about the sound,

because you see a lot of mirrors, and chandeliers, and gold.

But actually, it sounds very good!

And quite bright, actually.

You really feel the brilliance of the room.

Pharrell!

I had the great privilege to work with him,

at the Grammies, this year.

It's really amazing.

It's really a kind of a happy song - it's called 'Happy'.

But the version we did is

almost like a huge Hollywood movie plus a piano concerto, plus voice.

Hans did an incredible job to enlarge the ensembles.

Herbie Hancock, of course.

Yes.

Herbie and I became very close friends in 2007.

We had our first meeting at the Disney Hall in Los Angeles.

I have been a big admirer of his work,

and also his beautiful touch, incredible, colorful.

He has such incredible feelings in his touch.

And then we had a wonderful tour, after the Grammies, in 2008.

We did a big tour of Europe and the US,

and we also went to China.

He really encouraged me to start improvising.

I was always quite nervous when thinking about improvising.

He said : "Don't worry about it,

"let's do something, just chill down,

"and don't force yourself."

So he helped me tremendously in this way.

I'm not a jazz pianist,

but I really enjoyed the moments working

with those great musicians.

'Rhapsody In Blue' has been quite an important piece to me

for the last eight years.

This year, in Paris, I played in front of the great Eiffel Tower

for the National Day.

It was a beautiful evening that I will never forget.

This piece became a beautiful bridge

between different cultures.

And somehow, it's a kind of a welcoming piece

for everybody, no matter where we're from.

So it became one of my favorite pieces.

This one, it was a really, really big hit

a little bit more than 20 years ago.

The great heavy metal group Metallica,

I worked with them last year.

And this is the song called 'One'.

Really interesting name: 'One'.

I remember, I tried to learn this piece,

because it's really heavy,

later, it becomes exciting and gets to a heavy metal level.

So I listened to it many, many times,

to try to get emotionally involved in the same level.

I still remember before the concert,

in order to get so excited,

they were doing sports.

On the stage, actually, before the curtain goes up.

I think Kirk, the main guitar,

he did almost like...

50 sit-ups.

And then he was totally sweating, and he said :

"I'm ready, I'm ready!" That's the spirit.

And I remember, after listening to it for the 20th time,

my head became heavy metal.

I don't listen to rock music,

not very often, I must say.

I like rock n' roll, but not every day.

But because of Metallica, I started to listen more.

Before Metallica, I also worked

on a few occasions with Paul McCartney,

because I played one of his piano works.

It's really interesting how people like him...

He said to me: "You know, we are actually in the same category."

I said: "Why?"

He said: "Because I'm a classic rocker."

Yeah, the Beijing Olympics,

in 2008.

The television audience was 4 billion people.

It was quite a...

actually a quite unique night,

because it's so different... I was playing with a little girl.

I am kind of representing the new generation of China,

and then, the little girl is representing the future,

that's the idea.

So my job is to play a little bit,

and also to babysit the girl, because she's very active!

Really sweet, and cute, and she moves a lot.

The thing I remember most is that she asked me: "After my five bars,

"can I go home?"

A piece by a very, very dear friend of mine.

He's a very important person.

Because of him, I did my first Hollywood film,

a score, in 2006.

And you know what? Actually, it won, in 2008...

I mean 2007, it won a Golden Globe Award.

This was my first project,

and I went to the Golden Globes party,

and then I met all the wonderful people

that I used to see on television or movies.

I still remember, I was so nervous! I was more nervous than Alexandre,

we were in the same room. And then,

when the announcer said "Oh!",

I saw his face, I knew it had to be Alexandre.

Because, you know, you can see when a new name comes out.

And I was so proud of him.

Yes, of course!

M. Jarre, yeah. Of course.

It's so familiar!

So...

He's an incredible person.

I spent a few days with him, at his incredible studio.

And he asked me: "Can you just improvise?"

I said: "But on what?"

He said: "I will give you something.

"Please listen and see what you can do.

"And I will also tell you the mood, what's going on.

"I will give you a sign.

"But I'm not conducting,

"I just want to give you the picture,

"the kind of sound I'm looking for."

So that was the most creative project.

I remember we did a first recording,

I played like five times, but each time different.

Really different.

But you know, I kind of got into this really colorful,

but also quite mysterious mood.

Less than five minutes each take.

And then, afterwards, he cut it, he called me and said:

"It's really, really interesting,

"but can you come back tomorrow?"

I'm like: "Yeah, I'm totally in."

Because normally, the second time is better.

And when I came in, we talked about what we could improve,

what kind of harmony...

So, it was like cooking a new dish.

Seriously! It was a very special feeling.

I got involved

in composing something that already existed.