An Italian musician gave the world's highest piano concert at the top of a mountain

An Italian pianist and mountaineer performed the 'world's highest piano concert in the Alps at an altitude of 4,460 meters.

Musician Elisa Tomellini climbed the Monte Rosa mountain massif on foot, while her grand piano was flown in by helicopter.

The Genoa native has travelled around the world to pursue her love of climbing, whilst also winning national awards for her piano-playing, so the stunt allowed her to combine her two passions after a sabbatical period of travel.

She told The Local she decided to do the concert "in order to close the circle of my two lives, that of a pianist and the life in which I temporarily abandoned music to discover the beauty of the world".

"I also wanted to bring music and the mountain into people's hearts, and to help people in doing so," said Tomellini, who plans to donate proceeds raised by the concert to a Nepalese children's home.

Despite her experience in mountaineering, the musician said that performing on the mountainside made her feel "small in comparison to nature".

"Every so often it's important to realize the proportion of things. I was cold and scared of not being able to finish; I'm still very emotional and happy to have arrived on my own feet and to have played with my hands," she added.

Temperatures on the mountain were -15C while Tomellini played, and it was a windy day, but she played the full concert, wearing thick gloves.
The Local