Think about it. Would Liberace be just another pianist playing in the back room of a saloon if he didn't have his own gimmick...a Candlabra, and eventually his own eye-catching fashion wardrobe (not to mention the Rolls Royce on stage). Would Arnold Schwarzenegger ever have become a movie star or the governor of California if he didn't use HIS own gimmick (muscles) to get noticed? Whatever it takes to stand apart from the crowd is what you do. The only qualifier is you have to be selling a quality product! And, SHE certainly is!

Danny...thanks for posting this. I'm a great lover of Classical music and opera. This lady really impressed me, not with her appearance so much as her playing. Her interpretation and dynamism is incredible. She really added fire to that piece. If Chopin were around today, he would have awarded her a Nobel prize for piano playing talent. I watched the video more than a few times and then proceeded to watch her other videos. And then proceeded to read her biography. Very impressive!

Someone here mentioned a possible "edit." I picked up on something that made me wonder the same thing. Around the minute mark and at 01:42 (and at the end), she raised her pinky and ring finger unusually high. And her thumb goes up at 01:55. It's my understanding that a Classical pianist plays "runs" with EVERY finger laying on the keyboard i.e when using the 1st, 2nd, and third fingers, the 4 and 5 stay in position (lightly touching the keys...reason being that it takes less time to hit the note if the fingers are there already and NOT 2-3 inches in the air.

But....I'd have to go with "she's the real thing." She's all over the Internet. And her specialty is my three favorite composers: "noted for her interpretations of compositions by Chopin, Liszt and Rachmaninoff, visual performance, and piano transcriptions"

Lola Astanova on Wikipedia

For me, I wouldn't care if she came out dressed as an astronaut, her music is haunting and mesmerizing. I could listen to her play that Fantaisie Impromtu all day and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodie all night!