I had the absolute privilege of speaking to Pearl Fawcett-Adriano earlier this week.

Her name may not be familiar to the masses but if you’re into classical music, you might just be aware of the Darton woman’s illustrious career which started in her childhood.

Three-quarters of a century later and now aged 83, she’s recently returned to television screens on Channel Four’s The Piano.

It’s a programme which, when I’ve seen it, has left a huge impression - that’s both because of its participants’ stories and the instantly thought-provoking sound a piano instils.

Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, it sees pianists of all ages play in public spaces - often railway stations - and they absolutely always wow onlookers who are simply going about their day.

Now, as is the case with most people who are invited to showcase their other-worldly talents, Pearl’s story is an exceptional one, but it started with a different instrument to her now-beloved piano.

Her first broadcast on BBC Radio, and also television, was at the age of 13, after which she appeared many times.

She became a junior world champion on the accordion in Ancona, Italy and the following year she became the senior world champion in Hamburg, Germany.

Pearl was the first to teach accordion at a Conservatoire of Music in Great Britain, and went on to perform concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall and Leningrad’s Philharmonic Hall.

But, having married composer Adriano Dante, her musical career looked to have come to a premature end when he suffered a stroke at the same time that her mum was battling against Alzheimer’s.

Poignantly, she told me that two such tragedies meant she put her life on hold to care for the two dearest people to her, and only years later rekindled her love with the piano.

Pearl applied to appear on The Piano and, following approval from a panel of producers, was asked to meet host Claudia Winkleman for an interview before performing at Sheffield Railway Station.

The 83-year-old, whose sight is deteriorating due to having a severe impairment because of macular degeneration, used stickers as guidelines on the piano’s keys to help her play Granada by Agustin Lara.

She even told Claudia - who helped place stuck-on guidelines on the keys Pearl required to perform - that she could barely see her, despite being a matter of inches away.

What a performance it was, too; I can’t ever claim to be a classical music fan but when you see someone’s immense talent - despite a worsening visual impediment doing its best to prevent such mastery from even happening - it is an awe-inspiring experience.

So, if you weren’t aware of Pearl’s brilliance, it’s well worth logging into Channel Four’s watch-online service to see just how wonderful she is.