For Her Majesty, a private piano recital from Condoleezza

London, Dec 2 (IANS) What happens when the most powerful American woman meets the most powerful British woman? Music flows.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stopped over in London on her last political tour before she leaves office in January and met Queen Elizabeth in Buckingham Palace Monday ahead of her talks with the British government on terrorism issues, including the Mumbai strikes.

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Rice told the queen of a long-standing wish: to play the piano for Her Majesty in a private recital.

The queen agreed. And Rice played from Brahms. The queen listened to part of the performance and gave Rice a copy of the recording as her parting gift.

Many may not know that Rice is a concert-level pianist who had originally planned a musical career until politics swept her in another direction altogether.

She started playing the piano as a child. She originally enrolled at university to study the subject before switching to political science. At 15, she performed Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor with the Denver Symphony Orchestra in the US, as a prize for winning a student competition.

She was taught the instrument by her mother, who was a music teacher, and regularly performs private chamber music recitals with four friends, leading to her being described, in the words of The Telegraph, as the world's most prominent amateur musician.