Opera written by girl, 11, being staged in Vienna

[Photo/Agencies]

"When she was about 4, when she started inventing her own melodies, I think that's when we noticed there was really something special," he said in Vienna, where the family from southern England has been spending time ahead of the premiere.

At 6, she composed her first full piano sonata, at 7 a mini-opera called The Sweeper of Dreams, and at 9 a concerto for violin and orchestra.

A chamber music rendition of Cinderella was performed in Israel last year, but the Vienna version, with Indian conductor maestro Zubin Mehta as patron, is much longer and will be a proper opera.

She has won praise from renowned conductors like Daniel Barenboim and a "bowled over" Simon Rattle. Last year, she appeared at a Google Zeitgeist conference with the likes of Stephen Hawking.

But, her dad said, Alma also has a normal life. "She loves climbing trees and running around like every other child," he said.

Modern music, though, is "too loud" and not her thing, she says－not even Justin Bieber or the Beatles. "Oh no, I don't know any of them!"