He soon changed plans and was admitted to the Duisburg conservatory to study piano, after passing an entrance exam for particularly gifted applicants (it later turned out that his diploma was invalid since he dropped out of high school too early).
Han ændrede snart planer og blev optaget på konservatoriet i Duisburg for at studere klaver, efter at have bestået en optagelsesprøve for særligt begavede ansøgere (det viste sig senere, at hans uddannelse var ugyldig, da han stoppede for tidligt i skolen).