Ludovico Einaudi

The Italian musician, the international star that is Ludovico Einaudi, is currently on a run of playing 17 concerts at the splendid Teatro dal Verme in Milan, from late November to mid December. He has been doing this very run since 2015, each concert being sold out. Pretty crazy right? That a 69 year old musician/composer can have found such popularity, by talent and sheer persistence alone is wonderful news considering the standard trend of today’s music industry where hearsay ,TikTok, being a celebrity, aesthetic attributes, hype and such is the usual way.
Yet to be totally honest, I personally know very little about him and his music apart from certain film and tv soundtracks that have sparked my interest over the years but that has never led to any deep dive into the catalogue. So I am very excited tonight to share an evening with fans and aficionados and hopefully be engaged and moved by the man’s music and his energy on stage.

Born in Turin in 1955, he completed his musical studies at the Conservatorio of Milan. His general interest was in classical music but this has expanded,thanks to a natural curiosity and a general love of pop/rock, into exploring many genres now. He makes music with emphasis on a minimalistic classical template, no time for demonstrative virtuosity, and has a desire to incorporate feel and mood features so mind relaxation and stimulation of the senses are of utmost importance ;at least that’s what has been said about him. Now described as a New Age composer it will be interesting to see if Einaudi, playing his trusty piano,a Steinway, can in these homecoming Milanese concerts get to the essence of his musical world.

On stage playing with Ludovico is a string section of 6 violins and 2 cellos, an accordion player, a xylophone/percussionist, keyboard and bass player. Ludovico ambles on looking very dapper, all in black with a cool trilby hat on his head.

So begins a most memorable evening where the narrative is a piano led musical ensemble where pop sensibilities blend with minimalist classical music; waves of harmonious, delicate and refined melodies that seem to build, then fall, then build up to a crescendo again. This pattern is repeated sometimes with the emphasis on the piano, sometimes the strings, sometimes the percussive instrumentation, sometimes simply the space between.

It is quite captivating, as Einaudi plays rhythmic arpeggios,some rather complicated some as few as 4 or 5 notes; meanwhile an undercurrent of cellos and violins play sometimes bullying, sometimes caressing the piano’s musical framework, building up an atmosphere that becomes primarily visceral.

There is indeed practically no soloing involved by any of the instruments on display tonight. Everything has its place serving the mood, the feel; there is a tightness, a cohesion and restraint in the compositions, allowing the dynamics and beautiful subtle melodic changes to be centre stage. The lighting which bathes the stage ,intensely at times, sometimes orange, blue , yellow, red, is like another instrument in its way; it’s presence strangely adding character to the songs, as colour is intertwined with the mood of the piece.

There are new songs played like “Rose Bay” and “Punta Bianca” which will be released next year on a new album to be titled ‘The Summer Portraits ‘ and they perfectly illustrate his musical style. Songs in the catalogue like “Run”, “I Giorni’, ‘Divenire”, “Nuvole Bianche”are just sublime in intent and execution.

I personally seem to hear the psychedelic pop of The Beatles ; German krautrock bands like Tangerine Dream even if electronic in their case, led the way in persistent repetition of melodies, almost trance like, and this shows up for me at least, in the string arrangements. Philip Glass and his minimalistic classical piano etudes arrangements as well as ambient inflections by people like Eno must have influenced Einaudi.

It’s quite an achievement for this Italian musician to be held in such high esteem by colleagues and well known artists, from all walks of life and from all over the world, as indicated by the number of mentions on X and Instagram of their said presence at shows at the London Palladium and all over Europe this autumn gone.
His sincere wishes to the crowd and fellow musicians on stage tonight in Milan was pleasing to behold and the finale,with Ludovico smiling as he led an audience hand clap stomp,that accompanies the closing song “Experience “ is great fun all round.

Surprisingly an encore was played, a new song for me at least with an almost ‘Day in the Life’ musical ensemble orchestral rise in unison leading to a remarkable crescendo summit amid a quasi King Crimson progressive rock backing. Simply mesmeric .
Following curtain call bows from Ludovico and all his musicians on stage, the evening was over. I would hazard to suggest that this music really does deserve to find a place in your heart as it has now indeed, seeped into mine.