Ludovico Einaudi (born 23 November 1955) is an Italian contemporary classical music composer and pianist.
Born in Turin, Italy, Einaudi's mother played to him on the piano as a child. He began his musical training at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, gaining a diploma in composition. Later, he studied with Luciano Berio. In 1982, he gained a scholarship to the Tanglewood Music Festival. He currently resides on a vineyard in the Italian region of Piedmont.
His phenomenal CD sales and ability to sell out major concert halls worldwide are confirmation that Einaudi is one of classical music's success stories of recent years. After studying at the Conservatory in Milan, and subsequently with Berio, he spent several years composing in traditional forms. In the mid-1980s he began to search for a more personal expression in a series of works for dance and multimedia, and later for piano. His music is ambient, meditative and often introspective, drawing on minimalism, world music, and contemporary pop. He has made a significant impact in the film world, with four international awards to his name.
His father was Giulio Einaudi, a publisher, and his grandfather, Luigi Einaudi, was President of the Italian Republic between 1948 and 1955.
Career highlights
1982 Diploma in Composition from Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan.
1982 received scholarship to Tanglewood Festival, USA.
1982 continued studies with Luciano Berio.
1986 searched for a more free and personal musical language via multimedia and works for dance.
1996 first solo album Le Onde is released for Piano and becomes a best selling album in the UK and Italy.
2002 Italian award for Best Film Score for Luce Dei Miei Occhi.
2004 Una Mattina released by Universal records.
2007 Album 'Divenire' released by Decca.
2007 Primavera from album 'Divenire' is used in advertisement for Sony's Blu-Ray Disc.
2007 Ritornare from album 'Divenire' is used in the 10th Season of Top Gear.
Music
Although Einaudi would prefer not to be labeled as any particular type of genre, he is sometimes referred to as Minimalist. This is despite his music not sharing the key musical properties associated with minimalism. This may be due to his music possessing sparse orchestration and simplistic melodies that some may wish to refer to as 'minimalist' despite not belonging to the musical movement of Minimalism.
Einaudi's own words on the matter reflect this viewpoint, with Einaudi referring to Minimalism as "elegance and openness", despite its more formal definition as a musical movement to which he arguably does not belong.
"In general I don't like definitions, but 'Minimalist' is a term that means elegance and openness, so I would prefer to be called a Minimalist than something else." -Ludovico Einaudi
Key works
- Una Mattina (2004; piano)
- Divenire (2007; piano, orchestra)
Albums
- Divenire (2007)
- Diario Mali (2006)
- Una Mattina (2004)
- La Scala Concert 03.03.03 (2004)
- Echoes: The Einaudi Collection (2004)
- I Giorni (2002)
- Eden Roc (1999)
- Stanze (1997)
- Le Onde (1996)
Film and television scores
- This Is England (2006)
- Sotto Falso Nome (2004)
- Doctor Zhivago (2002)
- Le Parole Di Mio Padre (2002)
- Luce Dei Miei Occhi (2001)
- Fuori Dal Mondo (1999)
