aaamusic | On 24, Feb 2013

Composer/pianist Ludovico Einaudi, whose latest album ‘In A Time Lapse’ hit No 1 in the Classical charts and 24 in the pop charts on its release at the end of January, has announced that he will return to the UK to play three consecutive shows at London’s Barbican Centre in the summer.   The dates are:

 

Wed    31^st JULY       LONDON       The Barbican

Thurs  1^st AUG          LONDON       The Barbican

Fri       2^nd AUG         LONDON       The Barbican

 

Einaudi’s previously announced Spring UK tour is almost completely sold out.  The full list of dates is:

 

APRIL

 

13 BRISTOL              Colston Hall

14 BIRMINGHAM     Symphony Hall [SOLD OUT]

15 LIVERPOOL        Philharmonic Hall [SOLD OUT]

16 EDINBURGH      Usher Hall

17 GATESHEAD      The Sage, Gateshead [SOLD OUT]

19 MANCHESTER Bridgewater Hall [SOLD OUT]

20 BASINGSTOKE Anvil

21 CAMBRIDGE      Corn Exchange [SOLD OUT]

22 LONDON             The Barbican [SOLD OUT]

23 LONDON             The Barbican [SOLD OUT]

24 NOTTINGHAM    Royal Concert Hall

25 BRIGHTON          Dome [SOLD OUT]

28 CARDIFF             St David’s Hall

 

Tickets are available now from box offices and usual agents.

 

Einaudi’s hauntingly beautiful and evocative music has sold over 1.5 million records and has quietly made him one of the most successful musicians in the world.  He has provided music for more than 20 films including Shane Meadows’ ‘This Is England’ film and the TV sequel ‘This Is England ‘86’, as well as Darren Aronovsky’s ‘Black Swan’ and the French International hit ‘Untouchable’. In 2011 Radio 1 DJ Greg James led a successful campaign to get Einaudi’s piece ‘I Giorni’ into the Top 40 of the Official Singles Charts and Professor Green sampled Einaudi on his hit single ‘Astronaut’.  In 2012 he performed at the BT River Of Music that coincided with the Olympics and in October he performed his score for ‘This Is England’ live at a screening of the film at the London Film Festival.

 

His music has been described as minimalist, alt-classical, ambient and contemporary, but it defies easy classification. He sums it up best: “There is something in it that comes from classical, but I have influences from different music I have experienced in my life, from African music to folk and rock.”

 

Ludovico Einaudi was born in Turin and trained as a classical composer and pianist at the Milan Conservatorio. He studied under Luciano Berio, one of the most important composers of the twentieth century avant-garde. After some early prestigious commissions in the classical world Einaudi turned his back on what he regarded as an essentially conservative approach to music to embrace his own enthusiasms, which included African music, folk and the rock music of the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, U2 and Radiohead.

 

He has released 11 studio albums: Time Out (’88), Stanze (’92), Salgari (’95), Le Onde (’96), Eden Roc (’99), I Giorni (’01), Una Mattina (’04), Diario Mali [with Ballaké Sissoko] (’05), Divenire (’06), Cloudland [recorded as the group Whitetree] (’09), and Nightbook (’09) and three live albums recorded at La Scala (’03), in Berlin (’08) and at the Royal Albert Hall (’10).

 

Einaudi on BBC Breakfast yesterday: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p015dcrf

 

THE BUZZ:

 

‘…gorgeous melancholy…this type of phantom delicacy can certainly cast a spell on a room…things move in slow motion, moments hang poignantly in the air – he’s carving a soundtrack for lovers, for loneliness, for living and for living rooms…’ thelineofbestfit

 

 

‘The seemingly simple but strangely affecting music of Ludovico Einaudi defies pigeonholing…expect to feel transported and mesmerised by (his) artfully wrought piano compositions.’ Daily Telegraph

 

‘situated between classical music’s studied restraint and pop’s eager melodicism.’ The Independent