Thanks, kawaigirl!

Babs, I'm so glad you liked it! It's my favorite as well. A good recording is so close I can almost taste it, very frustrating. Looking forward to your recordings, Babs.

Sid, you're making great progress with that piece. You could use this version for the big Einaudi vs. everybody else showdown coming up.

I started working on "Exit" this weekend. That is one fun piece to play! It includes the LOWEST bass note I have ever seen or played to date, the very first B waaaaaay down at the far left of the keyboard. It rumbles so powerfully it almost gives me the chills.

Well, I guess I better put up my review of the Divenire concert[/b] then!

I should start by saying that I was lucky to even get there – had a long journey that afternoon, and combination of weather, traffic, and construction meant that I barely got the hall in time!

Ludovico was accompanied by 6 string players, and an electronics person. They all got a warm welcome onto the stage, but when Einaudi walked out the applause multiplied!

It was the first time I’ve ever heard a 9ft concert grand, and it sounded fantastic. It was quite strange seeing an ipod on the left hand side of it (near the keys), and I’m not too sure what its function was (he never touched it during the show).

As for the track-listing, I think it went something like (not too good with the newer tracks):

Svanire, Uno, Andare, Rose, Fly, Ritornare, Oltremare [interval].

Monday, L’Origine Nascosta, Primavera. Then Einaudi said ‘now we will do some older songs’, so it continued:
La Nascote della cose segrete, Eden Roc, Le Onde

And for the encore: Stella del mattino/I giorni (medley), and Giorni Dispari to finish.

After the concert, Einaudi sat and signed books/cd’s, so I got the Divenire book signed (definitely NOT going on ebay ). You only get a couple of seconds, so all I could say was “Ciao – bellissimo!”, and he simply replied with “Grazie”.

You definitely get the impression that he is genuinely touched by the applause and adoration he receives. He is very thankful and humble.

As for the music itself, it was quite something listening to most of the pieces. A couple of the newer ones seemed to be ‘filler’, but it was made up for by tracks like I Giorni and Le Onde. And to hear Giorni Dispari complete with strings was quite amazing!

Out of the new tracks, Divenire itself, Oltremare, Monday, and Primavera were simply fantastic. They would sit happily on an updated 'Best of' compilation.

Overall, a fantastic evening, and I truly hope he makes it into the USA so you guys can hear him play as well

[swoons with envy] You spoke with Einaudi himself??? And got his autograph??? Wow.... And you spoke to him in Italian! I probably would be completely tongue-tied and would stammer unintelligibly in any language.

What was the piano?

The ipod thing is weird. Maybe there's something on his website that explains it.

I keep checking his concert schedule and there's no sign he'll be playing the States any time soon. Drat.

Think the ipod is the loop sounds he uses in his new album divinire, uses reverse piano loops/ipod loops for the atmospheric sounds he wants to create to go with the piano. Was the piano a Steinway D in the concert? I am guessing it was.

The loops IMO work well throughout the new album.

Hi Monica,

It wasn't too much of a big deal speaking to him - he doesn't come across as the 'virtuoso superstar' type of person, so everyone was really cool and relaxed.

He played a Steinway D (don't know if it was Hamburg or NY). I think he is contracted to them now (although he used to play Yamaha, I think).

I'm pretty sure it was an ipod. The only other explanation was it was a wireless unit for the microphone beside the piano (he spoke a couple of times to introduce people). But it certainly looked like an mp3 player.

At first I thought it may have been for timing (like a metronome). Then maybe it could have been for controlling the electronic samples. But I will ask on the Einaudi forum and get back to you.

You'll just have to fly to Europe instead

Edit: I was writing as you posted the explanation, mwf! The thing was that he never seemed to click any buttons, or manipulate the device at any point (unless he did so when the lights were dimmed, or I just never picked up on it).

My hubby's up for a European vacation, and if we do one, I will definitely pick a country that overlaps with his tour! The only snag is that Mommy (me) is the one who gets stuck sitting next to and entertaining my rambunctious 7 year old, and I'm not sure I'm up for that on an overnight flight.

But to see a concert like that and meet Einaudi himself, trust me - it's worth it!

Great review Euan. I found myself clinging to every word while reading your write up.

Unlike some other new-age or romantic style pianists, Einaudi seemes to genuinly feel and perform his music the way that he wants it to come across, not just a manufactured/marketed three minute catchy piece to appeal to the mass markets on their morning drive to work.

Here in the states, it seems that many artists must conform to the three minute rule in order for their music to get any air play at all.

I understand the realistic aspects of this but it is a shame. If it were'nt for the more commercialized christmas album, groups like Mannheim Steamroller would not get any air play as well.

I did see Jim Brickman in concert a few months ago and while he was very nice to meet, you got the feeling that the entire performance was not for the peoples appreciation but rather the promotion of Jim's new album.

I am jealous that you got to see him in concert, wish I was there!

Hi S-H,

I know what you are saying - its almost like musicians have a choice, sell-out and get the record deal and fame, or stay unique and possibly miss out on the publicity. Or some can be get the best of both worlds!

Incidentally, here is the new book. Unfortunately the signature isn't much, but its 100% authentic

Thanks for sharing Euan, sounds like a great time!!

Euan,

I envy you sooooo much. Not just the fact you saw the concert, but you also got an autographed music book! Wow, that's fantastic


What an interesting signature that Einaudi has.

Good idea, Monica, I'll do that.

Sorry to dig this up again, but I finally got the answer as to the ipod question.

I posted the same question on the official Einaudi forum. Intially, people were saying that it related to the loops on the album.

Then the ACTUAL bass player from the tour posted:

Here is the answer! Ludovico from his iPod sends a slight pulsing "bell" that we consider as a metronome. We tried to listen to it through headphones, but putting on them took always a lot of time. So Ludovico decided that was musically expressive to let it sounds live.
Sorry for my terrific english... but you can trust me: I am Franco, the double bass player of the sextet!

Actually, this is something that I don't understand at all.

I am now really trying to play Einaudi (or any other romantic type piece) with as much expression and emotion that I can.

I have noticed that when I do this, my timing is all over the place, but not in a bad way...I hope!

On some of the very dramatic, off pitch notes that can really give you goose bumps, I tend to slow down just a bit and really put extra emphasis on these sections. I like to let the last single note or two really hold on and "sing" for an extra moment.

I don't know how you can do this while keeping up with a constant steady beat?

Remember, I have no formal training at all so I may be way off on this one or there may be something that I don't know about.

S-H, if you ever listen to Einaudi play, he tends to emphasize certain notes by holding the note an extra second longer than the rest. Sometimes these note emphasis are not marked in his sheet music.


I for one don't use a metronome when playing "neo-classical" pieces. I did that once and the piece came out sounded very mechanical. So now, the way I approach learning a piece is by listening to a recording and then try to mimic the artist with how they had perform the piece.

and I try to mimic how kawaigirl plays, the operative word here, however is try.

Hi Mr. "H",
Vogel here, I was reading your post regarding timing and steady beats etc. and that you were not trained. I was trained in classical music for many years and quite frankly, I was tired of counting every measure. I recently read a wonderful book entitled "Notes From the Piano Bench" by Boris Berman. A wonderful book directed to all musicians;beginner to advanced. Let me quote a passage from the book for you, hopefully it will make you feel better about your playing:
quote "...concrete tools of piano playing, I should emphasize is that they serve to achieve the most IMPORTANT GOAL: the ability to create an illusion. What one DOES is infinitely less important than the sound that emerges from the instrument." What he is saying here is, play from your heart.He also states that efforts to connect notes physically may make the melodic line less smooth than by playing it naturally , with the help of pedaling. Certainly, dynamics is important, but at this stage making a piece "your own" is so much more important than counting and worrying whether or not it sounds exactly like the composer. I think the beauty of Neo-classic playing is portraying your interpretation of the music. No one pianist plays a piece exactly like someone else. My interpretation of a piece will be different than yours and it should, because I'm playing it. I'm feeling it, I'm conveying to my listener my emotions.

Best Regards,
Nick

Nick:

That was a very good reply and I understand what you are saying completely.

I hope you will have a chance to listen to my version of Einaudi's "Le Onde" as I really am puting every thing I have into it.

Yes, this is just another shameless "pre-promotion" of a piece I will be submitting but I am so excited about it, I can't help myself!.

For so long now,(almost 3 years), I have been doing nothing but just trying my darndest to play a piece while actually hitting most of the correct notes.

I never even bothered with the pedal as for the first 2 years I was playing on a digital and basically just nailed that thing to the floor!!

Now that I have changed the way I learn a piece and especially the amount of time I spend on it, I am discovering a whole new world of playing that I never even scratched the surface of.

I have been playing "Le Onde" for around a month or so and now don't really need to spend all of my attention just hitting the correct notes.

Now that I can finally get through a piece without searching for the correct notes to hit, I am able to devote more attention to things like expression and emotion which I have never done before.

If you listen to my last recital submission "Nefeli", I hit most (not all) of the correct notes and even tossed in a little "re-composing" or improvising here and there but
that piece totally lacked expression or emotion as I have really never tryed to do that before.

When I first heard "Le Onde" performed by Kawaigirl, I literally, and I mean literally tossed everything I was working on and set out to learn this piece.

I have never heard a piece with so much expression infused into it and I absolutely fell head over heals for it!

I will be submitting a sneak-peak performance of it in the upcoming ABF piano-styles exhibition set for Mon March 26th and it will be the first time I have ever attempted to play with expression and emotion.

BTW, if I were someone else (besides me) reading these posts, I would be thinking to myself, "Oh boy, here goes that super-Hunky guy self promoting his music again!, will he ever stop?"!

I know, I even make myself a bit sick at times (and thats pretty bad when you annoy yourself!!), but like I said, I just can't help myself as I am getting and having too much enjoyment with these piano pieces.

I would love to get everyone all worked up and as excited about his "achingly beautiful" music as I am.

I've heard incredible pieces from Euan, Monica Kawaigirl, (and of course my own hacked-up hybrid recompositions) and would really like to hear from some others as well.

I hope others will also get the incredible enjoyment out of performing his pieces as I do too.

To be totally honest, I could listen to Einaudi's beautiful music all day but I can only take so much of listening to classical "finger-gymnastics" type of music.

I love music for its beautiful and relaxing sound, not for its technical difficulty. I do appreciate the talent and skill required to play most technical classical pieces, but its not what I'm listening to late in the evening when I want to wind down; Einaudi is!.

Well said S-H

"I love music for its beautiful and relaxing sound, not for its technical difficulty. I do appreciate the talent and skill required to play most technical classical pieces, but its not what I'm listening to late in the evening when I want to wind down; Einaudi is!"

Mr S-H, I strongly urge you to listen to these two pieces by Chopin late at night to supplement your Einaudi - his nocturnes are the music of the night. They are performed very well by two 'amateur' pianists.

I'd really like to hear your interpretations on either of these pieces actually!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwSbfOkRlio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYhuJp3jgjY

I've noticed that as well. That's why I was surprised to hear that the ipod thing by his piano was for a metronome signal... and it's why I was not at all surprised to hear the member of his band say they ended up not using it!

I've been trying hard to duplicate his rubato and it is a lot harder than it sounds!

"Mr Rubato", thats kinda catchy!

Monica, its just a small point, but I thought I would make clear. Its the headphones they didn't bother with - and instead the bell signal was put out live over the P.A. It must have been pretty quiet,because I wasn't aware of it.

But as you say, Einaudi's music sounds better when it is played expressively. When he was playing Le Onde, since he had the string players to keep in time, he had to play the piece in strict time, which took a little off it. Still sounded awesome though!

I was thinking, perhaps it should be post-neo-classical (what a mouthful!), maybe post-neo

Neo-classical in my mind are the youngsters like Eric Satie, Samuel Barber, Gabriel Faure, Maurice Ravel...people like that, dead but recently so.

Einaudi is still giving concerts for crying out loud, you can't be alive and classical in the same sentence!

Hmmm...how about...I've got it! New Age!

S_H,
I don't think you are promoting yourself at all. I read before me someone who is passionate about what he does and that's what I would expect from someone who was able to build a truly beautiful home, work out and have the results you display, and play the piano without formal training the way you do. You really should get Belman's book and read it. It's a great tool and very helpful. I was trained in classical music as a child and young man, left the piano because life got in the way and now that I have plenty of time on my hands I want so desperately to play well again. I just listened to the two nocturnes that Steph posted. I am currently working on #72 and I play the piece a little differently than the gent playing and that's ok. My timing is a little off and I am working on the triplets. If you can get as close to the composer's interpretation I think that's pretty good. Don't become discouraged. I am sure that you are playing well enough to make Angels smile! Another quote from the book: "I am also reminded of the story about Michelangelo, working with great care on the back of one of his sculptures that was to be placed in a corner of a church.He was asked why he spent so much effort on the part that no one would see. His reply was, "God will see it." Think about that!

Best Regards,
Nick

PS Hope you're feeling better healthwise!

Stephenc:

Thanks for posting up those two pieces. I have not heard them yet as we have packed all of our audio equipment and I don't have my stereo hooked up to my computer anymore.

I do however have a good pair of desktop speakers I just found in the closet that we have not packed and I should be able to listen to your classical works this evening.

To be honest, I'm kinda looking forward to hearing what you consider to be beautiful music. I'm just wondering if we have similar tastes in that department.

There has been a sort of underground "sub-group" of AB members who seem to have banded together due to very similar tastes in music.

This is in no-way to be confused with any social "clique" or anything like that...(high school was over 20 years ago for me!!).

I just have noticed that there is a strong neo-classical/romantic/new-age following as well as an equally strong (if not stronger) traditional classical following.

Personally, I am not stuck on any one type of genre of music and my only criteria is that it appeals to me, thats all.

Heck, I even enjoyed a country song or two before!.

I'm looking forward to replying to these pieces hopefully this evening.

I'll look forward to your responses Mr S-H! I think we have very similar likes in terms of piano music as evidenced by our mutual admiration for Brickmans work especially and also David Lanz and i've also enjoyed several Einaudi pieces to.

I think labelling music as 'classical' can sometimes turn people away from it without giving it a chance (I know I use to have this opinion myself until I watched some Chopin on youtube and was speechless!). But as I've said elsewhere - some pieces of music simply transcend genres - just playing the simple opening bars of either of the above pieces is like magic (even on a digital piano, and even more so on a grand!).

Okay Stephenc, I had a chance to finally listen to both classical recordings.

first off, we can the the best of friends, grow up together, have lots of fun and never tire of each others company. We can be very similar in a lot of things, but we both are individuals as well. In this respect, you love chocolate ice cream, but my heart belongs to vanilla!

Growing up as a kid, besides being more than a handful for well everybody, I had one odd habit. I would literally shut out all of my thoughts or even stop playing with the other kids for a moment when I heard some heart wrenching notes either played or sang.

These "notes" usually had something in common with them; they were either played in very dramatic chords or as single, individual slightly off notes.

I really don't know how to describe these "off" notes other than they usually are just possibly a half note from what you would have expected to hear. They are very, VERY powerful to me and is what attracts me to this neo-classical type of music.

The beginning of Barry Manilows "Could it be magic" (borrowed from Chopin) chords do it and if you want to hear what I am talking about, find a copy of that song and listen to the piano prelude in the begining of that piece.

"Manheim Steamroller" has a few compositions that do it and "Einaudi's" "Le Onde" certainly has a lot of it.

I can't describe it any better than I have as I don't know the correct term for it. Possibly "sad" notes or "off" notes, I don't know. All I know is that when I hear a piece that incorporates these special melodies and heart-tugging notes, I can actually and physically get a lump in my throat and even goose bumps at times.

While the two performances you posted on youtube were performed with incredible expression and obvious talent, the melody itself did'nt tug at my heart strings as a few other tunes instantly have.

For me, its not about how talented or how well the piece is performed, but rather how beautiful the piece itself sounds when performed.

Very few songs or piano pieces have ever affected me like this; it is very rare.

As much as I love Kawaigirls performance of Einaudi pieces, they don't all do it for me; only a select few do.

Christofori's Dream does
Nefeli does
Le Onde does
Lake Eerie rainfall does
Barry Manilow's prelude to "could it be magic" does
Manheim Steamroller compositions do
Even Barbara Steisands "Evergreen" and "All I ask of you" does (Phantom of the opera).

This may give you a better understanding of the type of music that I really enjoy.

You may also want to listen to the opening chords of The guess who's "Laughing". Same thing. Very dramatic, almost tear-jerking melodies.

Eric Carmens "All by myself" intro (Rachmaninoff rip of)

Breads "Lost without your love" intro.

These are all great examples of this heart tugging type of dramatic chords and notes that I like. I only wish I knew what they were called.

If you have a moment (and a Rhapsody subscription), you may want to give a listen to the songs I have mentioned to get a better understanding what musically makes me tick.

I think deep down, I may be a hopeless romantic (at least musically)!