EXPERIENCE: THE LUDOVICO EINAUDI STORY | PODCAST REVIEW
Who could have guessed that actor Joe Dempsie would be a self-confessed superfan of Italian minimalist composer Ludovico Einaudi? The Skins and Game Of Thrones star is not alone, either: this three-part podcast series brings together a whole host of Einaudi fans, including Shane Meadows and Russell Crowe, to talk about the composer’s music and its relevance to these challenging times.
The first episode of Experience sounds uncannily like a Spotify ad in places, as a result of pairing Dempsey’s rehearsed delivery of scripted platitudes with high production values and clips of Einaudi’s commercial-friendly brand of classical music, but the series hits its stride as it progresses. Episodes two and three far surpass the succinct 30 minutes promised, with only some filler in the form of rehashed comments on the suitability of Einaudi’s music to the medium of film, after which the interview with the man himself in the final instalment is quite the delight.
There are nuggets of trivia for listeners who are themselves Einaudi fans, starting with the vitally important (perhaps an exaggeration, but it is a sticky point of contention…) authoritative guide to pronouncing the composer’s name. We’re treated to some enjoyable stories of first encounters with his music, from Radio One DJ Greg James’ effort to get these “sad classical bangers” he’d discovered into the charts, to various film directors’ searches for the perfect soundtrack before eventually coming across Einaudi’s evocative compositions.
Arguably the most interesting story comes from Einaudi himself: that of his gradual discovery of his own sound, from studying with and then rejecting the avant-garde, through his travels in Mali and flirtations with improvisation and performance cultures beyond the predictable concert hall format, to discovering a passion for ‘singing’ his music through playing the piano to those passing outside his apartment window. We learn how the composer ended up with his style of poignant pop-minimalism by learning to create art to touch people’s hearts; and how, rather than being ‘isolated in a cave’, but maintaining some degree of solo serenity, he prefers to write with someone else nearby, evoking parallel childhood memories of hearing his mother playing Chopin in the house.
Experience sets out to discover why this music appeals to us now, in 2021. Although we do hear from wellbeing experts, listeners are left to draw threads together from Einaudi’s own outlook on life, both in his own words and via those who know him. Anyone who has listened to the composer at some point will probably already understand the reasons why his compositions feel so appropriate at the moment. Something about Einaudi’s music does fit so perfectly into periods of intimate reflection, of time spent alone listening in bedrooms through 21st century streaming services. This is the music of isolation, but contemplative, cosy, and self-imposed.
By listening to Einaudi’s music, now clocking up one million streams a day, can we trick ourselves into feeling as if this isolation is an enjoyable, voluntary one, rather than one inflicted upon us? Or has it perhaps always been part of an illusion: convincing ourselves that alone time within our own melancholic bubbles is anything other than part of the isolated contemporary human condition? This podcast falls short of delving into the deeper meanings of Einaudi’s appeal, but, as fantasy author Leigh Bardugo (Six Of Crows) observes, this music doesn’t seek to manipulate the listener like traditional film scores, but guides one towards thoughts and emotions instead.
Perhaps this series does just the same: draws us gently towards a deeper understanding of our own connections with music, contemplation, and the balance between withdrawing from and connecting with those around us.
Available now on all podcast platforms. Info: here
words ISABEL THOMAS
