I went to see Ludovico Einaudi on Monday evening at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. I started listening to him and playing his music just over two years ago and was looking forward to the concert, even if I was a little tired having just finished two pieces of written work the night before.
I was obviously expecting that the concert would be musically exceptional, and it was. Everything he does with his music has even given me ideas about what I could change to my own playing. I knew some of the pieces he was playing and it was interesting to compare how I imagine playing it to how he performed it.
I was most surprised by the visual aspects of the concert, which I definitely wasn't expecting. It was very simple but had a massive effect without doing much. He basically just had a projector with a few moving objects/animals/people in the background. The lighting was stunningly effective and, again, the visual images in my mind were vastly different to those projected on-screen.
When you listen to Einaudi on CD (or wherever) you imagine a guy at a piano with maybe a handful of other musicians around him. That's what was there, but I never imagined what that would come to live. It started out as a very well-constructed and beautifully performed set but two and a half hours later resembled a rock concert with flashing lights and climatic pieces.
I can safely say I have never had an experience at a live music event like this. Quite frankly, he is a God.
Thanks,
Ollie :)
