LUDOVICO EINAUDI : Waves -The Piano Collection (2013) 7CD BOX-SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Ludovico Einaudi’s aesthetic of emptiness has won him legions of fans worldwide, and Jeroen van Veen’s survey of the piano music which is central to Einaudi’s style belongs with his survey of minimalists including Glass and Nyman who are less concerned in music as an expressive language than as a commercial artefact. Likewise, his listeners absorb the music less in the sense of engaging with meaning than as backdrop to activity or release from stress. The works on this compendious collection are nearly all ‘songs’ of between 3 and 7 minutes, with the influence from pop culture that this brevity implies, and sharing with the pop world an economically aware employment of simplicity and repetition so as not unduly to tax the attention-span of the consumer. As Jeroen van Veen remarks, ‘Contrary to ordinary classical music, minimal music demands little of the listener but to escape life’s troubles for a moment; no comprehensive musical structures ask their full attention.’

All his compositions are more or less based on the music he heard when he was a child, when his mother played Chopin Preludes. Einaudi (grandson of the politician Luigi Einaudi) loved the almost hypnotic soft sound of the upright piano. Because of her he started to play the piano and tried to find his own way. The melody (if there is any at all) always goes down, hardly leaving the classical path of harmonies. His music is ambient, calm, meditative and often introspective, drawing on minimalism and contemporary pop.

Other information:
- Ludovico Einaudi may well become the “Satie of the 21st century”. His minimalist, deceptively simple piano works reach a massive audience well beyond the strict boundaries of traditional classical music. CDs with his music break sales records, the hypnotic calmness of his works being the perfect recipe against modern world’s stress and fatigue.
- Einaudi’s piano works fit in logically with Jeroen van Veen’s survey of Minimalist Piano Music, and this 7-CD set is the most substantial collection available at present.
- Booklet contains an introduction by Jeroen van Veen to the popular success of Einaudi. brilliantclassics.com
Tracklist :
CD1. Le Onde (1996)
CD2. Eden Roc (1999)
CD3. I Giorni (2001)
CD4. Una Mattina (2004)
CD5. Divenire (2008)
CD6. Nightbook (2009)
CD7.  In A Time Lapse (2013)
Piano – Jeroen van Veen 

LUDOVICO EINAUDI — In A Time Lapse (2013) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi, grandson of an early president of postwar Italy and student of Luciano Berio, has at times used either his first or his last name solo. His music is a bit difficult to pin down, for it treads up to the lines of minimalism, new age, and pop piano without quite going over any of them. It depends on repeated, slowly shifting piano figures but is too grand to be really minimalist. Stress reduction and contemplativeness are the chief virtues ascribed to it by its admirers, but it doesn't have the improvisatory jazz basis of American new age music. And though individual junctures might sound like passages from Elton John, the music tends to stop short of pop emotional payoffs and go off in a new direction. This generic slipperiness is the key to Einaudi's appeal, which seems set to expand to the U.S.: as in the days of old, where recorded music was conceived of primarily as an aid to selling live concert tickets, In a Time Lapse comes stickered with an American tour schedule. Should you try it out? Einaudi has the odd combination of being original without being especially challenging; his music sort of lies there. But this release may well be a good place to start. Its most noticeable new feature is a light overlay of pop electronics not present on Einaudi's solo piano and piano-and-orchestra music. It actually works well, lending rhythmic and textural variety to the beginnings of each piece. The music soon enough progresses into chord arpeggios on Einaudi's piano, but he has the opportunity to apply his simple musical logic to a variety of moods. This, too, sets the music apart from new age models. In short, who knows? Even if crossover is not your bag, you may find yourself drawn by this. Or maybe you just want something that will relax you in freeway traffic. Einaudi could work either way. James Manheim
Tracklist :
1    Corale 2:05
Cello – Marco Decimo
Electronics – Ludovico
Viola – Antonio Leofreddi, Svetlana Fomina
Violin – Alice Costamagna
2    Time Lapse 5:31
Cello – Marco Decimo
Kalimba – Francesco Arcuri
Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Bass [Electronic Bass] – Ludovico
Rhythm Guitar [Rhythm Guitars, Effects [Reverb] – Alberto Fabris
Sound Designer – Paolo Giudici
Viola – Antonio Leofreddi
Violin – Federico Mecozzi
3    Life 4:23
Cello [Solo Cello], Glockenspiel – Marco Decimo
Orchestra – I Virtuosi Italiani
Piano, Celesta – Ludovico
Violin [Solo Violin] – Daniel Hope, Mauro Durante
4    Walk 3:28
Cello – Marco Decimo
Kalimba – Francesco Arcuri
Piano, Celesta – Ludovico
Viola – Antonio Leofreddi
5    Discovery At Night 4:26
Piano – Ludovico
6    Run 5:32
Orchestra – I Virtuosi Italiani
Piano – Ludovico
7    Brothers 4:51
Cello – Marco Decimo, Redi Hasa
Loops [Loop] – Leo Einaudi
Piano, Synthesizer [Moog] – Ludovico
Rhythm Guitar [Rhythm Guitars], Bass – Alberto Fabris
Sound Designer – Paolo Giudici
Violin – Mauro Durante
8    Orbits 2:57
Cello – Marco Decimo
Effects [Reverb] – Alberto Fabris
Piano, Glockenspiel, Electronics – Ludovico
Viola – Antonio Leofreddi, Svetlana Fomina
Violin – Alice Costamagna, Federico Mecozzi
Violin [Solo Violin] – Daniel Hope
9    Two Trees 6:26
Effects [Reverb] – Alberto Fabris
Piano – Ludovico
10    Newton's Cradle 7:53
Cello – Marco Decimo, Redi Hasa
Double Bass – Franco Feruglio
Effects [Reverb] – Alberto Fabris
Electronics [Live Electronics] – Robert Lippok
Ensemble [Additional Live Recording: Ensemble] – PMCE Parco Della Musica Contemporanea Ensemble
Kalimba – Francesco Arcuri
Percussion [Additional Live Recording: Percussions] – Antonino Errera, Antonio Caggiano, Fulvia Ricevuto, Gianluca Ruggeri
Piano, Celesta, Loops – Ludovico
Recorded By [Partially Recorded By] – Gianluca Mancini
Sound Designer – Paolo Giudici
Tambourine – Mauro Durante
Viola – Antonio Leofreddi, Svetlana Fomina
Violin – Alice Costamagna, Federico Mecozzi
11    Waterways 4:18
Cello – Marco Decimo
Double Bass – Franco Feruglio
Harp – Francesca Tirale
Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Bass – Ludovico
Viola – Antonio Leofreddi, Svetlana Fomina
Violin – Alice Costamagna
12    Experience 5:15
Harp – Francesca Tirale
Orchestra – I Virtuosi Italiani
Piano – Ludovico
Violin [Solo Violin] – Alberto Martini, Daniel Hope
Violin [Solo Violin], Tambourine – Mauro Durante
13    Underwood 4:13
Piano – Ludovico
Violin – Daniel Hope
14    Burning 5:09
Orchestra – I Virtuosi Italiani
Piano – Ludovico