Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music
Get our Now Hear This email for free
Get our Now Hear This email for free
Ludovico Einaudi, one of the most-streamed composers in the world, has admitted that harsh reviews of his work can still sting, despite his confidence in his artistic vision.
The renowned Italian composer discussed his polarising status among music critics in an exclusive interview with The Independent.
“I mean, it’s not nice when someone is writing against you, and you cannot reply, you cannot do anything about it,” Einaudi, 69, confessed. “But my trust in what I do, my vision is stronger, so I keep doing what I feel, and this for me is the most important [thing].”
Einaudi is the debut guest on Roisin O’Connor’s Good Vibrations podcast, which launches Friday 31 January.
He rose to international fame in the early Eighties, performing original compositions at prestigious venues such as the Lincoln Centre and Teatro alla Scala.
By the Nineties, he had cemented his reputation with a series of critically acclaimed albums, including Le Onde (The Waves), inspired by Virginia Woolf’s novel, and 1999’s Eden Roc.
His work has spanned not only concert halls but also cinema, with acclaimed scores for films such as Shane Meadows’ Bafta-winning This Is England (2006) and Florian Zeller’s The Father (2020), starring Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins.
Einaudi’s latest work, The Summer Portraits, is arguably his most personal yet. Inspired by a trip to a Mediterranean villa, the album explores themes of childhood innocence, summer holidays, and family trauma.
His music has long been admired for its ability to evoke powerful emotions, but it has also drawn criticism for being “too populist” or overly accessible—criticisms that the composer dismisses with quiet resolve.
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members)
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members)
“I keep doing what I feel,” he said, reflecting on the divide between his detractors and the millions of listeners who resonate with his music. “My vision is what connects me with the people who listen. That’s the most important thing for me.”
Some of The Summer Portraits was recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London, a treat for Einaudi who has previously spoken of his love of The Beatles.
He revealed that he’s excited about the Oasis reunion taking place this summer: “Listening to their albums now, I think they had a nice energy,” he said.
“It’s rock and roll but it’s like they squeezed something out from the best moments of rock and roll and took it into the Nineties.”
He continued: “Probably if they were together they wouldn’t have done so much. But I think they are stronger together. I was listening recently before the reunion – I was curious so I listened to both of their single projects, and not one of them was totally convincing for me [compared to Oasis albums]. I think it was like that for me also with The Beatles.”
When it comes to composing his own work, Einaudi said: “Music represents the vision of the world that I would like to have, where I would like to live, where I would like to be, how I would like to relate to others, how I would see a perfect life, of perfect emotions and feelings.”
Lead single “Rose Bay” takes its name from the suburb of Sydney where Einaudi’s paternal grandfather, conductor Waldo Aldrovandi, emigrated in the 1930s in protest of Italy’s fascist government, leaving his family behind.
“For my mother, music was connected with the loss of her father, so there was a very strong and sentimental connection – when she was playing piano, it was a way of communicating with the father she never saw again,” Einaudi said.
Other upcoming guests on the Good Vibrations podcast include The Cult guitarist Billy Duffy, Mercury Prize-shortlisted R&B artist Nao, British actor and singer Ben Barnes, Nineties pop icon Chesney Hawkes, and critically acclaimed US alt-pop artist BANKS.
Each episode will air fortnightly on Fridays and star a high-profile guest from the world of music. The podcast will be available on all major streaming services including Apple Music and Spotify.
Ludovico Einaudi’s new album The Summer Portraits is out Friday 31 January on Decca. He performs at the Royal Albert Hall London (30 June to 4 July), Manchester Co-op Live (6 July), Dublin 3Arena (8 July) and Edinburgh Castle 10-11 July).
