MUSIC
LUDOVICO EINAUDI: ELEMENTS ★★★★
Hamer Hall, February 14 & 17
When Ludovico Einaudi arrives on stage, the lights go down rather than up. The Italian composer sits at the piano with his back to the audience, barely visible in the darkness, and his band members arrive as silently as ghosts. The low light establishes an air of mystery, but is no mere introductory gesture. The band will remain cloaked in shadows for almost the entire concert, their leader a silhouette against a slowly shifting animated backdrop.
![Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi's Einaudi's skill for shaping each piece makes his music intensely cinematic.](/web/20170215044636im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/d/g/0/8/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gudf8u.png/1487128566215.jpg)
Einaudi may have the following of a pop superstar, but on stage he prefers our focus to be on the music rather than the performers. Tuesday's two-hour concert unfolded without interruption, the composer pausing only once – after a series of luminously beautiful solo pieces – to acknowledge us with a warm smile. Then the music resumed: delicate keyboard motifs, resonant with feeling; strings that quivered and swelled; rippling arpeggios that surged and built into a pulsating gallop, underscored by the deep thrum of a bass guitar.
His five fellow musicians were all multi-instrumentalists, switch from acoustic to electric cello or violin; frame drum to vibraphone; synths to subtle electronics. The percussionists were especially versatile, producing evocative effects with musical saw, waterphone and a shimmering gong half-immersed in a fish tank.
Einaudi's gift for shaping each piece – through repetition, interlocking rhythmic patterns and expertly controlled dynamics that generate drama and momentum – makes his music intensely cinematic. The abstract projected images enhanced the effect without impeding our own internal cinema, creating a sense of collective reverie that was as reassuring as it was fulfilling.