[Gabriel]

I thought it might be useful to have somewhere to put interesting photo's or links to sites that we find. To start off, this link has some photos of Ludovico and Marco at the Auditorium in Rome in September 2004 (which some of you may have already seen) - including some of his piano being moved (if you are into that sort of thing )

http://www.neo.it/einaudi/index.html

[Cathy]

Great idea, Gabriel.

[Gabriel]

This link has a short (1'48'') video of Ludovico playing 'ora' in Aosta, in the Italian alps (I think). It plays on 'RealPlayer' - but not great picture quality. The text is quite interesting, I think it says that Ludovico is playing near the mountain hut that his grandfather (Luigi) used to avoid his enemies following the war (but I may have got it wrong - see what you think)

http://www.rtsi.ch/t...e...74&idc=7209

[Cathy]

That's beautiful. As you said, it's a shame the picture quality is rather poor, but I would love to have been up there in the mountains to hear him play.

[Gabriel]

Great photo's of Ludovico, Rodrigo Leao and musicians, in a very atmospheric setting

http://www.provincia...udi/_index.html

[Cathy]

Brilliant Gabriel! You are a great source of information!!!

[Gabriel]

Ludovico has posted some new photos on his Myspace page (I do like the 'friend update' facility on Myspace, that tips you off when people add things to their profile). There's one photo that's particularly nice - the one on the boat (well it looks like a boat). Since I've been lucky enough to meet Ludovico 'in the flesh' a few times, I've become less interested in photos, but I do like this one.

I'm no photographer, so don't know how these things work, but I'm not keen on posed promotional photos that treat people (I don't just mean Ludovico) as images rather than people. Neither am I too keen on what I call 'trophy photos', where fans get photos taken of themselves standing next to Ludovico. I know lots of fans love these, and Ludovico himself always seems happy to pose for them, but I always think they make him seem like a commodity, rather than a person. The 'boat' photo is a good one of Ludovico Einaudi the man, rather than the image. He looks incredibly cool in the hat, but that's not an image - he is the coolest person I've ever met!

There are lots of great concert photos of Ludovico around - I visit Flickr occasionally for a look, and I love the 'arty' photo's in some of the album booklets (particularly Divenire and Una Mattina). However, the photo of him that I like most is one of those in Ludovico's website 'gallery' - one that doesn't show his face, but says more about him than any portrait could.

Has anyone else got thoughts on Ludovico in photos?

[Cathy]

Gabriel, on May 11 2008, 10:27 AM, said:

However, the photo of him that I like most is one of those in Ludovico's website 'gallery' - one that doesn't show his face, but says more about him than any portrait could.

The one of his feet on the orange carpet?!!

I do actually love that picture. Seriously. I think it's utterly brilliant and have used it in the past as an avatar type thingy on msn. I think I may once have said something about Ludovico using it as an album cover, but I may have dreamt that...



Is that the one you meant, Gabriel? Or am I on a totally different planet as usual?

I have loads to say about Ludovico in photos, but don't have time tonight, must go to bed. However, half-term is fast approaching, so I may air some more thoughts then.

[Gabriel]

Cathy, on May 11 2008, 11:34 PM, said:

The one of his feet on the orange carpet?!!
Is that the one you meant, Gabriel? Or am I on a totally different planet as usual?

No it's not that one Cathy, although I agree that's a great photo. But you're not on a different planet either, as Ludovico is barefoot in this photo too!. It's this one....



I love this photo - a beautiful composition. It captures a perfect moment of relaxation and contentment, but is also full of symbolism. I don't know if that's deliberate, or unconscious (often the most interesting!), or maybe it's just me as a viewer putting my own interpretation on it, but all those are legitimate to my mind.

We know it's Ludovico, even though we can't see his face (there is one small detail which confirms it). You can imagine the heat outside the window, and the coolness inside. I think the composition says a number of things about the person in it. Firstly, he's a man who is confident and not afraid to reveal himself - the bare arms and feet, but not completely - some things are kept in reserve. The solidity of the wood, iron and tin shutters represent tradition, but the uncoventional pose shows an individuality as well. Tradition is important to him, but what's more important is that he follows his own true path. Finally, the half-open shutters allow some light to bathe him, but only part of him. This is someone who is happy to be close to the limelight, and sometimes to enjoy its glare, but who prefers to stay close to the mysterious shadows.

Of course I don't know Ludovico well enough to tell if any of this is actually true, but it's my honest reading of a wonderful picture

[Gabriel]

This is interesting - I saw the link on the italian forum (thanks Claudia). It's great to see Ludovico involved in multimedia again, and is that Ballake Sissoko?. I'm intrigued by the motorised skulls!. Would love to know the background to this .
Look here

[Cathy]

Gabriel, on Sep 5 2008, 05:34 PM, said:

Would love to know the background to this .
Look here

Me too. Thanks G.

[Gabriel]

The wonderful Claudia has sent me links to two pages of information about this. They're in italian, so I've google-translated them and re-arranged some of the text. I hope it is readable. The show appears to have been the opening of a special new theatre, built by 'businessman/philosopher' Brunello Cucinelli, who seems to be a great philanthropist. The second section is a review of the show - and it's a bit mixed, it says 'at times boredom sets in', which is hard to believe when you read about all the unusual elements on show!. Interesting that it also says the 'truly memorable' part of the show was the music and performance of Ludovico and the musicians and singer from Mali . I would love to have seen this!. Thanks once again to Claudia .

Perugia, September 3. Tonight on stage 'In the Forest of the Spirits' - based on a text by Mazzonis, from the novel of the Nigerian writer Tutuola, and with music by Ludovico Einaudi.

'We have a duty to stimulate the craft, because we can not convince our young people to work in the arts for 980 euros per month' - the words of Brunello Cucinelli, of the cashmere industry, who today opens his new theatre in Solomeo, a small village on the outskirts of Perugia, with the show 'In the forest of the spirits', with words by Cesare Mazzonis, music by Ludovico Einaudi and directed by Luke Ronconi, scheduled until next Sunday.

The theatre, built in Renaissance style 'without a euro public', is the work of businessman and philosopher Cucinelli, and is in the village where he established his company that, despite the international crisis, sees a yearly increase in their profits. Cucinelli pays its nearly 500 employees on average 20% more than competitors.

'My dream', says Cucinelli 'has always been to make work more humane - one thing that can be done only by investing a portion of profits in projects intended to remain for centuries'. That, says the President of Umbria region, Rita Lorenzetti, 'is not a privilege of a few but a right of all'. And the government's that have followed the leadership of this region have always tried to preserve and enhance the heritage of this land.

Cucinelli presides over the circuit of Theatres Stable dell'Umbria, of which Solomeo is part. For the new theatre, he called on the architect Massimo De Vico Fallani, who chose the renaissance style 'because it exalts the human component' . 'For the design, says De Vico Fallani 'we made all the drawings by hand, on glossy paper, without using the computer. The craftsmen who have realised it, all local artisans, have interpreted the drawings and achieved everything without difficulty'.

Director Luca Ronconi was called to Solomeo from Cucinelli while the building was still under construction. 'I enthusiastically accepted the proposal of Brunello to direct the inaugral show of the theater. I have involved Mazzonis and Einaudi, and together we chose to stage a new show, very unusual, as unusual as how the theater was born. That is why we chose 'In the forest of the spirits' of Nigerian Amos Tutuola, who speaks of a young man who undertakes a journey into the world of the dead in search of a person dear to them. But while it is a sad spectacle, we wanted to reflect lightly on some very serious matters'.

'The text, clarifies Mazzonis 'was created by choosing which stories to keep and which to cut from the book of Tutuola, a work combining interesting aspects of ancestral African tradition with other things - curious, sometimes absurd, western impressions'. We have worked in total synergy, me, Ronconi and Einaudi who wrote the music - 'Music played', says the composer 'on African instruments, built by hand and played by a group of musicians from Mali, with some electronic instruments, and the piano played by me'.

The show, with scenery by Margherita Palli and costumes by Gianluca Sbicca, is interpreted by Fausto Russian Alesi, Riccardo Bini, Vinicio Marchioni, Fabrizio nevola and Marco Vergani, with the participation of dancer Ibrahim Ouattara and the singer Rokia Traore.

Review

And the launch?. It was an excellent idea to choose something new and exotic - two tales of Nigerian Amos Tutuola adapted by Cesare Mazzonis.. The narration of a journey into hell by someone who wants to recover something precious, results in a series of meetings with strange creatures, and incidents of which the viewer is struggling to understand, despite the explanations of the protagonist-narrator Fausto Russian Alesi. With grotesque masks, under which we recognise the voices of Riccardo Bini and others. Although it only lasts 80 minutes, boredom occasionally sets in. On the other hand, the text offered opportunties for many inventions, and Luca Ronconi has certainly not held back.

The set was designed by Margherita Palli, and the great designer has amused us with trapdoors, animated skeletons, skulls in wheelchairs, and especially with a kind of great animated blackboard on which written text flowed, windows opened, and with a live reading of the story. Better yet, there were occasions in the script for music, and the truly memorable part of the evening comes from the joining of European instruments and African rhythms composed by Ludovico Einaudi, played by him on stage with five musicians from Mali and sung by a sublime Rokia Traore.

[Cathy]

Thank you, Gabriel for the translation and thank you, Claudia for providing the information! How fantastic! It sounds like it was a very entertaining show!!

[Gabriel]

I like this photo - Ludovico looks incredibly smart and super-cool, all in one .

[teresa]

This's a very good look!
It's harmonious with the unusual piano 's colour.
Ludovico play always black piano!

ciao

[Gabriel]

teresa, on Sep 20 2008, 07:12 AM, said:

This's a very good look!
It's harmonious with the unusual piano 's colour.
Ludovico play always black piano!

ciao

You are right, Teresa. The piano is unusual for Ludovico. It looks like an older one - I wonder what make it is?.

[teresa]

This's a very good look!
It's harmonious even with the unusual piano 's colour


ciao

[Claudia67]

http://it.youtube.co...h?v=_E6jYPQXXVc



Ciao

Claudia

[Cathy]

Thanks Claudia, I shall have a proper listen to that after work.

[Gabriel]

I Giorni - It's a beautiful performance. I just love that final chord . Thanks for the link, Claudia.