Ludovico Einaudi Divenire

Outstanding execution by Jeroen Van Veen with superb sound quality. Einaudi's work is difficult to categorize as he pulls classical, pop, new age and cinematic ideas into thoughtfully crafted modern pieces. Highly appealing because it's simply all very good. The most comprehensive set-to-date of Ludivico Einaudi's piano works. - Pianist Joeren van Veen is a prolific and critically well-regarded Brilliant Classics recording artist. - The booklet contains an essay regarding the popular success of Einaudi, written by Mr. van Veen.

Passaggio, Lavinia Meijer's first release on Sony, is an album of the crossover music of Ludovico Einaudi, an Italian composer and pianist who encouraged the Dutch harpist to record some of his most popular pieces. The playing on this 2013 album is highly polished and appealing, and Meijer demonstrates considerable powers of concentration and precision in performances of her harp transcriptions of Einaudi's keyboard music. Some will find Meijer's renditions emotionally communicative and mood enhancing, and most of the credit for their effectiveness belongs to her, because Einaudi's modal harmonies and conventional patterns tend toward a bland prettiness, or pretty blandness, that's all of a piece. Simple melodies and repeated arpeggiated chords have the instant attraction of minimalist music, and simplicity is often a virtue in the proper context. Sony's recording is clear and close-up, and Meijer has presence in a fairly resonant studio space.

Outstanding execution by Jeroen Van Veen with superb sound quality. Einaudi's work is difficult to categorize as he pulls classical, pop, new age and cinematic ideas into thoughtfully crafted modern pieces. Highly appealing because it's simply all very good.

It had to happen – given the impressive commercial performance of minimalist music in classical-unfriendly America, some European artist was sure to try to capitalize on the trend and bring minimalism to the middle-of-the-road European market. Enter Ludovico Einaudi: composer, pianist, and favorite of the programmers at Britain's crossover radio phenomenon, Classic FM. Divenire presents a selection of his works, some for solo piano and others backed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. They're artfully done, stepping up to the line of pure schlock but not crossing over, and using the simplicity of minimalist patterns to rope audiences into something that's actually slightly different.

One of those composers whose name you might not be instantly familiar with, but whose music you certainly will be, Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi has been captivating audiences for the best part of two decades with his beautifully delicate and minimal arrangements, many of which have gone on to become soundtrack staples for everything from costume dramas to TV adverts to Hollywood films. Celebrating his increasingly popular output, Islands: Essential Einaudi compiles the Milan Conservatory graduate's most recognizable pieces, with material from his first solo piano record, Le Onde ("Questa Notte"), right up to 2009's synth-based Nightbook (the gothic cello-led title track), alongside a brand new composition, "The Earth Prelude."