His name might mean nothing to you. But you know the piano from The Intouchables, that quiet motif that keeps coming back, the one nobody dared breathe through in the cinema. And anyone who watched Nomadland or The Father with Anthony Hopkins heard it again. That's Ludovico Einaudi. Ludovico Einaudi concerts will tour eight Czech cities this autumn. At the piano, though, won't be the man himself, his compositions will be performed by Czech pianists.

Now for the twist. In June 2016, Einaudi played a grand piano set up on a floating platform in the Arctic Ocean, while behind him chunks of glacier broke off into the sea. The video from that day was later found on YouTube by director Chloé Zhao, who was searching for nature-inspired piano music. That's how his compositions ended up in Nomadland, a film that later won the Oscar for Best Picture.

Ludovico Einaudi concerts in Czechia: what kind of format is this

The autumn series is called Ludovico Einaudi Music and it's a series of piano recitals of his compositions performed by Czech interpreters. The shows take place in municipal theaters and smaller venues, from Silesia all the way to South Bohemia.

This needs to be said right away, so nobody ends up disappointed: Einaudi himself does not perform at these evenings. His own tours are announced and sold through the composer's official channels, and he plays large international halls there. The recitals touring Czech cities are something different. They're closer, more intimate and more accessible, often just around the corner from home. And his music sounds in them the way it was created: one person and one piano.

This format actually suits Einaudi more than it might seem. His compositions don't rely on virtuosic fireworks. Mostly they work with a repeating pattern in the left hand, over which the right hand carries a simple melody, building slowly. Music critics have labels for this, like post-classical or minimalism. A listener experiences it differently: after a few bars you stop noticing the hall and start thinking about something of your own.

One thing is good to know in advance. Ludovico Einaudi concerts in this form don't have a single permanent pianist. Several names are associated with the tour and the lineup can vary from city to city, so anyone going for a specific performer should check the page for that particular date.

Why you know his music even if you don't know his name

Einaudi reached most people through film, television and the internet. People often know his melodies before they know who wrote them.

The list of films and series is long: This Is England, The Intouchables, the Doctor Zhivago miniseries, or the documentary I'm Still Here with Joaquin Phoenix. For The Intouchables, which became the most successful French film in cinema history, Einaudi provided several pieces including Una Mattina, Fly and Primavera. It was this film that made his name in France as well.

But the most interesting story is Nomadland's. Critics praised the music, yet it couldn't compete for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. The reason was simple: Einaudi didn't write it for the film. Chloé Zhao reached for already existing compositions, mainly from the 2019 cycle Seven Days Walking, and added older pieces too. Oltremare comes from the album Divenire, Petricor from the album Elements. The Academy's rules require a score to consist largely of new music, and that condition couldn't be met. For the composer himself, though, it was actually a compliment: his music doesn't need the image, and yet it fits it as if it had been written to measure.

Then there's Nuvole Bianche from the 2004 album Una Mattina. It's one of the most played pieces among amateur pianists worldwide and has appeared in the horror film Insidious as well as in Ricky Gervais's series Derek. Anyone who thinks they don't listen to piano music may have already heard it many times under someone else's video.

From Berio's class to a glacier: the story behind the simple melodies

Behind compositions that sound so simple lies strict classical training under one of the great figures of the avant-garde. Anyone who knows that story listens to the concert differently.

Einaudi comes from Turin, from a family every Italian knows. His grandfather Luigi Einaudi was president of the republic after the war, his father Giulio founded the famous Einaudi publishing house. But it was his mother who brought him to music. She was a pianist and used to play for him when he was little.

He studied at the Milan Conservatory and then under Luciano Berio, a composer who was one of the leading names of postwar musical avant-garde. In the early eighties he received a scholarship to the Tanglewood festival, and there, according to his biographers, he first fully encountered minimalism, world music and pop. In the following years he wrote chamber and orchestral works and music for ballet. The melody people hum on the way home came only later. Piano teachers today like to point out that beneath that seemingly simple surface, Berio's schooling is still noticeable.

The turning point came with the 1996 record Le Onde, his first solo piano album. It was inspired by Virginia Woolf's novel The Waves, and the record caught on mainly in Italy and the UK. After that, things moved fast. The 2001 album I Giorni remains one of his most beloved, and the title track is played at weddings in America. On Diario Mali he played with Malian kora player Ballaké Sissoko. Una Mattina and Divenire got him into both classical and pop charts at the same time. On 2009's Nightbook he added electronics to the piano, and four years later came In a Time Lapse with the piece Experience. Seven Days Walking was released in installments over seven consecutive months in 2019.

And now back to the glacier. Elegy for the Arctic was created for a Greenpeace campaign aimed at pressuring governments to protect Arctic waters. Einaudi arrived near Svalbard aboard the ship Arctic Sunrise, with a grand piano from the Steinway factory in Hamburg sailing in the hold alongside him. Originally he was supposed to play on a real ice floe. But due to warming, there wasn't enough ice at the site, so Greenpeace activists had to build an artificial one: a platform 2.6 by 10 meters made of more than three hundred wooden triangles, weighing almost two tons. He played in front of the Wahlenbergbreen glacier, and during the piece chunks of ice broke off its face. Steinway called it the northernmost grand piano concert ever held that evening. The elegy is dark and sparse. If you hear it on one of the autumn evenings, you'll know where it came from.

Eight evenings from Těšín to Budějovice

The autumn series runs through eight cities and ends in mid-December. The dates and venues below come directly from our calendar, and you'll find a link to tickets for each event.

For those mostly concerned with sound, Ostrava is interesting. The show there takes place in the concert hall of the university's Faculty of Arts, a space built for music rather than for many purposes at once. Opava, on the other hand, draws you in with its setting. The evening takes place at the Petr Bezruč Library, which fits Einaudi, whose first major album grew out of a novel by Virginia Woolf, quite neatly.

Most of the other stops are municipal theaters: the Těšín Theatre, the Tyl Theatre in Kutná Hora, the theater in Bílina, or the Ostrov theater and cinema in Havlíčkův Brod. Intimate halls have one advantage, since you hear the piano up close, without amplification through a large sound system. And one disadvantage: seats are limited and the better ones go first.

The December dates in Jablonec, Opava and České Budějovice also make for a nice pre-Christmas gift. A ticket to a calm piano evening can bring joy even to someone who otherwise doesn't go to concerts. For more dates and similar evenings across the country, check our event calendar.

Who sits at the piano

The tour doesn't rest on a single name. In our catalog several Czech pianists are associated with it, and each of them plays Einaudi a little differently.

You'll find these names among the series' events:

Who exactly will perform in your city can be confirmed on the page for that particular date. And why does it even matter? Einaudi's music is technically accessible. Many of his pieces are published as sheet music for advanced amateurs, and thousands of people play them online. One London piano teacher summed it up by saying that the opening of Nuvole Bianche can be learned in a week, but a musically finished performance takes months. The difference lies in voicing, dynamics, and pedal work.

This is exactly where interpreters differ. One lets a phrase ring out a second longer, another emphasizes the left hand more and the piece suddenly sounds darker. Anyone going to two evenings with different pianists will hear a slightly different Einaudi each time. For an overview of other musicians performing here, see the performers section.

Before you go: tips, a playlist, and where to go next

Choose your venue based on what matters to you, buy through the vendor listed with the event, and listen to a few key pieces beforehand. That way at the concert you'll be recognizing, not just listening.

Tickets from a verified source. For all eight events in our calendar, the ticket link leads to the vendor SMSticket. When you buy through the specific event's page, you can be sure the ticket is genuine and that you'll be informed of any change. Secondhand tickets tend to be more expensive and riskier.

Check the lineup. If you're going for a specific pianist, check the detail of the date. Names can vary between cities.

A short playlist for the road. These pieces are worth having in your ear before you take your seat:

  • Nuvole Bianche and Una Mattina - the two best-known pieces from the album Una Mattina, the latter featured in The Intouchables.
  • I Giorni - a quiet meditation that a whole generation of his listeners grew up with.
  • Experience - from the album In a Time Lapse, one of his most-played pieces of all.
  • Oltremare and Golden Butterflies - both featured in Nomadland.
  • Elegy for the Arctic - if it's played, you'll now know it was first performed on a wooden ice floe.

Arrive on time. Einaudi's pieces often begin almost in a whisper. Arriving late in the middle of a quiet passage is far more disruptive than at a rock concert.

Who will enjoy this. The format is a good entry point into classical music for people who are intimidated by it. No long sonatas, no uncertainty about when to clap, just melodies you already know. More experienced listeners, meanwhile, get the chance to hear these pieces in the acoustics of a real hall, not compressed through headphones.

Now you're in the picture. You know that Ludovico Einaudi concerts in this form are intimate recitals performed by Czech pianists, not appearances by the composer himself. You know where to check the lineup and which is the safe route to tickets. Anyone waiting specifically for Einaudi should follow his official website and channels, where his own tours are announced. Bet on acoustics in Ostrava, on an unusual setting in Opava, and on a pre-Christmas evening in České Budějovice. And if Einaudi has whetted your appetite for more piano and chamber evenings, browse concerts in our overview or the program in the theater section, since many similar recitals take place in theaters. For bigger summer events, check out the festivals in Prague section.

Frequently asked questions about Ludovico Einaudi's concerts

These are the questions people ask most often before buying a ticket.

Will Ludovico Einaudi himself attend these concerts?

He won't. The autumn series Ludovico Einaudi Music is a recital of his compositions performed by Czech pianists. His own concerts are announced through the composer's official channels, so if you're waiting specifically for him, follow those.

Who will play at a specific concert?

The pianists associated with the tour are Lucie Kubátová, František Panáček, Miroslav Beinhauer and Aleksandr Starý. Who will sit at the piano in your city can be found on the page for the specific date, and if you care about one particular name, check it before buying.

Is the concert suitable for someone who doesn't listen to classical music?

Probably yes. Einaudi sits on the border between classical, minimalism and film music, and his compositions have found many listeners who would never call themselves classical music lovers. If the soundtrack to The Intouchables or Nomadland hooked you, you'll feel right at home here.

When does the series start and end, and where can I buy tickets?

The first evening is on October 12 at the Těšín Theatre in Český Těšín, the last on December 13 at DK Metropol in České Budějovice. You can buy tickets through the link on each event's page in our calendar, where you'll also find the exact venue, for example for the evening in Kutná Hora.

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