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Ludovico Einaudi <\/a><\/strong>has a special manuscript displayed in his studio. It\u2019s a student piece of his, with corrections from a surprising mentor: Karlheinz Stockhausen. When the renowned avant-gardist came to Milan during the early 1980s, the young Einaudi was a keen attendee at his lectures. \u2018It was a very important experience for me,\u2019 says the Italian pianist and composer, smiling at my surprised expression. \u2018At the time, Stockhausen<\/a><\/strong> was writing Licht<\/i> [his seven-opera series \u2013 Donnerstag<\/i>, Samstag<\/i> and Montag<\/i> were premiered at La Scala<\/a><\/strong>], which uses the idea of composing to a formula. I loved the idea that a week of music could be contained in a single seed. It\u2019s something that has stayed with me. Of course, my language is very different to Stockhausen.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> \u2018Different\u2019 is a wry understatement. Stockhausen\u2019s electronic and aleatoric works are considered among contemporary music\u2019s most advanced achievements, but not, as one editor has said to me, \u2018the sort of thing one hums after the concert\u2019. Einaudi, <\/span>on the other hand, specialises in hummable melodies \u2013 according to the Official Charts, <\/span>his music is currently streamed over a million times a day, played everywhere from arena concerts to yoga classes. Should you ever see a \u2018play me \u2013 I\u2019m yours\u2019 piano at a shopping centre, someone at some point is sure to sit down and tap out a little Einaudi.<\/span><\/p>\n But Einaudi\u2019s greatest achievement is the re-popularisation of the celebrity pianist-composer, developing the legacy left by Liszt<\/a><\/strong>. Whereas the Hungarian virtuoso pushed the newly invented piano to its limits, the strings are more likely to remain intact after an Einaudi concert. But while the Italian takes a much softer, less <\/span>technically demanding approach, his music <\/span>appears just as impactful on its audience.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> The poet Heinrich Heine described the frenzied behaviour at a Liszt concert as \u2018Lisztomania\u2019,\u00a0 <\/span>and according to biographer Oliver Hilmes \u2018Women tore at each other\u2019s hair in trying to lay hands on a glass or handkerchief that Liszt had used\u2019.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>In 2014, after Einaudi\u2019s In A Time Lapse<\/i> concert at the 11,000-capacity Arena di Verona, I witnessed a 21st-century equivalent. As Einaudi signed a group of breathless teenagers\u2019 scores, one girl proffered her arm and insisted the composer inked it. After a moment\u2019s hesitation, he obliged. \u2018I will get tattoo,\u2019 the young woman assured me.<\/span><\/p>\n I remind Einaudi about this incident, wondering whether it was unusual. \u2018I have met several people who have my notes tattooed on them,\u2019 he comments, apparently both pleased and mildly embarrassed. The music\u2019s accessibility means that Einaudi\u2019s fans aren\u2019t just listeners \u2013 they are often players as well. Scores are as highly anticipated as the album release. It\u2019s a model that has gone on to inspire dozens of others \u2013 Yiruma, Stephan Moccio and Joep Beving, to name a few, sell sheet music alongside records, supported by concerts of their own pieces. \u2018I am now one in a forest of pianists who work in this way,\u2019 agrees Einaudi. \u2018It was an interesting time when I first started, as there were still music shops and they didn\u2019t know where to place my music \u2013 is it classical or pop?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n There may be fewer music shops today, but labelling Einaudi\u2019s music remains as contentious as it was 20 years ago. \u2018Of course there are lots of people who don\u2019t like my music \u2013 and I respect their opinion,\u2019 he says politely. \u2018But some people put on the internet that I pretend to write classical music \u2013 what does that mean?\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n American composer Nico Muhly is similarly baffled by the industry\u2019s insistence on categorisation. \u2018Reviewers and previewers get an enormous pass if they can describe a composer\u2019s work as being part of some sort of genre: post-minimalist, new complexity, Darmstadt School, chamber pop, whatever, or this new hellery, \u201cIndie-Classical\u201d,\u2019 writes Muhly. And woe betide any composer, be it Muhly, Anna Meredith or Einaudi, who moves between those brackets. The problem is compounded when the artist is commercially successful. To millions of fans, Einaudi is currently the world\u2019s greatest pianist-composer. To most classical music critics, he is not.<\/span><\/p>\n