Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi has been writing music for film and TV, dance, theater and even the catwalk for more than three decades. In late 2015, he was the first classical musician in 23 years to break into the top 15 in the UK album charts, with “Elements.”

CGTN’s Julian Waghann sat down with Einaudi on the occasion of his recent concert in Beijing.

WAGHANN: You perform a lot of the pieces you compose and you’re performing on this tour. What is it about performing that you don’t get with composing and vice versa? Are they like yin and yang?

EINAUDI: I think you said something very perfect. There was something missing when I was only composing. And only when I started performing did the circle complete for me, and then I found the perfect balance for my work and for my life. 

WAGHANN: When you compose for film and TV, do you compose from the specifics in each scene?

EINAUDI: It’s a combination of inspiration coming from the general feeling you get from the cinematography of the film, from the actors. The film itself is telling you where you have to go and where you don’t have to go. I try to express myself. It’s like I have a secret collaboration, a secret talk with the movie. 

WAGHANN: When you think of China, what kind of images come to mind?

EINAUDI: There’s one belonging to my childhood when Mao was here. And it’s connected to some images of a lot of people dressed in a similar jacket like the one I’m wearing right now. And of course there’s the image of modern China. Every time I come here, every two years, I see incredible transformation. And there’s the image of the population that is similar to the Italians in terms of the way they behave, which I like. They’re extroverted, a bit noisy like southern Italians. It represents the sort of communication that I like. 

WAGHANN: Is writing music like telling stories for you?

EINAUDI: In a way, yes, even if the story is very abstract and free. You follow the logic of music and sounds. The nice thing about not writing lyrics is that everyone can pick the music or sounds and focus on his own story. So there’s a connection for different people, different backgrounds in every parts of the world.

WAGHANN: Even though you come from a family of classical musicians, you grew up loving rock and roll, which you said “was a rebellion against the formal world… a revolution of the mind.” Are you still rebelling today?

EINAUDI: I like the idea that you can change the rules, not only with art, with the evolution of men, of our society. All the changes were done by people rethinking the rules, not taking everything as it was. There are many inventions that you can do with music, with the arts.

WAGHANN: What rules are you trying to change?

EINAUDI: It’s not rebelling, but changing and inventing my own rules. I think all the rules are fine, but you have to find yours, to find something that is connected to what you feel. Everyone should find a way to express himself. If not, every piece of music would be identical to each other.