"Can we take a few photos of the piano?" we timidly ask Ludovico Einaudi after interviewing him at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, where his concerts took place until 18 December. He sits down at the piano, smiles, and begins to play. In an instant we understand that for him it is a spontaneous gesture, one he cannot help; the pull of the keys is too strong. We listen, transfixed, experiencing the moment as an unexpected gift. It is difficult to listen to him without closing your eyes. The notes seem to flood the entire body of whoever is listening, reaching all the way to the soul, making it literally dance. Exactly so. The music of Einaudi, one of the most celebrated composers in the world, is music that makes the soul dance.

His melodies "laugh and cry at the same time, like rain," reads a comment on YouTube referring to the composition entitled Oltremare. It is no coincidence that the maestro draws considerable inspiration from nature — something he has felt a need to protect since he was young. So much so that he now seeks to use his public profile — and the universal language of music — to speak to wide audiences about issues such as the climate emergency. To that end, together with activist Francesco Cara, he organised a film series entitled Climate Space, which he wanted to enrich his tour with by screening a selection of short auteur films on environmental themes.

In what way is nature a source of inspiration for you?
Nature has always been an element that has found its way into my musical work, in very different ways. On one hand, through literary inspirations: one of the first works I created, a series of piano compositions entitled "Le onde", drew on a book by Virginia Woolf in which the waves represented a metaphor for life. The fact that nature could also become a metaphor for other things struck me deeply.

Observing nature — including through paintings such as those of Cézanne, who repeated the same mountain scene endlessly, changing only the light — has always led me to think about the relationships between music and light, about the possibility of exploring musical harmonies in relation to changing light and colours.

Finally, observing nature from a scientific perspective — studying the elements, the periodic table, the classification of minerals — has also been a source of inspiration. Sometimes it is things external to music that one needs in order to step outside oneself, to look at music with fresh eyes as well. Trying to shift perspective, introducing into music an element that does not belong to it, can sometimes lead to discoveries that are very interesting.

What is the role of music in raising awareness of global issues?
I think that music, like art, can contribute with a different voice — one that certainly explains things as they really are in less detail, yet perhaps music, more than any other art, is able to move humanity on an emotional level. The power a sound can have in directing an idea can be very potent.

I realised this in 2016 when I took part, with a performance amid the glaciers, in the Greenpeace project called "Save the Arctic". Even though they had already pursued various avenues to promote the campaign, that video unleashed something very powerful in terms of communication, precisely because the message perhaps reached people through music in a far more direct way.

What is the aim of Climate Space?
The aim of Climate Space is to continue making whatever contribution I can to the climate emergency we are living through. In a way, thinking back, I began to take an interest in the issue when I was just a child. Even though the climate emergency was not yet being discussed in those terms, I can almost recall the pain I began to feel around the age of thirteen, watching the places that had still been untouched in my childhood change — with clean seas full of creatures that can no longer be seen today, such as seahorses. It seemed as though this deterioration was contained, but instead it kept getting worse until it came to affect the entire planet and became almost irreversible.

Now that I have grown up and, thanks to my profession, have a higher public profile than when I was a child, I feel even more strongly that I should do my part. Climate Space came about through the opportunity I have to make use of this beautiful theatre for fifteen concerts. There is a space adjoining the main auditorium where every day we screen films that tell the story of the climate crisis, as well as positive initiatives by people fighting it around the world. Alongside these films we have also included musical contributions, so it is something that in some way connects music to this theme, which we continue to explore through the voices of the protagonists of the various documentaries. I can see that people are following it very attentively; the atmosphere is wonderful, so I am very pleased and I hope it can be replicated in the future.