Groundbreaking composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi, one of the most successful musicians on the planet, today

hits the top spot of the UK Classical Chart with his new album ‘Seven Days Walking: Day One’ which has become the fastest-streamed classical album of all time in its first week of release. Out last Friday on Decca Records, his 14th studio album exceeded 2 million streams on release day alone, and continued to stream at a record-breaking rate for the next seven days, dominating classical charts across the globe.

The release of this album has caused a dramatic uplift in classical streaming as a whole. Gennaro Castaldo at the BPI explains ‘The Einaudi Effect’:

“Streaming of classical repertoire is growing at a rapid pace – faster than any other music genre, last year up by 42 per cent. Ludovico Einaudi is in the vanguard of this exciting shift as its most streamed artist, and in the process he is not only seeing a huge leap in his own considerable fanbase around the world, he is also helping to draw many more people of all backgrounds into the wonderful world of classical music.” 

Decca President Rebecca Allen says, “Einaudi is a true pioneer, an innovator and a disrupter. His music cuts through in ways no other artist can. This is just day one of our campaign, so I am beyond thrilled that around the world the beauty of this music is resonating!”

Einaudi has also just announced a string of UK tour dates in October, which take him to seven cities across the country, including a whole week’s series of concerts at the Barbican in London. This follows two intimate London dates at the Union Chapel next week (which sold out in record time) – all part of an extensive global tour.

The first of seven albums to be released over seven consecutive months, ‘Seven Days Walking’ is Einaudi’s most ambitious project of his 30-year career and the first of its kind for any classical artist. The next instalment, ‘Seven Days Walking: Day Two’, is due for release next month. Each ‘day’ is then released, digitally, a month apart, leading up to ‘Day Seven’ which will be released in the autumn in a box-set of the complete Seven Days. ‘Day One’, which interweaves piano and strings in his unmistakable style, focuses on several main themes, which then recur in different forms on the following albums – seven variations following the same imaginary itinerary. Or the same itinerary, retraced at seven different times.

Inspiration for the entire project derived from walks that Einaudi would take through the mountains. He explains, “In January last year I often went for long walks in the mountains, always following more or less the same trail. It snowed heavily, and my thoughts roamed free inside the storm, where all shapes, stripped bare by the cold, lost their contours and colours. Perhaps that feeling of extreme essence was the origin of this album.”

Einaudi, whose unique musical style is renowned around the world, repeatedly tops the classical charts globally with his hauntingly beautiful and evocative music. With over 1 million streams a day the pianist has clocked up a staggering 2 billion streams, making him the biggest streamed classical artist of all time.