Max Richter Performs at Romaeuropa Festival 2021

Max Richter returned to Italy for a performance at the Romaeuropa Festival on September 20, 2021, at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome. The German-British composer, known for his modern classical style blending post-minimalism and emotional depth, performed two major works: The Blue Notebooks (with the Max Richter Ensemble) and Recomposed: Vivaldi's The Four Seasons (with the Finnish Baroque Orchestra). The Blue Notebooks, re-released in 2018 by Deutsche Grammophon, was named by The Guardian as one of the best classical works of the century. Richter explained that the album, featuring readings from Franz Kafka's The Eight Octavo Notebooks by Tilda Swinton, was a protest against political and social brutality, particularly the lead-up to the Iraq War. For Recomposed, Richter discarded three-quarters of Vivaldi's original material while retaining the character of The Four Seasons. The piece was originally recorded with violinist Daniel Hope and the Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin conducted by André de Ridder, but is now performed live with the Finnish Baroque Orchestra. Richter also composed the soundtrack for the TV series L'amica geniale (My Brilliant Friend), which explores two girls' desire to escape their Naples neighborhood.