Giovanni Allevi, the so-called “Alien” of the piano, touched down in Pordenone, Italy, with his one-man piano “Alien World Tour” show. The 42 year-old piano sensation, with his particular trademark-bushy hair, has been flying high after his successful world tour in Los Angeles, Japan and Lugano, Switzerland. Since 2005, Allevi has sold more than 500,000 albums and his 2007 album “Joy” has gone gold with 50,000 copies sold. His latest work “Alien” has also gone gold.
A non-conformist when it comes to playing the piano, some of Allevi’s original pieces have been used for advertisement purposes by companies such as BMW and FIAT. A highlight of his career occurred on December 21, 2008 in the Italian Senate when he played during the Christmas in front of Italy’s president, Giorgio Napolitano, and other high-level political dignitaries.
The so-called “purists” of the piano have though accused Allevi of not proposing classical pieces during his repertoire (when he enlisted in the Italian army in 1991, not one exactly to drive tanks or fly jet fighters given his rather mild-mannered ways on stage, he opted for a place in the Italian army’s National Band as a solo pianist where he ended up playing a wonderful rendition of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue”!).
During his Pordenone show which was more than 90 minutes long (Allevi was just alone on the stage with his Yamaha piano), his adoring fans (and all ages too!) dispelled the purists’ criticisms. Allevi’s approach to piano-playing is extremely an intense one as most of the time he’s hunched over the keyboard totally immersed in his own unique musical style. He does manage to come “down to earth” though as he comes up for air once his piece is over, bowing with humility as fans cover him with lengthy applauses. “I’d love to embrace all of you if I could”, was just one of Allevi’s more enlightening and philosophical comments during his performance. Not terribly surprising when you think about it as Allevi just happens to also have a degree in philosophy!
