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Vikingur Olafsson

Philip Glass - Piano Works

Deutsche Grammophon

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1 Opening  
2 No. 9  
3 No. 2  
4 No. 6  
5 No. 5  
6 No. 14  
7 No. 2 (reworked by Christian Badzura)  
8 No. 13  
9 No. 15  
10 No. 3  
11 No. 18  
12 No. 20  
13 Opening (reworked by Christian Badzura)  
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For Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson's debut album on Deutsche Grammophon, he is performing selections of Philip Glass's Piano Etudes to be released on January 27, in time for the composer's 80th birthday. Ólafsson's fascination with reinterpreting the Piano Etudesgrew as he toured and performed the works with Glass himself. "On the surface, they seem to be filled with repetitions. But the more one plays and thinks about them, the more their narratives seem to travel along in a spiral," he explains. "My approach to each of the etudes is to enable the listener to create his or her own personal space of reflection."

16 NEW  28 TOTAL
SYND: Classical 24, CBC, CLASSIC fM
Direct: SiriusXM, MOOD 
Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Cleveland, Houston, Minneapolis, Portland, Austin, Albuquerque, SC (Network)
INTER: Canada, UK
Online: AccuRadio, Sequenza 21, Second Inversion

  • Vikingur Olafsson glitters in Bach: Goldberg Variations / Financial Times
    Posted At: October 13, 2023 12:00 AM
    Celebrated for his visionary interpretations of J.S. Bach, Víkingur Ólafsson, one of the greatest pianists and musical minds of today, now embraces Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations. Ólafsson devotes his entire next season to touring the work globally across six continents, while October 2023 marks the anticipated album release on Deutsche Grammophon. “I have dreamed of recording this work for 25 years,...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson's love for and study of the Bach: Goldberg Variations is apparent on new recording / Wild Mercury Rhythm
    Posted At: October 11, 2023 12:00 AM
    Wild Mercury Rhythm's C. MICHAEL BAILEY writes…..Half the fun and adventure of reviewing a new Goldberg Variations recording is in the preparatory listening to comparison performances before the main event.  In this case, the main event is Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson’s reading of Bach’s soporific written for the insomniac Count Hermann Karl von Keyserling and performed by Johann Gottlieb Goldbe...
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  • One of the greatest musical minds today: Vikingur Olafsson, now embraces Bach's Goldberg Variations / Martin Cid Magazine
    Posted At: October 7, 2023 12:00 AM
    Martin Cid Magazine's Diane T. Larsen writes…..Celebrated for his visionary interpretations of J.S. Bach, Víkingur Ólafsson, one of the greatest pianists and musical minds of today, now embraces Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations. Ólafsson is devoting his entire 2023-24 season to touring the work globally across six continents, and the album is out now on Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Canada. “I ha...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson's Royal Festival Hall concert brings magic and spontaneity to Bach / The Guardian
    Posted At: September 24, 2023 12:00 AM
    Celebrated for his visionary interpretations of J.S. Bach, Víkingur Ólafsson, one of the greatest pianists and musical minds of today, now embraces Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations. Ólafsson devotes his entire next season to touring the work globally across six continents, while October 2023 marks the anticipated album release on Deutsche Grammophon. “I have dreamed of recording this work for 25 years,...
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  • NPR #NowPlaying... Vikingur Olafsson - Variation No. 1 from new 'Goldberg Variations'
    Posted At: September 19, 2023 12:00 AM
    Celebrated for his visionary interpretations of J.S. Bach, Víkingur Ólafsson, one of the greatest pianists and musical minds of today, now embraces Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations. Ólafsson devotes his entire next season to touring the work globally across six continents, while October 2023 marks the anticipated album release on Deutsche Grammophon. “I have dreamed of recording this work for 25 years,...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson named 2023 'International Nordic Person of the Year' / BBC Music Magazine
    Posted At: January 31, 2023 12:00 AM
    The Icelandic pianist calls the award his 'love letter to the UK'BBC Music Magazine's Steve Wright writes…..Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has received the 2023 International Nordic Person of the Year Award from CoScan, the Confederation of Scandinavian Societies in the UK. The award recognises Ólafsson as 'an extraordinary advocate for music across the generations', and was presented by the Ambas...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson chats with Cincinnati Public Radio - Classical 90.9WGUC
    Posted At: January 16, 2023 12:00 AM
    Celebrated for his innovative programming and award-winning recordings, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is offering a window into his musical life story with his new album, From Afar. Released on 7 October via Deutsche Grammophon, the highly personal double album reflects Ólafsson’s musical DNA, from childhood memories growing up in Iceland to his international career and contemporary inspirations.Recor...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson - Mozart & Contemporaries makes 'New Classical Tracks: most coveted releases of 2022'
    Posted At: December 27, 2022 12:00 AM
    After the global successes of Philip Glass · Piano Works, Johann Sebastian Bach, Debussy · Rameau and Debussy · Rameau Reflections (227.5 million career streams to date and over 320K albums sold), multi-award-winning pianist Víkingur Ólafsson now turns his attention to the music of MOZART. Ólafsson presents some of his favourite Mozart keyboard works in the company of pieces by a selection of the composer's...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson - 'Schumann: Study in Canonic Form, Op. 56, No. 1' makes NPR's 'Best Music Of 2022'
    Posted At: December 15, 2022 12:00 AM
    Celebrated for his innovative programming and award-winning recordings, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is offering a window into his musical life story with his new album, From Afar. Released on 7 October via Deutsche Grammophon, the highly personal double album reflects Ólafsson’s musical DNA, from childhood memories growing up in Iceland to his international career and contemporary inspirations.Recor...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson - From Afar makes 'NPR's 10 Best Classical Albums of 2022'
    Posted At: December 8, 2022 12:00 AM
    Celebrated for his innovative programming and award-winning recordings, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is offering a window into his musical life story with his new album, From Afar. Released on 7 October on Deutsche Grammophon, the highly personal double album reflects Ólafsson’s musical DNA, from childhood memories growing up in Iceland to his international career and contemporary inspirations.Record...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson taps into Mozart's complexity and discovers a freshness and vitality / the arts fuse
    Posted At: November 30, 2022 12:00 AM
    Classical Concert Review: Pianist Víkingur Ólafsson — A Fresh Look at Late MozartVíkingur Ólafsson’s bold keyboard presence gave us a composer pressing against the conventions of his time while absorbing everything his ears took in.the arts fuse - Aaron Keebaugh writes… He had been raised to be a star. And usually that suited him.But by the 1780s, Wolfgang Amadé Mozart had encountered significant difficulti...
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  • Throughout 'From Afar,' Vikingur Olafsson's playing is thoughtful and full of poetry / BBC Music Magazine
    Posted At: November 2, 2022 12:00 AM
    Celebrated for his innovative programming and award-winning recordings, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is offering a window into his musical life story with his new album, From Afar. Released on 7 October on Deutsche Grammophon, the highly personal double album reflects Ólafsson’s musical DNA, from childhood memories growing up in Iceland to his international career and contemporary inspirations.Record...
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  • Cuts from Vikingur Olafsson's 'From Afar' makes NPR's favorite music of October
    Posted At: November 1, 2022 12:00 AM
    NPR's favorite music of October from All Songs Considered & Tom Huizenga. Tom selects 'Robert Schumann's Study in Canonic Form, Op. 56, No. 1 and Béla Bartók's 3 Hungarian Folks Songs from Csík, III. 'White Lily' from Víkingur Ólafsson's 'From Afar Celebrated for his innovative programming and award-winning recordings, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is offering a window into his musical life s...
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  • Inspired by meeting Gyorgy Kurtag, Vikingur Olafsson maps his life in music on new album / The Guardian
    Posted At: October 15, 2022 12:00 AM
    Celebrated for his innovative programming and award-winning recordings, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is offering a window into his musical life story with his new album, From Afar. Released on 7 October via Deutsche Grammophon, the highly personal double album reflects Ólafsson’s musical DNA, from childhood memories growing up in Iceland to his international career and contemporary inspirations.Recor...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson - From Afar is the WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: October 12, 2022 12:00 AM
    Celebrated for his innovative programming and award-winning recordings, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is offering a window into his musical life story with his new album, From Afar. Due for release on 7 October on Deutsche Grammophon, the highly personal double album reflects Ólafsson’s musical DNA, from childhood memories growing up in Iceland to his international career and contemporary inspirations...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson Q&A's with Texas Public Radio... 'From Afar'
    Posted At: October 5, 2022 12:00 AM
    Pianist Vikingur Olafsson stands amidst a rocky Icelandic landscape.Texas Public Radio's Nathan Cone writes….Víkingur Ólafsson's new album, "From Afar," releases on October 7. Despite the changing nature of the way we listen to music, pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is a purist and “a romantic” when it comes to producing albums. Carefully sequenced and programmed, he describes them as “a letter to all my listener...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson is taking up residence at London's Southbank Centre / CultureWhisper
    Posted At: September 19, 2022 12:00 AM
    The thrilling Icelandic player takes up residence at Southbank Centre, and quite simply changes the way we hear musicCultureWhisper's Claudia Pritchard writes…There's a new neighbour in town. At Southbank Centre, the scintillating Icelandic pianist Vikingur Ólafsson is taking up residence, and that's very good news for the London music scene.Ólafsson became known to millions in the UK when he broadcast live...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson discusses: 'From Afar' with classical radio
    Posted At: September 12, 2022 12:00 AM
    Celebrated for his innovative programming and award-winning recordings, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is offering a window into his musical life story with his new album, From Afar. Due for release on 7 October on Deutsche Grammophon, the highly personal double album reflects Ólafsson’s musical DNA, from childhood memories growing up in Iceland to his international career and contemporary inspirations...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson - From Afar is the CLASSIC fM: Album of the Week
    Posted At: August 29, 2022 12:00 AM
    Celebrated for his innovative programming and award-winning recordings, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is offering a window into his musical life story with his new album, From Afar. Due for release on 7 October via Deutsche Grammophon, the highly personal double album reflects Ólafsson’s musical DNA, from childhood memories growing up in Iceland to his international career and contemporary inspiration...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson set to release: 'From Afar' / Pianist
    Posted At: July 26, 2022 12:00 AM
    Pianist - Ellie Palmer writes….Pianist Víkingur Ólafsson will release an album featuring new transcriptions, dedications and a world premiere this October 7 via Deutsche Grammophon. The album reflects Ólafsson’s musical DNA, from childhood memories growing up in Iceland to his international career and contemporary inspirations.There is plenty of variety featured on the album, with Bach, Mozart, Schumann, Br...
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  • Any release by Vikingur Olafsson is a cause for celebration. 'From Afar' is his most personal disc yet / Classical Explorer
    Posted At: July 23, 2022 12:00 AM
    Classical Explorer's Colin Clarke writes….Any release by Víkingur Oláfsson is a cause for celebration. Here on Classical Explorer, we have already covered three releases by the Icelandis pianist: Refllections, a disc of Debussy and Rameau, and a disc of Mozart and his Contemporaries. On release day, Friday October 7, it will be a pleasure to cover this one.Celebrated for his innovative programming and award...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson chats about 'Mozart & Contemporaries' with All Classical Portland
    Posted At: February 23, 2022 12:00 AM
    "I feel like, when I play Mozart, that I get to know myself as a musician. I get to know sides that I didn't before. He seems to reflect your innermost core in music."  - Víkingur ÓlafssonAfter the global successes of Philip Glass · Piano Works, Johann Sebastian Bach, Debussy · Rameau and Debussy · Rameau Reflections (227.5 million career streams to date and over 320K albums sold), multi-award-win...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson wants to change how we think about Mozart / New Classical Tracks
    Posted At: January 5, 2022 12:00 AM
    After the global successes of Philip Glass · Piano Works, Johann Sebastian Bach, Debussy · Rameau and Debussy · Rameau Reflections (227.5 million career streams to date and over 320K albums sold), multi-award-winning pianist Víkingur Ólafsson now turns his attention to the music of MOZART. Ólafsson presents some of his favourite Mozart keyboard works in the company of pieces by a selection of the compo...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson - Mozart and Contemporaries makes Pianist Magazine's 'Top 10 piano album releases of 2021'
    Posted At: December 15, 2021 12:00 AM

    Pianist Magazine' writes....2021 has treated us to a huge number of new releases from our favourite pianists. Here we've gathered our favourite 10 of the year... Included on our list is Mozart and Contemporaries – Víkingur Ólafsson.   Ólafsson presents some of his favourite Mozart keyboard works in the company of pieces by a selection of the composer's lead...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson - Mozart & Contemporaries makes NPR's 'Top 10 Classical Albums of 2021'
    Posted At: December 8, 2021 12:00 AM

    NPR's Tom Huizenga writes......The opening lines of Franz Schubert's song "An die Musik," his love letter to music from 1817, speaks of personal troubles, of being "caught in life's unruly round," and how the power of music can "lift you to a better world." Those sentiments have been hitting very close to the bone for many of us over the last year or so. Most of the albums on the list bel...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson - Mozart & Contemporaries wins 'Limelight Instrumental Recording of 2021'
    Posted At: November 29, 2021 12:00 AM

    Limelight writes.....The votes are in, the judges have spoken, and the winner is...Over the past two months, Limelight's panel of critics has been busy scrutinising the 50 outstanding recordings that made the not-­so-­shortlist for our 2021 Recording of the Year.   Mozart & Contemporaries from Víkingur Ólafsson is the shimmering follow-up to last year's award-­w...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson talks about his latest 'Mozart' album with 89.5RadioIQ
    Posted At: November 26, 2021 12:00 AM

    After the global successes of Philip Glass · Piano Works, Johann Sebastian Bach, Debussy · Rameau and Debussy · Rameau Reflections (227.5 million career streams to date and over 320K albums sold), multi-award-winning pianist Víkingur Ólafsson now turns his attention to the music of MOZART. Ólafsson presents some of his favourite Mozart keyboard works in the ...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson chats with Classical Radio about 'Mozart & Contemporaries'
    Posted At: November 22, 2021 12:00 AM

    After the global successes of Philip Glass · Piano Works, Johann Sebastian Bach, Debussy · Rameau and Debussy · Rameau Reflections (227.5 million career streams to date and over 320K albums sold), multi-award-winning pianist Víkingur Ólafsson now turns his attention to the music of MOZART. Ólafsson presents some of his favourite Mozart keyboard works in the ...
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  • There's warmth and clarity on Vikingur Olafsson's 'Mozart & Contemporaries' / LIMELIGHT - Editors Choice
    Posted At: November 2, 2021 12:00 AM

    After the global successes of Philip Glass · Piano Works, Johann Sebastian Bach, Debussy · Rameau and Debussy · Rameau Reflections (227.5 million career streams to date and over 320K albums sold), multi-award-winning pianist Víkingur Ólafsson now turns his attention to the music of MOZART. Ólafsson presents some of his favourite Mozart keyboard works in the ...
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  • 'Mozart & Contemporaries' is artfully brought together by Vikingur Olafsson's thought-provoking programming / 98.7WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: October 5, 2021 12:00 AM

    WFMT writes......For his latest album, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson presents some of his favorite Mozart keyboard works in the company of pieces by a selection of the composer's leading contemporaries. Juxtaposing works by Mozart, Haydn, and C.P.E. Bach with rarely-recorded Galuppi and Cimarosa, Mozart & Contemporaries dispels the image of Mozart as the angelic prodigy, instead p...
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  • Always fresh Vikingur Olafsson releases 'Mozart & Contemporaries' and makes 'The Guardian - Classical home listening'
    Posted At: August 30, 2021 12:00 AM

    After the global successes of Philip Glass · Piano Works, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Debussy · Rameau Reflections (227.5 million career streams to date and over 320K albums sold), multi-award-winning pianist Víkingur Ólafsson now turns his attention to the music of MOZART. Ólafsson presents some of his favourite Mozart keyboard works in the company of pieces by a s...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson - Philip Glass: Piano Works. Simplicity that is almost majestic / The Guardian
    Posted At: January 24, 2021 12:00 AM

    For Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson's debut album on Deutsche Grammophon, he is performing selections of Philip Glass's Piano Etudes. Ólafsson's fascination with reinterpreting the Piano Etudes grew as he toured and performed the works with Glass himself. Released for the composer's 80th birthday, the pianist says; "On the surface, they seem to...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson's beautiful tribute to Debussy and Rameau is the 90.1WRTI: Classical Album of the Week
    Posted At: January 11, 2021 12:00 AM

    Vikingur Olafsson writes......Debussy has been with me as far back as I can remember, but my first encounter with the keyboard music of Rameau was Emil Gilels' 1951 recording of "Le rappel des oiseaux", which I came across during my student days in New York. I was immediately fascinated by the music and how well it lends itself to the modern piano, at least in Gilels' noble rendition, with its la...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson's 'Rameau 'The Arts and the Hours' makes The New York Times '25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2020'
    Posted At: December 17, 2020 12:00 AM

    Listen to our critics' favorites from a year in which much of the energy in music came from recordings. By Anthony Tommasini, Zachary Woolfe, Joshua Barone, Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, David Allen and Seth Colter Walls Few musicians craft their albums with as much care as Vikingur Olafsson, whose "Debussy Rameau" is a brilliantly conceived, nearly 30-track conversation across centuries between t...
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  • Vikingur Olafsson - Debussy / Rameau makes NPR: Best Music Of 2020
    Posted At: December 4, 2020 12:00 AM

    This week we shared NPR Music's best songs and albums of 2020, lists voted on, politely argued over and presented by our staff, station partners and contributors. Today we're featuring the good stuff from the private reserves. Below you'll find lists of top 10 albums and songs from the members of NPR Music's staff. Jacob Ganz - SENIOR EDITOR, NPR MUSIC writes; I craved proficiency...
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  • VIkingur Olafsson on what makes a winning combination / LIMELIGHT
    Posted At: November 23, 2020 12:00 AM

    Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has won the Limelight Recording of the Year 2020 for his album pairing music by Debussy and Rameau on Deutsche Grammophon. This may be only his third recording for the Yellow Label, but Ólafsson has made repeated waves thanks to his distinctive and refreshing approach to programming coupled with a breathtaking clarity of technique. Clive Paget caug...
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