“Goldberg Variations” – new album by Vikingur Olafsson: Gentle Glow | CDs | BR Classic

Monument to piano literature. The crucial question for every pianist: How do you feel about Bach? Legato or isolation? With his recording of “Goldberg Variations,” Icelandic pianist Vikungur Olafsson now shows how these pieces can shine in a new way.

Bach’s Goldberg Variations in Vikingur Olafsson’s interpretation lasts an hour and 14 minutes, but the time passes quickly. The piece takes its name from Bach’s student, pianist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg. He was supposed to play this music at night for a count who was having trouble sleeping. This is probably a myth – Goldberg was only 13 years old at the time. It is difficult to imagine that someone of this age could master such an incredibly difficult piece. The Goldberg Variations still takes its name from this story. This music actually contains something of a healing spell. The same bass is repeated 32 times. A whole world of sound and movement unfolds above him. It is not at all hypnotic, on the contrary, rather stimulating, but at the same time harmonizing. The effect is almost physical: everything flows, everything dissolves as you immerse yourself in listening. At least with an interpretation as successful as Vikingur Olafsson’s.

Dew drops in sunlight

Olafsson has a delicate magic touch. Especially when he lets the notes rise in unsimplified playing like dew drops sparkling in the sunlight. Not linking the notes, but letting each one light up individually, is a way to imitate a ukulele with its plucked tone on a Steinway.

Therefore, pianists who play Bach’s harpsichord music on modern grand pianos like to use disjointed language, that is, to separate the notes. If this is done constantly, it can seem very rowdy. Sometimes even counterintuitive. After all, in the Baroque period, singing was considered the highest ideal of all music—and when you sing, you connect sounds. Harp players were and still are proud of their ability to imitate singing on their instruments. So why should one constantly imitate the harpsichord on a modern Steinway?

Vikingur Olafson works magic with his fingertips

Viingur Olafsson loves and farms non-heirlooms, and he does it with amazing perfection and ease. But he never applies it in a stereotypical way. With his delicate touch, he highlights the changing patterns of barrels and shimmering shapes. Despite his lightness, his playing seems completely alert and very present. Olafsson works magic with his fingertips, has fifty shades of pianosimo, and yet he is not a singer at all. And although he has an infectious enjoyment of piano effects, his playful mood is never disingenuous. On the contrary: they make the structures audible. He uses numerous repetitions to highlight different aspects of the same music. Sometimes the melody dominates, sometimes the bass, sometimes the middle – as if you were alternately focusing on the foreground and background in the camera. This is why Vikingur Olafsson’s crystalline and sometimes cocky playing never sounds cold, but is at the same time entertaining and soulful. And in the deep, meditative variations in minor keys, he immerses himself in a highly focused alternative world. Five quarters of an hour flies by – regardless of whether you listen carefully or simply let yourself be drawn into the unique flow of this music.

Broadcasting: “Piazza” on October 7, 2023 from 8:05 AM on BR-KLASSIK