Víkingur Ólafsson took a break from his global tour to visit NPR’s renowned “Tiny Desk” for a captivating show. Released on World Piano Day, the performance showcased his extraordinary talent in works by Bach, Bartók, Rameau, and Kaldalóns.
NPR’s Tom Huizenga described the performance: “Top-tier concert pianists commonly perform on nine-foot grand pianos. However, when they visit the Tiny Desk, it’s our job to convince them to scale down to our diminutive upright. We got no argument from Víkingur Ólafsson, the 40-year-old star pianist from Iceland.
“His eyes lit up when he saw our instrument. He immediately removed its upper panel, then secured the practice pedal, which drops a curtain of felt between the hammers and the strings, producing a muted, intimate sound, allowing the music to be practically whispered to us.
“The pieces Ólafsson chooses are gentle, and for him nostalgic, recalling the countless hours spent at his own upright piano in his childhood bedroom.”
This past fall, Ólafsson released his critically lauded album of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations and dedicated his 2023-24 season to an 88-date Goldberg Variations world tour, performing the work across six continents throughout the year.
In just a few short years, Ólafsson has become one of the most sought-after artists in contemporary music, performing internationally at the highest level. His multiple awards include Opus Klassik Instrumentalist of the Year (2023), Opus Klassik Solo Recording Instrumental (twice), CoScan’s International Nordic Person of the Year (2023), the Rolf Schock Prize for Music (2022), Gramophone magazine’s Artist of the Year (2019) and Album of the Year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards (2019).
His recordings for Deutsche Grammophon – Philip Glass Piano Works (2017), Johann Sebastian Bach (2018), Debussy – Rameau (2020), Mozart & Contemporaries (2021), From Afar (2022), and most recently Goldberg Variations (2023) – captured the public and critical imagination and have led to career streams of over 750 million.
Listen to the best of Víkingur Ólafsson on Apple Music and Spotify.
Víkingur Ólafsson’s NPR “Tiny Desk” Setlist:
1. J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations – Aria, Variation No. 1
2. Jean-Philipe Rameau (arr. Ólafsson): “The Arts and the Hours”
3. Béla Bartók: Three Hungarian Folksongs from Csík
4. Sigvaldi Kaldalóns (arr. Ólafsson): “Ave Maria”