Debut: Víkingur Ólafsson

He is considered the driving force of Iceland’s contemporary classical music scene, which he promotes with passionate musicality, explosive virtuosity and intellectual curiosity: the pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, who completed his studies at the Juilliard School of Music in 2008. He has received every prestigious award in his native country, including the Icelandic Optimism Prize, and was named “Musician of the Year” four times. Víkingur Ólafsson is also a familiar figure in international circles: he has long since joined the ranks of the world’s leading pianists.

For his concert debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation he has chosen a demanding programme, which will open with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Aria variata, BWV 989: ten highly virtuosic variations on a chorale theme. In addition to the Baroque radiance of the brilliant Preludes and Fugues, BWV 850 and BWV 855 from the Well-tempered Clavier, Ólafsson will play Bach’s atmospheric Concerto for Harpsichord, BWV 974, which is based on an oboe concerto by the Italian Baroque composer Alessandro Marcello.

Also on the programme are the Inventions, BWV 786 and BWV 801, the Fantasia and Fugue in A minor, BWV 904, the third movement from the Partita for solo violin, BWV 1006, the latter in a virtuosic arrangement by Sergei Rachmaninov, and the Prelude in B minor by Alexander Siloti. Another highlight of the recital will be Ólafsson’s interpretation of two Beethoven sonatas: op. 2 no. 1 in F minor and op. 111 in C minor, the second of which is one of the most important and difficult piano sonatas in the repertoire.