Víkingur Ólafsson - Bach Reworks (Pt. 2) (EP) (2019)

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Víkingur Ólafsson - Bach Reworks (Pt. 2) (EP) (2019)

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“…Through its inherent openness, Bach's keyboard music has become something of a musical mirror for different generations of pianists in the modern age, clearly reflecting the tastes and values of each time. While some works go in and out of vogue, others enjoy a stable popularity but undergo radical changes in the way they are understood and interpreted. Bach today generally sounds quite different from Bach 30 years ago, and still more different than Bach 50 years ago. In that sense his music is contemporary rather than classical. It has the potential to feel more or less as new today as it did 300 years ago…” (Víkingur Ólafsson)

Ólafsson’s second Deutsche Grammophon album, the pithily entitled Bach, contains a mixture of original works and transcriptions, which the pianist has woven together in intriguing style.

The album will bring together atmospheric reworkings of music by composers such as Hans- Joachim Roedelius, Ben Frost, Peter Gregson and Valgeir Sigurðsson – reimaginings that artfully defragment the creations of Bach.

It will also feature a moving and intimate new work Ólafsson has written in memory of his late friend and colleague Jóhann Jóhannsson.

“Everything is there in Johann Sebastian’s music: architectural perfection and profound emotion,” says Ólafsson. In his hands, the universe that is Bach shines with new light.

Vikingur Olafsson, piano
Valgeir Sigurdsson, piano, electronics
Peter Gregson, cello
Hildur Guðnadóttir, cello
Ryuichi Sakamoto, electronics
Hans-Joachim Roedelius, electronics