Víkingur Ólafsson

»Brilliant, splendid, sublime« - this is how Hector Berlioz characterised the key of E major in his study of instrumentation. Víkingur Ólafsson, known for his cleverly conceived programmes, places works in this key at the centre of his recital together with those in the key of E minor. Ludwig van Beethoven's late Sonata op. 109 from 1820 forms the glittering finale.

Radiant E major
Johann Sebastian Bach's Prelude from the first volume of the »Well-Tempered Clavier«, written around a hundred years earlier, kicks off the programme. Víkingur Ólafsson has already demonstrated his mastery of Bach's works in his interpretation of the »Goldberg Variations« at the Vienna Konzerthaus in 2023. Bach's works are the be-all and end-all for him, he said in an interview. The New York Times even described him as the Icelandic Glenn Gould.

Lamenting E minor
Three works in E minor, a key associated with melancholy and tender lamentation, follow: Beethoven's Sonata op. 90, the first after a five-year break from piano sonatas, and a demanding work by Bach, the Partita No. 6. Finally, Franz Schubert's incomplete Sonata in E minor D 566 from 1817 is heard. It is clear to hear that the composer owes a great deal to the works of both Bach and Beethoven.