Víkingur Ólafsson - Continuum: Johann Sebastian Bach

(Deutsche Grammophon, 2024)

Deutsche Grammophon

Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson’s reached his professional escape velocity with his Deutsche Grammophon (DG) debut Philip Glass - Piano Works (2017) followed by his extremely well-received Johann Sebastian Bach (DG, 2018). Ólafsson’s Bach offering led to the imaginative Bach Reworks (DG, 2019). That same year, DG made the sensible decision to collect these two releases on J.S. Bach - Works & Reworks (2019). The pianist then turned his attention to Debussy · Rameau (DG, 2020), a bit of electronic impressionism (Reflections (DG, 2021)), Mozart & Contemporaries (DG, 2021), and a whimsical comparison of the standard grand and upright pianos (From Afar (DG, 2022)) before returning properly to Bach with Goldberg Variations (DG, 2023), which became the most streamed living Bach pianist of 2023 (how this that for a new metric?).

The EP Continuum comprises piano arrangements of six works by Bach, four of them realised by Ólafsson himself, and all of which he recorded at Reykjavík’s Harpa concert hall in January. The release is the first part of a new series where Ólafsson continues his investigation and revelation of Bach’s music. Bach’s voluminous cantata catalog provides transcribed material as a jumping off point for the pianist. Among the transcriptions are four Ólafsson arrangements of movements from different cantatas: the bass aria “Es ist vollbracht” from BWV 159 and the choruses “Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis” from BWV 21, “Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen” from BWV 12 and “Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich” from BWV 150.

The pianist has also recorded two arrangements by other composers. Ólafsson’s wife, Halla Oddný Magnúsdottir, joins the pianist in a four-hands version of the chorale prelude “Das alte Jahr vergangen ist”, BWV 614, as realized by the Hungarian composer György Kurtág, with the recording finished with a reading of “Komm, süßer Tod”, BWV 478, as arranged by English pianist Harold Bauer (1873-1951).

Ólafsson’s Bach is rarefied. His previous performances have been punctilious and precise as much as articulate and emotive. The small helping of seemingly slim Bach vittles provided on Continuum sets it apart for the listener when compared to larger helpings of the same. This release represents a sensible portion of Bach’s repertoire that is presented this way, offering a digestible amount of profound music. Ólafsson provides the most pensive Bach in his catalog, performed gently with great reverence and poise. A release like this beats the mountains of ambient piano music extant by a mile. Drink deep.