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Dubbed “Iceland’s Glenn Gould” by the New York Times, Glass, pianist V\u00edkingur \u00d3lafsson has recorded a second concept album for Deutsche Grammophon. Released on 7 September, the simply named Bach<\/em> features original works by J S Bach, alongside inspired transcriptions by composers including Rachmaninov, Busoni, Kempf and \u00d3lafsson himself. Renowned for his innovative musical projects, the pianist here offers listeners a very personal vision of Bach\u2019s intricate keyboard music in all its rich variety.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would all mean nothing without Bach,\u201d says \u00d3lafsson (34). Johann Sebastian Bach\u2019s music has accompanied him since childhood and there is no other composer whose music he has studied more intensively. \u00d3lafsson\u2019s new recording represents a composition in itself: original works are combined with new adaptations in the style of Bach\u2019s musical language.<\/p>\n V\u00edkingur \u00d3lafsson’s debut Deutsche Grammophon\u00a0album, a selection of Philip Glass\u2019s piano works, was released in January 2017. The music of Glass, the creator of dense minimalist structures, is now followed by the complexities of Bach’s music. \u201cIf Glass\u2019s music is minimal, then Bach\u2019s is maximal!\u201d laughs \u00d3lafsson. \u201cThere are no tempo or dynamic indications in his scores, so I have the same kind of freedom as I do when performing Glass.\u201d Anyone broaching Bach\u2019s music needs to do so with an enquiring mind and has to bring a lot of themselves to the scores.\u00a0\u00d3lafsson’s interpretation of Bach comes across as lean and unfussy yet, expressive and intense. \u201cI can\u2019t bear it when Bach is played sentimentally. But I can\u2019t stand hearing his music performed in an overly calculated and mathematical way either,\u201d he says. \u201cEverything is there in his music: architectural perfection and profound emotion. The greatest challenge is to reveal all of this simultaneously.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00d3lafsson acknowledges the composer as one of his greatest teachers. What has he learned from his preoccupation with Bach\u2019s works? \u201cThe democracy of music,\u201d he replies. \u201cEvery voice counts; nothing is of secondary importance, even when it seems to be only accompaniment.\u201d In his view, to perform Bach a musician has to become a virtuoso puppeteer, guiding the melodies, directing the different voices and making them dance together.<\/p>\n \u00d3lafsson believes very strongly that there is no definitive answer to the question of how Bach should be interpreted today. \u201cAnyone who claims to have found a \u2018solution to Bach\u2019,\u201d he observes, \u201cis pretty certain to be wrong.\u201d In reality, as he adds, Bach\u2019s music poses \u201csome wonderful questions\u201d and offers \u201can infinite number of ways of being understood and performed\u201d. And he for one loves nothing more than sitting at the keyboard and exploring those myriad questions and answers.<\/p>\n The tracks:\u00a0(01) Prelude & Fughetta in G Major, BWV 902 – Prelude\/\u00a0(02) Chorale Prelude, BWV 734 \u201eNun freut euch, lieben Christen g’mein\u201c (Transcr. by W. Kempff)\/\u00a0(03 – 04) Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 855 (Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, No. 10)\/\u00a0(5) Organ Sonata in E minor, BWV 528 \u2013 Andante [Adagio] (Transcr. by August Stradal)\/\u00a0(06 – 07) Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 850 (Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, No. 5)\/\u00a0(08) Chorale Prelude, BWV 659 \u201eNun komm der Heiden Heiland\u201c (Transcr. by Ferruccio Busoni)\/\u00a0(09 – 10) Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 847 (Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, No. 2)\/\u00a0(11) Widerstehe doch der S\u00fcnde, BWV 54 \u2013 Aria (Transcr. by V\u00edkingur \u00d3lafsson)\/\u00a0(12) Aria Variata in A minor, BWV 989 \u2013 Aria\/\u00a0(13 – 22) Aria Variata in A minor, BWV 989 \u2013 Variations 1 \u2013 10\/\u00a0(23) Aria Variata in A minor, BWV 989 \u2013 Aria da capo\/\u00a0(24) Invention No. 12 in A major, BWV 783\/\u00a0(25) Sinfonia No. 12 in A major, BWV 798\/\u00a0(26) Partita No. 3 for Violin Solo in E major, BWV 1006 \u2013 Gavotte (Transcr. by Sergei Rachmaninov)\/\u00a027) Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 855a \u2013 Prelude (Transc. in B minor by Alexander Siloti)\/(28) Sinfonia No. 15 in B minor, BWV 801\/\u00a0(29) Invention No. 15 in B minor, BWV 786\/\u00a0(30 – 32) Cembalo Concerto in D minor, BWV 974\/\u00a0(33) Chorale Prelude, BWV 639 \u201eIch ruf zu dir Herr Jesu Christ\u201c (Transc. by Ferruccio Busoni)\/\u00a0(34 – 35) Fantasia and Fugue in A minor, BWV 904<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dubbed “Iceland’s Glenn Gould” by the New York Times, Glass, pianist V\u00edkingur \u00d3lafsson has recorded a second concept album for Deutsche Grammophon.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"sls_format":[],"class_list":["post-25388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":{"deck":"","is_featured":false,"media_type":"standard","audio_embed":"","video_url":""},"yoast_head":"\n