Album Review: Philip Glass ˑ Piano Works / Vikingur Ólafsson

Album Review: Philip Glass ˑ Piano Works / Vikingur Ólafsson

In April 2015, there was a landmark performance of Philip Glass’s Twenty Études for Piano at London’s Barbican Centre. The composer handpicked four pianists to perform with him, effectively anointing them as exponents of his art. One of these pianists was Vikingur Ólafsson, a brilliant young musician from Iceland. It is this repertoire that Ólafsson…

Víkingur Ólafsson Plays Glass Etude 5
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Víkingur Ólafsson Plays Glass Etude 5

When Philip Glass handpicked some pianists to perform all of his Etudes together at the Barbican in London last year, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson was one of them. The Financial Times claimed: “Best of all was Ólafsson in the supersensitive stillness of Etude 5.” To celebrate the 80th birthday of Philip Glass, Deutsche Grammophon have released a…