Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has emerged as one of today’s most compelling and in-demand classical musicians, captivating audiences and critics alike. His recordings have surpassed one billion streams and earned a remarkable list of accolades, including the 2025 GRAMMY Award® for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for his interpretation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, BBC Music Magazine’s Album of the Year, and Opus Klassik’s Solo Recording of the Year—twice. He has also received the Rolf Schock Music Prize, been named Gramophone’s Artist of the Year and Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year, and was honoured with both the Order of the Falcon, Iceland’s order of chivalry, and the Icelandic Export Award, presented by the President of Iceland.
In a bold artistic statement, Ólafsson dedicated his entire 2023/24 season to a world tour centred on a single masterpiece: Bach’s Goldberg Variations. He performed the work 90 times worldwide, to widespread critical acclaim. During that season, he also served as Artist-in-Residence with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, and as Artist-in-Focus at Vienna’s Musikverein. His appearances included European tours with the Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, performances with the Berliner Philharmoniker at the BBC Proms, and a return engagement with the New York Philharmonic. Together with Yuja Wang, he completed a sold-out two-piano recital tour across Europe and North America. In January 2025, he premiered John Adams’s After the Fall with the San Francisco Symphony, a piano concerto written specifically for him.
The 2025/26 season marks another major chapter, with tours across Europe and North America presenting a new recital programme featuring Beethoven’s Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109, alongside works by Bach, Beethoven, and Schubert. As Featured Artist with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Ólafsson performs Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, gives the UK premiere of After the Fall, and takes part in celebrations marking György Kurtág’s centenary. He will also perform Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto with the orchestra at Carnegie Hall as part of its 80th-anniversary season. Further highlights include the Swedish premiere of After the Fall and US performances of both that work and Adams’s Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?
Read more on Deutschegrammophon.com, Vikíngurolafsson.com
