"I would compare paintings to music." | Pianist Víkingur Ólafsson | Louisiana Channel

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“People are drawn to music or not. It’s either-or.” Meet Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson in this joy- and thoughtful interview, where he also reveals why the piano became his fate even before he was born.
“I think the way to differentiate between the good and the great, the fine and the outstanding, is really the same in all the art forms. It’s really that question of originality and whether you see and hear the world from your own perspective as opposed to copying other people’s sensations.”
Ólafsson argues that music should not be put into categories like classical or contemporary. Music, he says, is like any other art form a playground of ideas. “We must keep that freshness. If you read a book, you bring yourself into it eventually. I often feel that Johann Sebastian Bach is the most modern composer. This idea that we have to recreate the old as it was created 200 or 300 years ago is ridiculous. It’s a crazy idea, it’s a lazy idea. It’s creatively lazy and it lacks courage.”
Ólafsson tells that he identifies notes with specific colours. And that he sees a lot of similarities between different forms of art. “Maybe I would compare paintings to music. It’s this play with architecture, structure and fantasy, with colour, space and dimension. It’s the same subjects a painter is dealing with or an architect, a composer or an author. It’s more or less the same subjects in all the arts.”
Víkingur Ólafsson grew up in Reykjavík and started playing the piano at an early age under the tutelage of his mother, a piano teacher. He studied at the Juilliard School in New York, earning bachelor's and master's degrees under the supervision of Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald. He also took lessons with Ann Schein.
In 2011, Ólafsson was the soloist in the opening concert of Harpa in Reykjavik, playing Edvard Grieg’s piano concerto with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Since he has developed into one of the most recognized and award-winning artists within classical and contemporary music.
In 2016, Víkingur signed an exclusive recording contract with the renowned label Deutsche Grammophon releasing four albums featuring the music of Philip Glass, Johann Sebastian Bach, Debussy & Rameau as well as Mozart & Contemporaries. Ólafsson has collaborated with many contemporary artists among them John Adams, Philipp Glass, Daniel Bjarnason and Icelandic singer Bjørk. He has also recorded the soundtrack of Darkest Hour, a film directed by Joe Wright, and released Bach Reworks, featuring six 'remixed' works by Johann Sebastian Bach from the likes of Ben Frost, Peter Gregson, Valgeir Sigurdsson as well as Ólafsson himself.
Víkingur Ólafsson was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in November 2021.
Camera: Jarl Therkelsen Kaldan
Edited by: Jarl Therkelsen Kaldan
Produced by Marc-Christoph Wagner
Copyright: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2021
Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet and C.L. Davids Fond og Samling
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[@pyroprince78]

Just discovered him. An incredible musician. He has an uncanny gift for concretizing what is abstract. I love his playing.

[@tomarmstrong1281]

I have never heard the expression of becoming a co-creator with Bach, but it makes a lot of sense.

[@yoga-nidra-ademenmeditatie]

Thank you Vikungur, for your Singing Soul 🙏🏼💖👌

[@luissoutosoubrier50]

I was moved by the story of the piano as the centerpiece of Vikingur's home as a kid. He is an essential person, in the sense Daniel Barenboim points out in one of his books referring to music. Really fond of his originality and inner drive

[@johnwade7430]

Thank you for an excellent interview.

[@bathwindow]

Thank you Louisiana.

[@trocchiettoski]

God bless your ability to feel the same vibrations gould felt, and before him Sebastian

[@eckosters]

Terrific, thank you!

[@hovaard]

Absolutely brilliant. So insightful and real about creative minds. Wow.

[@emilyhutjes]

Thank you both for such an interesting conversation/ music history lesson. I loved it very much. 💗. I have put it on face-book. 🌷🌷🌷 Holland.

[@davidblumer1790]

Brilliant..I've often wonder over the same subject for years...and here is a comparison of...

[@PeterBloecker]

This is awesome, brilliant!

[@olafsager6056]

I had my first bone fracture in the age of two-and-half. In the hospital my parents weren't allowed to share my time, rooming-in seemed at that time not to be necessary. Until the age of six I broke eight times more my bones, an endless loneliness for a child with weights and extensions to the legs.
This story of Ólafsson is nice and it makes sense to me. But even in my case it makes sense to me that I as an artist later chose the painting. There always is a reason when you are convinced that there is one.

[@rcc3574]

🥰

[@DrBlues76]

So I take it he’s not an Andreas Schiff fan lol. I really like his fresh thinking.

[@SaibHealthyFoodsRecipes]

Very nice 👍🙂

[@JSMatteson]

Right on! #synchromism

[@SpaceWalker2013]

Please could you give the names of the piano pieces played in the video? Thanks very much in advance.

[@roisin252]

Organ Sonata no.4 in E minor , Bach. So far the first three clips are.

[@roisin252]

Mozart, Ave Verum…

[@roisin252]

Guessing Mozart sonata…

[@kaidwig6132]

🤣😂🤣🙄🤦🏼🤣😂🤣

[@stangss1]

Yawnnn.... This channel has no idea what art is...

[@jay-tea415]

your opinion

[@pinkasarp2250]

the channel is not giving an opinion regarding art - it presents the ideas of many artists. if you want to understand something watch the interview with Lawrence Weiner

[@roisin252]

Troll alert😂

[@amirmotahari6186]

get a life, a brain and an ear!