©Photo: Markus Jans

VÍKINGUR ÓLAFSSON GOLDBERG VARIATIONS ALBUM AND WORLD TOUR

30/6/2023

Víkingur Ólafsson devotes his entire 2023/24 season to a global tour of Bach’s Goldberg Variations across six continents. October 2023 marks the anticipated album release on Deutsche Grammophon, Olafsson commenting ​“I have dreamed of recording this work for 25 years”.

The album follows Ólafsson​’s hugely successful DG recording of works by the composer, Johann Sebastian Bach (2018), which won BBC Music magazine’s Album of the Year, Opus Klassik’s Solo Recital award, numerous other recording of the year accolades and led to him being named Gramophone magazine’s Artist of the Year. Now Ólafsson brings his unique musical vision, and an affecting, meticulous recorded sound to Bach’s masterpiece.

Ólafsson dedicates his next season to a Goldberg Variations world tour, performing the work across six continents throughout the year. He brings Bach’s masterpiece to major concert halls including London’s Southbank Centre, New York​’s Carnegie Hall, Wiener Konzerthaus, Philharmonie de Paris, Tokyo​’s Suntory Hall, Philharmonie Berlin, Harpa Concert Hall, LA’s Walt Disney Hall, Sala São Paulo, Shanghai Symphony Hall, Tonhalle Zurich, KKL Luzern, Alte Oper Frankfurt and Mupa Budapest, with other dates to be announced.

“The Goldberg Variations contain some of the most virtuosic keyboard music ever written, some of the most astonishingly brilliant uses of counterpoint in the repertoire and countless instances of exalted poetry, abstract contemplation and deep pathos – all within immaculately shaped structures of formal perfection. In 30 variations, built on the humble harmonic framework of a simple, graceful aria, Bach turns limited material into boundless variety like no one before or since. He is the greatest keyboard virtuoso of his time.

Like with some of Bach’s other works on this scale, I was inclined to think of the Goldberg Variations as a grand, commanding cathedral of music, magnificent in its structure and intricate in its ornamentation. Now I find another metaphor more apt: That of a grand oak tree, no less magnificent, but somehow organic, living and vibrant, its forms both responsive and regenerative, its leaves constantly unfurling to produce musical oxygen for its admirers through some metaphysical, time-bending photosynthesis.”

Víkingur Ólafsson

In just a few short years, Ólafsson has become one of the most sought-after artists of today, performing internationally at the highest level. His multiple awards include CoScan​’s International Nordic Person of the Year (2023), the Rolf Schock Prize for Music (2022), Gramophone magazine’s Artist of the Year (2019), Opus Klassik Solo Recording Instrumental (twice) and Album of the Year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards (2019). In 2023, Ólafsson is nominated for three Opus Klassik awards, including Instrumentalist of the Year. 

His recordings for Deutsche Grammophon – Philip Glass Piano Works (2017), Johann Sebastian Bach (2018), Debussy Rameau (2020), Mozart & Contemporaries (2021) and From Afar (2022) – captured the public and critical imagination and have led to career streams of over 600 million. 

Wed 2 Aug 2023 Schloss Elmau (Germany)

Mon 7 Aug 2023 Schloss Elmau (Germany)

Wed 9 Aug 2023 Espace Bellevue, Biarritz (France)

Sat 12 Aug 2023 Franui Festival (Austria)

Mon 14 Aug 2023 Lucerne Festival (Switzerland)

Wed 16 Aug 2023 La Roque d​’Anthéron (France)

Fri 18 Aug 2023 Auditori de Torroella de Montgrí, Girona (Spain)

Sun 20 Aug 2023 Helsinki Music Centre (Finland)

Thu 14 Sep 2023 Toulouse (France)

Tue 19 Sep 2023 Aalborg Musikkens Hus (Denmark)

Wed 20 Sep 2023 Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen (Denmark)

Fri 22 Sep 2023 Southbank Centre, London (UK)

Mon 25 Sep 2023 Bærum Kulturhus, Sandvika (Norway)

Tue 26 Sep 2023 Bærum Kulturhus, Sandvika (Norway)

Wed 27 Sep 2023 Grieghallen Concert Hall, Bergen (Norway)

Mon 9 Oct 2023 Alte Oper Frankfurt (Germany)

Tue 10 Oct 2023 Hamburg Laeiszhalle (Germany)

Wed 11 Oct 2023 Kölner Philharmonie, Cologne (Germany)

Fri 13 Oct 2023 Großer Sendesaal des NDR, Hannover (Germany)

Sat 14 Oct 2023 Die Glocke, Bremen (Germany)

Sun 15 Oct 2023 Tonhalle Düsseldorf (Germany)

Tue 17 Oct 2023 Philharmonie Berlin (Germany)

Thu 19 Oct 2023 Heinrich-Lades-Halle, Erlangen (Germany)

Sat 21 Oct 2023 Prinzregententheater, Munich (Germany)

Sun 29 Oct 2023 BOZAR, Brussels (Belgium)

Mon 30 Oct 2023 Stuttgart (Germany)

Wed 1 Nov 2023 Liverpool (UK)

Fri 3 Nov 2023 Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna (Austria)

Mon 6 Nov 2023 Palau de la Musica, Barcelona (Spain)

Tue 7 Nov 2023 Centro Nacional de Difusion Musical, Madrid (Spain)

Wed 8 Nov 2023 Sociedad Filarmónica de Bilbao (Spain)

Sat 11 Nov 2023 Saffron Hall, Essex (UK)

Mon 13 Nov 2023 Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome (Italy)

Sun 26 Nov 2023 Grand Theatre Angers (France)

Mon 27 Nov 2023 Philharmonie de Paris (France)

Tue 28 Nov 2023 Müpa (Budapest)

Sat 2 Dec 2023 Tokyo

Sun 3 Dec 2023 Tokyo

Wed 6 Dec 2023 Sapporo

Fri 8 Dec 2023 Hamamatsu

Sat 9 Dec 2023 Osaka

Sun 10 Dec 2023 Nagoya

Tue 12 Dec 2023 Suseong Artpia, Daegu (S. Korea)

Wed 13 Dec 2023 Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Center, Goyang-si, Gyunggi-do (S. Korea)

Thu 14 Dec 2023 Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Center, Goyang-si, Gyunggi-do (S. Korea)

Fri 15 Dec 2023 Seoul Arts Center, Seoul (S. Korea)

Sat 16 Dec 2023  Tongyeong Concert Hall, Tongyeong (S. Korea)

Sat 20 Jan 2024 Philharmonie Essen (Germany)

Mon 22 Jan 2024 Club Musical de Quebec (Canada)

Wed 24 Jan 2024 Bourgie Hall, Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

Fri 26 Jan 2024 Perelman Theater, Philadelphia (USA)

Sun 28 Jan 2024 Houston, Texas (USA)

Tue 30 Jan 2024 Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Saint Paul, Minnesota (USA)

Wed 31 Jan 2024 Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Saint Paul, Minnesota (USA)

Sun 4 Feb 2024  Royal Conservatory Toronto (Canada)

Wed 7 Feb 2024 Carnegie Hall, New York (USA)

Thu 8 Feb 2024 Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall, Princeton, NJ (USA)

Sat 10 Feb 2024  Jordan Hall, Boston, MA (USA)

Wed 14 Feb 2024 Harpa Hall, Reykjavík (Iceland)

Fri 16 Feb 2024  Harpa Hall, Reykjavík (Iceland)

Sun 18 Feb 2024 Harpa Hall, Reykjavík (Iceland)

Sat 2 Mar 2024  Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (Sweden)

Sun 3 Mar 2024 Konserthuset Stockholm (Sweden)

Sun 10 Mar 2024 Prague (Czech Republic)

Fri 15 Mar 2024 to be announced

Sun 17 Mar 2024 to be announced

Mon 18 Mar 2024 to be announced

Mon 25 Mar 2024 to be announced

Fri 19 Apr 2024 Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich (Switzerland)

Mon 22 April 2024 Centro Cultural de Música Teatro Solís, Montevideo (Uruguay)

Sun 28 Apr 2024 Sala São Paulo (Brazil)

Wed 1 May 2024 Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles (USA)

Thu 2 May 2024 Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Costa Mesa, California (USA)

Sat 4 May 2024  Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA (USA)

Sun 5 May 2024 Seattle Symphony Orchestra (USA)

Sun 26 May 2024 Konzerthaus Dortmund (Germany)

Fri 31 May 2024 Shanghai Symphony Hall (China)

Thu 6 Jun 2024 Shenzhen Concert Hall (China)

Fri 7 Jun 2024 Guangzhou Opera House (China)

Sun 9 Jun 2024 Esplanade Concert Hall (Singapore)

Tue 11 Jun 2024 Hong Kong Cultural Centre (Hong Kong, China)

Thu 13 Jun 2024 National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Taiwan

Sun 16 Jun 2024 Hsinchu, Taiwan

Tue 25 Jun 2024 Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg (Germany)