Víkingur Ólafsson plays Bach & Beethoven
Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 22/8/26
Víkingur Ólafsson (piano)
The ‘Bach to Bach’ celebration of the 22nd August at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival concluded with a late night recital at the Usher Hall, curated and given by virtuoso Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, with pieces by Bach, Beethoven (under the influence of Bach), and Schubert (under the influence of both), all performed from memory. Despite starting at 9 pm, the hall was packed. I saw no microphones.
The sweet liquid 12/8 flow of Bach’s brief 1722 Prelude in E from Book I was a serene segue without pause into the contrastingly mercurial first movement of the 2-movement Sonata in E minor, Op.90 from 1814, near the end of Beethoven’s middle period. Stormy passions with dynamic jolts and great surges of emotion alternated with more reflective music, sometimes spooky and cautious, sometimes tender, ending at peace. The second movement, which we heard played attacca, is a gorgeous sonata rondo, with a songlike melody in sunny E major that foreshadows the most serenely simple of Schubert’s Lieder, and it was meltingly and captivatingly performed. Mr Ólafsson has a mannerism of leaning forward with his head close to the keyboard at a moment of nuanced subtlety in the expression. Whatever the reason, it works to magical effect in the phrasing.
Bach’s 1731 Partita No.6 in E minor, BWV 830 is essentially a beefy 7-movement suite, at least in the French and Italian names of the dance movements, though it is experienced as a monument of richest, most inventive and very satisfying counterpoint. Again without a break, its opening Toccata (functioning as a dramatic prelude) drew the audience into a mesmerising ternary form movement with a stunning fugue at its centre. A driven Allemande and an agile Corrente were vehicles for more ingenious counterpoint. The ‘Air’ was very con moto and quite unlike any singable ‘air’ I’ve heard before. The ‘Sarabande’ was more “on message” suite-wise, elegant and pensively meditative, beautifully phrased. ‘Tempo di Gavotta’ was mischievously polyrhythmic with dotted rhythms at war with triplets, defying any dancer to attempt a gavotte. The joke was compounded with the concluding Gigue, with not a true triplet in sight, but instead an almost jazzy fugue. A stunning piece given a stunningly persuasive outing.
With E minor firmly established, Schubert’s 1817 2-movement Sonata in E minor, D566, inspired by Beethoven’s Op.90 (and without any later doubtful add-ons), followed without a break. The first movement has some of the fiery drama of the Beethoven, with dynamic and harmonic jolts, but also has uniquely Austrian chromaticism in the first theme, while the second theme sings in E major. The development also has stormy moments. The second movement emulates the Beethoven with its E major Lied, and another helping of chromaticism and theatricality, flowing lyrically. Delicious.
Beethoven’s 3-movement 1820 Sonata in E, Op.109 was the final work on the programme and, again, it followed without a break. The brief first movement’s overall mood of insouciant contentment quirkily contains inclusions of contrasting mood, tempo and even different key and harmonic focus. The whole is more than the sum of its parts. It was delightful. The stormy 6/8 E-minor Prestissimo is similarly brief and featureful, with spooky conspiratorial inclusions. But it is the extended finale, six varied characterful variations on an exquisite song-like theme (clearly inspired by Bach’s Goldberg Variations) that we get Beethoven at his most sublimely inventive. And we did, in spades, after the first actual break of the evening. Could it be better? Possibly, but I cannot imagine how. A standing ovation agreed with me.
There were 2 exquisite encores, both Bach: Víkingur Ólafsson’s arrangement of the ‘Air’ from the Third Orchestral Suite and August Stradal’s arrangement of the second movement of the Organ Sonata No. 4.
Weblink:https://www.eif.co.uk/events/vikingur-olafsson-plays-bach-beethoven