Víkingur Ólafsson in Reykjavík: Opus 109

Bach, Schubert and Beethoven: three composers at the core of the piano repertoire. But, as one would expect with Víkingur Ólafsson, this programme – presented in his hometown at Reykjavík’s iconic Harpa Concert Hall – is far from conventional, built around works in just two keys: E major and E minor. A brief Bach prelude serves as a curtain raiser for a programme in which two enigmatic late Beethoven sonatas bookend Bach's Partita No. 6 and two movements from the 20-year-old Schubert's E minor Sonata D. 566. In a characteristically questioning and provocative way, the pianist presents these familiar composers afresh, while the works' shared tonality is used as a lens to view both the music and its creators from a new, unexpected angle.