Víkingur Ólafsson on Glenn Gould and the 'infinite message' of Bach's Goldberg Variations

In 2017, New York Times music critic Anthony Tommasini described pianist Víkingur Ólafsson as "Iceland's Glenn Gould" for his "fleet, free-ranging performance" of J.S. Bach's Partita No. 6.

The comparison with the famed Canadian pianist, Ólafsson recently told CBC Music, has been a double-edged sword: both flattering and daunting.

But in the years since then, Ólafsson has established a cult-like following of his own, with a string of acclaimed albums on Deutsche Grammophon that betray his musical curiosity and unique artistic voice.

The latest of these is his own highly anticipated recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, a work that Ólafsson has been busy performing on an international concert tour.

Ólafsson agreed to answer CBC Music's questions about the Gould comparison, the concentration required to play and record the Goldberg Variations, and which of Gould's recordings (1955 or '81) he prefers.

Scroll down for that conversation, and tune in to CBC Music's Tempo on Friday, Nov. 3, at 10 a.m. (10:30 NT) when host Julie Nesrallah will present Ólafsson's complete album on air.

How and when did the Goldberg Variations first enter your repertoire?

The Goldbergs first entered my mind in 1998 when I got the famous Gould 1955 recording and realized that Bach could be so many things at the same time: philosophical, poetic, dizzyingly virtuosic, structural, improvisatory, cheeky and dead-serious — the list goes on. The sheer physicality of the piece thrilled me at the time but more than anything else, I realized for the first time that it could be possible to split your mind into channels and play four, five or six voices simultaneously and still retain absolute individuality in each voice. We have a lot to be grateful for when it comes to Gould's legacy.

I started to learn the music back then — I was 14 — but only really began to work on the Goldbergs with the thought of putting them in my active concert repertoire in my mid-20s. Even then it took me four or five years of study before playing them in public for the first time back in 2014.

Why is now the right time to record them?

It's hard to describe or explain. It's a gut feeling, a way of listening to your heart perhaps. I just felt I had to do it now and have this special year of playing this work around the whole globe. Maybe it has something to do with me turning 40 in the middle of the tour. It felt like the right chapter.

Back in 2017, the New York Times called you "Iceland's Glenn Gould." How do you feel about that label?

Well, it's a double-edged sword, isn't it? Gould remains a very important figure for me, I even played an homage concert to him at the 2012 Busoni Festival in Bolzano, Italy, in honour of what would have been his 80th birthday. He left us so many interesting paths to explore, the ideology is immensely rich and brilliant. To me, he is the most interesting performer of the 20th century. But of course this New York Times quote, very much meant as a praise, invited anyone to say, "This Icelandic guy we have never heard of is a total nobody compared to the great Glenn Gould."

So, what to do? These days, everyone is supposed to be someone else, it's a very 21st century idea and I often hear young pianists described as "the new Horowitz" or "the new Argerich." It's all just a party game and mostly meaningless. However, what was nice about this quote at the time, when I was still quite unknown on the international scene, was that it got many people interested in my work. 

Personally, I feel like I have learnt a lot from Gould but also that our approaches are in many ways fundamentally different. And of course if you listen to our recordings of the Goldbergs that becomes rather obvious.

Why do you think all new recordings of the Goldberg Variations get compared to Glenn Gould's?

Well, the recordings he did are absolutely brilliant and defined both him and the work. It's a bit like Felix Mendelssohn "discovering" Bach in the 19th century. Of course, Mozart, Beethoven and so many more composers revered and studied Bach long before Mendelssohn was even born but Mendelssohn became the torch-bearer. Gould similarly has the Goldberg torch and will always have it. For a good reason.

Are you a '55 or an '81 person, and why?

Actually I am a Salzburg live 1959 person. That performance has incredible poetry and humanity, spontaneity and fragility, too. But if I had to choose between the 1955 and 1981 studio recordings, I go with 1955 as there are certain things in the 1981 I don't relate to today (for example, the idea to find a mathematical connection between all the tempos of the different variations.) I love the feeling of discovery that is so present in the 1955 recording and how each variation seems to be its own microcosm, with its own unique logic. But ask me this question next year, or indeed last year, and I might tell you that I prefer 1981 to 1955. It's an ongoing exploration and process.

You've arrived at your own unique interpretation of the Goldberg Variations, but would you say Gould has informed the way you play this work?

Absolutely. I have never had any problem admitting my influences. To deny Gould would be pretentious and dishonest.

What other pianists/recordings of the Goldberg Variations have left a mark on you?

I know many of them to some degree and usually there is something (and sometimes many things) to marvel at in each of the famous recordings. I would list Wanda Landowska's early recording on harpsichord and Murray Perahia's Sony recording as among my very favourites. 

You're currently playing the Goldberg Variations on an international concert tour. Describe the concentration required to play them in public.

Once you start each performance, the piece just sucks you in and you don't really think about concentration for the next 77 minutes. It's just about the infinite message of this music, a dialogue you have with Bach, yourself and the universe. But I try to be in top form pianistically and physically of course.

In the recording studio, are you as fastidious as Gould was?

No, I am a simple man in comparison. But I love to record in Harpa Concert Hall, Iceland, on the piano I selected for the house back in 2011 when it was opened. All my records are done in that same space with the same producer, Christopher Tarnow.

There are other solo piano works that may pose bigger technical challenges than the Goldberg Variations, and yet, recording them is always considered a milestone. What makes this work so iconic?

Hmmm, which solo works require more technical challenge than the Goldbergs? I don't think I agree with you on that. To me, Rach 3 is infinitely easier than the Goldbergs. The Goldbergs are like doing Olympic gymnastics — naked! At least if you do them well, with close mics in a clear acoustic with no hiding behind fuzzy texture or pedal.