Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
The Icelandic pianist’s Mozart-centred recital revealed only slowly its sense of purpose and personality, but there were glimpses of intense, personal playing
Admirers of Víkingur Ólafsson who were unable to get to his London recital should not feel too disappointed if they already own his latest disc, Mozart and his Contemporaries. The Queen Elizabeth Hall programme exactly replicated the repertoire and the running order on that disc, and even the three encores – Bach, Rameau and Debussy – seemed less like spontaneous, unbuttoned responses to the enthusiastic applause than reminders of Ólafsson’s previous two releases – devoted to Bach, Rameau and Debussy.
It felt a little too slickly packaged to allow us to understand more about what makes Ólafsson the musician really tick. There’s no doubt that technically he’s a fine pianist, with the crispest articulation and a pearly pure, if rather unvaried sound. Everything is where it should be; ornaments are never too flashy, inner parts perfectly defined. It’s all terribly well manicured.