





Víkingur Ólafsson
Ariane Levy-Künstler
Jasper Parrott
Brooke Newton
“breathtakingly brilliant pianist”
(Gramophone, March 2017)
Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has made a profound impact with his remarkable combination of highest level musicianship and visionary programmes. His recordings for Deutsche Grammophon – Philip Glass Piano Works (2017), Johann Sebastian Bach (2018), Debussy Rameau (2020) and Mozart & Contemporaries (2021) – captured the public and critical imagination and have led to career streams of over 400 million. His latest album, From Afar, is released in October 2022.
Now one of the most sought-after artists of today, Ólafsson’s multiple awards include the Rolf Schock Prize for music (2022), Gramophone magazine Artist of the Year, Opus Klassik Solo Recording Instrumental (twice) and Album of the Year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards.
Ólafsson continues to perform as artist in residence at the world’s top orchestras, concert halls and festivals, and work with today’s greatest composers. In the 2022/23 season he performs with orchestras including Philharmonia Orchestra, Concertgebouworkest, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker, The Cleveland Orchestra, London and Bergen philharmonic orchestras, Toronto and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
A captivating communicator both on and off stage, Ólafsson’s significant talent extends to broadcast, having presented several of his own series for television and radio. He was Artist in Residence for three months on BBC Radio 4’s flagship arts programme, Front Row – broadcasting live during lockdown from an empty Harpa concert hall in Reykjavík, he reached millions of listeners around the world.
HarrisonParrott represents Víkingur Ólafsson for worldwide general management.

“Víkingur Ólafsson is revitalising classical music”
“The new superstar of classical piano”
“For this pianist, every album is an essay”
“Vikingur Ólafsson explored a fascinating sound cosmos in an amazingly unpretentious and effortless performance. Played with passion and yet gentleness, with breath-taking precision and unconditional devotion, creating an interpretation of lasting impact.”
“Olafssons hands are fast and powerful on the keys (think superfast, then add some more). His performance is earth-shaking and hypnotic, in short – he plays like a master.”
“There’s a quiet fearlessness to this album … Mr. Olafsson is a master of finding and exploiting unexpected pockets of musicality.”
“Víkingur Ólafsson’s latest album opens the door to new possibilities for the great composer’s music.”
“Bach at the keyboard has rarely sounded so fresh, expressive and joyous.”
“For Bach playing of a higher order, there is only one place to go: the recent album by Víkingur Ólafsson.”
“Ólafsson’s “inspired playing makes Bach more human than we’ve heard in a long time”
“After his equally successful Glass album, Víkingur confirms he’s one of the pianists to look out for”
“Ólafsson combines the fantasy of Maria João Pires and Martha Argerich with the contrapuntal élan of Piotr Anderszewski. But he is very much his own man.”
“Does he really deserve the epithet “Icelands Glenn Gould” that the New York Times gave him? The answer is yes, he proved as a time-bending soloist in Edvard Grieg’s piano concerto. This classic from the romantic period sounds in the wrong hands overblown and sentimental, but Ólafsson plays as if every tone matters”
“We came to hear the prodigious interpreter of Philip Glass, and discovered an explosive reader of J‑S Bach.…”
“Ólafsson’s ability to paint with a thousand colours is magnificent”
“Iceland’s Glenn Gould”
“In Mr. Olafsson’s hands, Mr. Glass’s music is sculptural”
“The recital was a complete show of mastery and virtuosity.” *****
“Like Gould, Ólafsson possesses that rare gift of illuminating a familiar work in unexpected ways, revealing hidden depths and drawing out its best qualities.….breathtakingly brilliant pianist.”
“Volcanic temperament, great virtuosity, a taste for challenges.”
“The celebrated shooting star Víkingur Ólafsson made his debut with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and excelled with his sensitive and extremely virtuosic playing.”
“With the world premiere of Haukur Tómasson’s second piano concerto, the 32-year-old had the high tones sparkling like water, which drifted from icicles in the sunlight… and bewitched the audience with precision playing of the highest order”
“Víkingur Ólafsson, for whom the work is written, possesses the authority, precision and clarity of contour required by the vertiginous solo part.”
“This is, frankly, one of the best single discs of Glass piano music I’ve ever heard, with a full spectrum of dynamics heard along with both personal utterances and works of true grandeur … This selection … by the 33-year old pianist from Iceland is quite stunning in its way. Everything about this selection – choice of repertoire, dynamic level, performance – is exquisite. This is Glass minimalism that even a hostile Ravel and Debussy-lover could love.”
“Volcanic temperament, great virtuosity, a taste for challenges.”
“Pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has found the perfect blend of playful free spirit and technical finesse.”
“… Olafsson ruminative and fiercely attacking by turns (and his thumbs must be among the most elastic in the business), taking self-possessed ownership of a work which remains bitty, for all its thematic unity … Olafsson gave us a delightful encore in the shape of a miniature by Jean-Philippe Rameau.” *****
“few musicians match Olafsson for creative flair”
“Olafsson succeeded superbly in one of the best Belfast performances of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in recent years.”
“The remarkable Vikingur Olafsson found sonic grandeur and excitement in Glass’ Étude No 6 and even more in No 14, which he ended in a stonking accelerando.”
“Best of the bunch was Icelandic pianist Vikingur Ólafsson. He played the blizzard of scales in Phillip Glass’ Etude No 13 with amazing virtuosity, and gave the still quietness of Etude No 5 a monumental, rapt intensity.”