WINTER TALES

 

WINTER TALES

 

Peter Gregson PATINA

 

PATINA

 

PETER GREGSON Untitled for 7 Dancers

 

UNTITLED FOR 7 DANCERS

Peter Gregson AN EVENING AT CAPITOL STUDIOS

 

BACH RECOMPOSED BY PETER GREGSON

 

SIGNUM Saxophone Quartet ECHOES

 

ECHOES

 

Víkingur Ólafsson BACH REWORKS / PART 2

Possessing a rare combination of passionate musicality, explosive virtuosity and intellectual curiosity, pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has been heralded “Iceland’s Glenn Gould” by the New York Times (Anthony Tommasini, August 2017). Before lighting up the international scene in 2016, Ólafsson won all the major prizes in his native country, including four Musician of the Year prizes at the Icelandic Music Awards, and the Icelandic Optimism Prize.

In September 2018 Víkingur Ólafsson released his new album on Deutsche Grammophon, Johann Sebastian Bach, featuring an eclectic selection of the composer’s keyboard works. In an ingeniously woven tapestry of diverse original compositions as well as transcriptions from different eras, Ólafsson’s “inspired playing makes Bach more human than we’ve heard in a long time” (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 2018). The Bach album follows on from the global success (“Breathtakingly brilliant pianist” (Gramophone) of the Philip Glass Etudes, Ólafsson’s debut recording for the label after signing as an exclusive recording artist in 2016.

RECOMPOSED BY PETER GREGSON: BACH - THE CELLO SUITES

Award-winning cellist and composer Peter Gregson is the latest contemporary composer to be invited by Deutsche Grammophon to reinterpret iconic works in the classical canon for their pioneering Recomposed series. Gregson follows in the footsteps of contemporaries Matthew Herbert, Matthias Arfmann, Jimi Tenor and Max Richter, whose Recomposed by Max Richter – Vivaldi: The Four Seasons was the latest, hugely popular release in the series.

For his record, Gregson has ‘recomposed’ perhaps the best-loved of all works for his instrument, the Bach Cello Suites. His approach was to retain the shape and flow of the suites, whilst still allowing his own aesthetic to come through. Gregson’s reinterpretation adds a new instrumental dimension, reimagining them for a five-person cello ensemble, analogue synthesizers and his own solo cello. The recording was made at the infamous AIR Studios in London with complex and high production values that made use of the physical space. The five cellists were widely dispersed throughout the studio galleries and Gregson turned the variety of analogue synthesizers, which he played himself, into acoustic instruments by re-amplifying them. The result is a multilayered sound that brings a new aural dimension to the works.  

Recomposed by Peter Gregson: Bach – The Cello Suites marks the start of a new and exclusive partnership with Deutsche Grammophon.

NEW COLOURS OF BACH

2018 marks 333 years since the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach; music in Bach’s time went far beyond the superficial process of just placing pleasing harmonies on manuscript paper – it had religious significance and meaning built into its very structure. Of particular prominence in some of Bach’s music are references to the number three, reflecting the important doctrine of God’s Tri-unity which lies at the core of Bach’s Lutheran faith. So for Bach at least, 333 would have had real significance.

“Bach is regularly singled by composers across all traditions from jazz, pop, world and classical for his unique importance,” says Paul Moseley, Universal Music Group’s Director of Bach 333. “We have set out to do him, his life, his world, full justice, taking in current and past performance practice, fresh scholarship and the latest media, to produce something that will educate, entertain and deepen our relationship with probably the most influential composer of all time.”  

New Colours of Bach explores Bach's unique impact on the world of music, featuring today's artists, composers and remixers including Víkingur Ólafsson and Peter Gregson.

Víkingur Ólafsson BACH REWORKS / PART 1

Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson began making his mark on the wider classical music world in the mid-2010s, after winning several major arts prizes in his homeland.
Ólafsson began his studies at home in Iceland, then earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Juilliard, where his primary teachers were Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald. By 2017, he had premiered five piano concertos, working directly with composers such as Philip Glass, Daníel Bjarnason, and Haukur Tómasson, whose concerto he premiered during the 2016-2017 season. He has also collaborated on projects with visual artists such as Roman Signer and Lillevän, and musicians like Sayaka Shoji, Pekka Kuusisto, and Björk.

Ólafsson's recital programs are thoughtfully assembled, linking music by theme, historical context, tonality, or a combination of elements. That kind of care and insight led him to host a TV series about classical music for the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service entitled Útúrdúr ("Out-of-tune," 2013-2014), and to him being named artistic director of Iceland's Vinterfest, taking over in 2016 from the music festival's founding director, Martin Fröst. Ólafsson is also founder and artistic director of the Reykjavik Midsummer Music festival.

Having by then released three albums on his own, including Schubert's Winterreise with bass Kristinn Sigmundsson, he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon in November 2016. His first release on the label, Philip Glass: Piano Works, appeared in January 2017. Later that same year, he was the featured pianist on Dario Marianelli's score for the Academy Award-nominated film Darkest Hour, about Winston Churchill.  (Patsy Morita)