Philip Glass: Piano Works

by Vikingur Olafsson

Overview

The piano etudes of Philip Glass were, like 19th century examples of the form, technical studies. Glass, in fact, wrote them over two decades as a way of improving his own piano skills. Yet they are also, like Chopin's etudes, little compositional studies that establish a set of parameters and explore it in a basic way. They offer the excellent means to come to grips with Glass' musical language, and they reveal the personalities of their performers more than most of his other compositions. Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson emerged to acclaim as part of a joint recital of all 20 etudes at the Barbican in London, and his work here fulfills the promise shown. After an overture from Glassworks (1981), Olafsson launches into a sequence of 11 etudes. He doesn't follow the original order, but this is all to the good: the Glass etudes are self-contained pieces, and his progression is convincing. Olafsson's touch is light, sweeping, dreamy, and evocative of the mystical side of the composer's personality. He catches the logic of each etude as it unfolds the implications of the very simple material with which it begins. And he makes an unusual decision: one etude, and the opening Glassworks excerpt in a return appearance as a postlude, are "reworked" by Christian Badzura with the addition of a part for string quartet. Olafsson's own notes don't offer any justification for this, and the forces in Glass' music are less optional than in that of his contemporaries. But it's strangely compelling, and after the especially lush "Etude No. 20" -- as good a place as any to start sampling -- the addition of the string quartet to the Glassworks music seems to take the mood to a higher plane. This is a very fine Glass recording, beautifully engineered in an Icelandic hall. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	04/14/2017
Label:	Deutsche Grammophon
UPC:	0028947972587
Rank:	55195

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Vikingur Olafsson   Primary Artist,Piano
Siggi String Quartet   Primary Artist,Orchestra,String Quartet

Technical Credits

Sigurdjur Kristinsson   Piano Technician
Philip Glass   Composer
Eva Zoellner   Liner Note Translation
Ari Magg   Cover Photo
Vikingur Olafsson   Liner Notes
Christian Badzura   Arranger,Reworking,Executive Producer
Christopher Tarnow   Editing,Recording Producer
Karsten Zimmermann   Editing
Anna-Lena Rodewald   Project Manager
Helga Gerdjur Magnusdottir   Design,Art Direction