I guess "From Afar" is a more tantalizing title than "A Bunch of Pieces that I Currently Have in my Hands at the Moment"

"He doesn't look too abnormal".

Am so sick of classical music labels trying to make the music we love seem more appealing through pointless photographs and video content that says nothing about the music. Smacks of desperation!

If you’ve ever worked for a large corporation, you know exactly how this went down. During the pitch meeting with the execs, it was all smiles and nods. Then, out in the hallway, somebody whispers, “What a stupid f***ing idea.”

You know what goes hand in hand with all this far-ness? Having concerts “curated.”

I might one of the very few, but I’m gonna push back here…
Yes, the album might be over-marketed or over-conceptualized to some, but what isn’t these days in the classical world? I actually think this works for VO and why not?

Due to the ad nauseam of repeated recordings and cycles and whatnot in classical music, I think DG and other companies are trying to find ways to keep things fresh, and with new ideas to present music, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

In terms of the music and the selections on this album, I love it! When I listen to music, especially in the classical world, I’m listening to the quality of the performances and if it speaks to me or not. I don’t let the concept, or the photos in the jacket, or the script in the marketing videos bother me, (which they don’t), I listen for if the playing is great or not, and in this case I think it stands up to his incredible Bach, Debussy/Rameau, and Mozart & Contemporaries albums.

I don’t think of the musical selections contained here as a “junk box”, but rather a fascinating set of pieces that roll into each other well. And the playing and recording of the playing is beautiful.

By the way, I wouldn’t be so put off by the photo subjects…the man is from Iceland after all…

Tbf Kocsis played Kurtag with great humour and impish spontaneity. But I’ve always regarded VO with suspicion, he did a Mozart concerto at the Proms and it sealed the deal for me. I’m reminded of the story about Churchill asking a fellow MP if she had thought of a name for her imminent baby. She responded thus “if its a boy I will name him George after our king, if it’s a girl I will name it Elizabeth after the king’s wife, but if, as i suspect the baby is all piss and wind I’ll name it after you Winston” ditto VO

"And every one will say,
As you walk your mystic way,
If this young man expresses himself in terms to deep for me,
Why, what a singularly deep young man this deep young man must be!"
...Sorry, couldn't resist. Gilbert had a perfect knack for hitting the nail on the head.

I added the word "sniglet" to my vocabulary today.

I think this is the best ratio of effective recommendation — sparking interest — to the rating of the thing I’ve ever seen.

Thank-you for resurrecting the word "twaddle," and using it for exactly this recording (and trend).

I don't mind saying that I love his first three cds (haven't heard the Mozart), but I'll keep your comments in mind regarding "From Afar." I surely don't need to own everything he's recorded.

Like Orn, I disagree with Dave on this one.  Pretentious? Maybe.  Navel gazing? Perhaps. He's a young person in this crazy narcissistic time we live in. Let him have his moment.  He's a very fine pianist, and the music he plays is mostly very good.

I’ve always enjoyed the phrase barely mediocre.

Víkingur Ólafsson is undoubtedly a great pianist.  Yet, as I have followed him over the past several years, I can't help myself finding him getting more eccentric as time goes on.  A wicked question: perhaps he could be persuaded to play live on site to accompany of the next volcanic eruption in Iceland?  Oh well... What a pity to watch such talent go to waste.

You really make me want to hear this! It sounds fascinating, especially since I’m not familiar with Kurtag’s music and would like to dip into it!  Thank you.

Then you're really not going to like DG's "album trailer," the 4:24 minute video that announced the release of this recording.  Olafsson wandering in Icelandic wastelands to the accompaniment of wispy Kurtag fragments and portentous voice-overs.

The funniest, most precise take-down of today's rampant narcissism.

I first heard Olafsson, at La Roque D'Antheron in 2017. He played Bach's Ist Partita superbly, but then treated us to Philip Glass' Etudes which, by contrast seemed superficial, empty and pretentious. I wondered then at the lack of an ability to discern that such a juxtaposition would do Glass no favours, not that he deserves any. It seems now that poor Vikingur has succumbed to an even worse fate, buying into the empty crap of his own half-assed DG marketing machine. If anyone really wants to throw up, try looking at the DG publicity videos for Beatrice Rana (a superb pianist) and Jan Lisiecki, also a fine artist. Cliched, dreadful, embarassing. DG videos actually put me off Trifonov, which is, if you think about it, really a remarkable achievement.

Look forward to Jed Distler’s opinion on this