Icelandic piano wunderkind Víkingur Ólafsson may now be all grown up, but his playing still felt shiny and new. He peered around at the London Philharmonic Orchestra with evident enthusiasm between passages, toes tapping to the music, and even clasped his hands as if in prayer. And when he was playing, he was just mesmerising; indeed, the almost capacity audience only had eyes for him.
Ólafsson made the most of Brahms’ demanding First Piano Concerto, playing very much with the Orchestra rather than against it, and in perfect synchronicity with conductor Edward Gardner. Even before the piano came in, he was caressing the keys, and then he opened with that typically Brahmsian first passage.
As always, Ólafsson embraced the darker passages with masterful pianism, but then dazzled with a gentle touch and shimmering musicality in the lighter and more lyrical moments. The passion and grandeur of the finale saw Ólafsson and the Orchestra play with verve and panache.
The ecstatic applause from the audience was rewarded with a short solo encore of an Icelandic song ‘Ave Maria’ (based on a traditional Icelandic poem and not the hymn) played to his own arrangement. Introducing the piece, Ólafsson told the audience he was honoured to be playing six concerts in Germany with the Orchestra. After yet more enthusiastic applause, it was time for a well-earned interval.
Surprisingly, there were quite a few empty seats in the Hall when the audience returned, showing that Ólafsson was indeed the major drawcard.
The second half opened with the world premiere performance of Mother Tongue, a vivacious composition by Freya Waley-Cohen and commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The program notes explain that Mother Tongue is about language and how it holds our history even as it changes. Each of the four movements talks to these ideas, with the third especially appealing: “the moment when an idea exists in your mind, but you don’t yet know if a word for it exists…”
Mother Tongue is an ambitious and vibrant work, full of vigorous passages that create gloriously abstract sound pictures, but it did feel just a little underdeveloped as if it needs a little more time to mature. Waley-Cohen was in the audience for her world premiere performance and came on stage at the end to warm applause.
And then it was into the grand finale, a rousing 20 minutes of The Miraculous Mandarin Suite by Béla Bartók. Described rather deliciously as a ‘pantomime grotesque’, this is Hungarian Orientalism from 1920 at its most colourful. The dance element dominates throughout, tying together the six short movements.
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It was a treat to see Clíodna Shanahan playing the impressive Festival Hall organ. And it was amusing to see the bass players with their fingers in their ears as the massed percussion gave it their all. This was in every way a bold account of the Bartók under the flying baton of principal conductor Edward Gardner.
Pianist: Víkingur Ólafsson
Conductor: Edward Gardner
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Víkingur Ólafsson Plays Brahms was performed for one night only 6 November 2024 at Royal Festival Hall. It will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 6 January at 7.30pm.
