Instrumental Wednesday

Now there’s a place for Instrumental music. It’s Wednesdays on Ventipop. Each hump day, I’ll feature a new, deserving instrumental track to tap your toes to, bob your head to, cry a tear to or in this week’s case…reflect on what has past and what is yet come.

"The Arts and the Hours" by Víkingur Ólafsson

Watch Víkingur Ólafsson perform his transcription of Rameau’s ‘The Arts And The Hours’ from new album ‘Debussy’. Pianist Víkingur Ólafsson and filmmaker Magnús Leifsson met for coffee between Christmas 2019 and the New Year to discuss what direction to take for ‘The Arts And The Hours’ video. “We talked about how it would fit the name and concept to do something with a person that is still in her old age still perfecting his or her art/craft.” explained Magnús. “As we continued to talk about this, we started to discuss people that are obsessive collectors and go through their whole life collecting specific things, archiving them and taking care of their collection at their home. It is often really fascinating how people can be in love with random things and to see their sensitivity and delicacy that go into these collections. It’s really artful and beautiful to see how much time has been spent to collect these things and then to showcase their collections, often in a garage or in their basement. So that became the idea, that alongside the performance of Víkingur we would film these three moments that are a bit like a glimpse into the life of these collectors and their collections.”

Víkingur Ólafsson Bio

“Breathtakingly brilliant pianist” (Gramophone) Víkingur Ólafsson has become, in just a few years, one of the most sought-after artists of today. Debussy • Rameau follows his critically-acclaimed 2019 recording Johann Sebastian Bach which was included in numerous best albums of the year lists, named one of the greatest ever Bach recordings by Gramophone, and won the 2019 Opus Klassik Piano Recital Album of the Year award as well as Album of the Year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards. In 2019 Ólafsson was also named Gramophone’s Artist of the Year and Limelight’s International Artist of the Year. Víkingur Ólafsson, who is currently Artist in Residence at Berlin’s Konzerthaus, has been announced as Associate Artist at the Southbank Centre in London from October 2020 and his residency will feature music ranging across four centuries including works from Debussy • Rameau.

Ventipop May 2020 Playlist