Víkingur Ólafsson – Debussy – Rameau (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:19:10 minutes | 2,59 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as an artist who “creates unique aural landscapes,” Icelandic pianist V¡kingur Olafsson continues his acclaimed recording partnership with Deutsche Grammophon with the release of Debussy ú Rameau. Following two albums featured in NPR Music’s Top 10 Classical Albums (Glass in 2017 and Bach in 2018), Olafsson`s third album pairs works by two French composers separated by well over a century: Jean-Philippe Rameau and Claude Debussy.
This program brings together two great French composers, separated by almost two centuries, that we would not think of bringing together spontaneously. But the freedom of mind of the Icelandic pianist looks at it otherwise, who, for his third album with Deutsche Grammophon, wanted to highlight their affinities as their contrasts in the light of their innovative contribution to the musical thought of their time. “I scratch my head wondering why Rameau’s music is not played more. Between quality, inventiveness and unpredictability, there is never any element of formula in these pieces”, says Víkingur Ólafsson. By instinctively associating these style characteristics with those specific to Debussy, he decided to make an album of them: “I want to show Rameau as a futurist and underline the deep roots of Debussy in French baroque — and in Rameau’s music in particular. The idea is that the listener almost forgets who is who by listening to the album.” Debussy, who never stopped defending the French tradition by opposing it to German music, liked the decorative and complex lines of this Baroque composer with a French spirit like his own.
An initial idea in the development of this skillfully constructed program, the transcription for piano of Debussy from Prélude to his Cantata La Damoiselle introduces it. Like the album’s visual, Víkingur Ólafsson aims to be suggestive even in the accent he gives in Rameau to polyphonic voices supported by a flawless rhythmic impulse, which contrasts with Debussy, whose among other things the beautiful tumultuous Jardins sous la pluie which is played with a large breath in the image of wind load until the light returns.
Tracklist:
1. Víkingur Ólafsson – Prélude (03:51)
2. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: Le Rappel des oiseaux (02:40)
3. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: 6. Rigaudons 1, 2 & Double (01:02)
4. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: Musette en rondeau (03:13)
5. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: Tambourin (00:56)
6. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: La Villageoise (01:19)
7. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: Gigues en rondeau 1 & 2 (03:42)
8. Víkingur Ólafsson – 3. Jardins sous la pluie (03:55)
9. Víkingur Ólafsson – 3. Serenade for the Doll (01:58)
10. Víkingur Ólafsson – 4. The Snow Is Dancing (02:24)
11. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: Les tendres plaintes (02:36)
12. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: Les tourbillons (01:42)
13. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: L’entretien des Muses (02:58)
14. Víkingur Ólafsson – 6. Des pas sur la neige (03:52)
15. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: La joyeuse (00:58)
16. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: Les Cyclopes (02:57)
17. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau, Ólafsson: The Arts and the Hours (04:45)
18. Víkingur Ólafsson – 8. La fille aux cheveux de lin (02:23)
19. Víkingur Ólafsson – 8. Ondine (04:13)
20. Víkingur Ólafsson – 2. La Cupis (04:11)
21. Víkingur Ólafsson – 2. L’indiscrète (01:06)
22. Víkingur Ólafsson – 3. La Rameau (02:12)
23. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: La Poule (02:38)
24. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: L’Enharmonique (03:53)
25. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: Menuets 1 & 2 (02:43)
26. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: Les Sauvages (01:23)
27. Víkingur Ólafsson – Rameau: L’Égyptienne (02:12)
28. Víkingur Ólafsson – 2. Hommage à Rameau (07:14)
