Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
Arts·Q with Tom Power

When Iceland's economy crashed, Víkingur Ólafsson changed his entire approach to music

The Grammy-winning Icelandic pianist drops by the Q studio to talk to Tom Power about his recent Goldberg Variations album and Glenn Gould's influence on him.

The Grammy-winning Icelandic pianist also discusses Glenn Gould's influence on him

CBC Arts ·
A smiling man wearing black glasses and a scarf poses in front of a plain backdrop.
Víkingur Ólafsson in the Q photo studio in Toronto. (Shuli Grosman-Gray/CBC)
32:38Víkingur Ólafsson: The billion-stream pianist

Víkingur Ólafsson is one of the world's most in-demand classical pianists right now. The Icelandic musician just picked up a Grammy for his Goldberg Variations album, and he recently reached one billion streams for his music.

Before playing a few shows in Canada, Ólafsson dropped by the Q studio and sat down at Glenn Gould's rehearsal piano that lives here. He talked to Tom Power about why Gould is such a big influence on him, how the Icelandic financial crisis of 2008 pushed him to take an indie approach to his music, and why he says we're living in a "golden age" of classical music. Plus, he played us his favourite version of the Goldberg Variations.

WATCH | Víkingur Ólafsson's full interview with Tom Power: 

The full interview with Víkingur Ólafsson is available on our YouTube channel and on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Víkingur Ólafsson produced by Ben Edwards.