Vikingur Olafsson (centre of photograph) – Photograph: Stefan Hoederath/Deutsche Grammophon
Víkingur Ólafsson has simply surpassed the magnificent landmark of 1 billion profession streams worldwide.
The numbers have soared steadily all through 2024 – his Goldberg Variations album alone has now garnered over 88 million streams, whereas his brand-new Bach EP ‘CONTINUUM’ has already achieved a streaming determine of over 14 million. And Víkingur retains his crown as probably the most streamed residing pianist of the yr for performances of Bach.
Including to the already spectacular checklist of accolades, Ólafsson additionally acquired his first ever Grammy Award nomination for his studying of the Goldberg Variations within the Greatest Classical Instrumental Solo class. The identical album gained the distinguished OPUS KLASSIK Bestseller award and Ólafsson has simply been named Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the 12 months 2024.
“The fact that Víkingur Ólafsson is reaching an extraordinary streaming milestone and receiving his first Grammy nomination at the same time may seem like a coincidence, but there is also a great inner logic behind it: Víkingur inspires both a younger generation of culturally curious listeners and the established classical music scene like no other artist,” says Dr Clemens Trautmann, President of Deutsche Grammophon. “Heartfelt congratulations to this outstanding pianist and the smoothly connected teams behind him, including his management, our PR and live partners and – last but not least – my colleagues at the Yellow Label.”
“When Víkingur joined the label, we started with a total monthly listenership in the triple digits across streaming platforms,” provides Christian Badzura, DG Vice President A&R New Repertoire. “One billion streams to date proves that with supreme artistic integrity, unique choice of repertoire, exceptional interpretations, and a tirelessly focused team great things are possible.”
“Víkingur is an exceptional artist who has inspired us from the very beginning to explore new, innovative paths of creativity.” notes Marc Fritsch, Senior Advertising Director Particular Tasks at Deutsche Grammophon “He stands among the most celebrated pianists of our time and we are proud to be part of this unique success story.”
Ólafsson’s private Bach journey is way from over, nevertheless. October noticed the discharge of CONTINUUM, a six-track EP of piano preparations of cantata actions and different brief works by Bach, 4 of them realized by Ólafsson himself. Within the pianist’s personal phrases, CONTINUUM is “the first installment in what will be an ongoing Bach diary.”
In February and March 2025 Ólafsson might be reunited with fellow DG artist Yuja Wang for the North American continuation of the high-profile duo tour they launched in Reykjavík in October 2024 and went on to carry out throughout Europe (Berlin recital quickly out there to stream on STAGE+). The pair are actually set to seem at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Corridor (February 19) and Walt Disney Live performance Corridor in Los Angeles (February 26).
Purchase or stream the CONTINUUM EP.
