Reykjavík Grapevine - ágú. 2020, Blaðsíða 15

Les Enfants
Terribles
Víkin!ur Ólafsson puts Rameau and
Debussy in dialo!ue on the Harpa sta!e
It’s 1918. World War I rages on as French
composer Claude Debussy lies on his
deathbed. His last few days are but a
fever dream, but as the renegade artist
waits for the end, one lament remains
on his lips: in the face of death, Debussy
is sad that he won’t be able to catch the
new revival of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s
18th century opera, ‘Castor et Pollux,’ at
The Paris Opera. Louis Laloy sees De-
bussy only days before his passing, and
as he leaves the room, Debussy has just
a few dramatic words for his friend.
“Say hello to Monsieur Castor!”
Rameau and Debussy were separat-
ed by hundreds of years and composed
in vastly different styles, but they’ve
been united on pianist—and former
Grapevine cover star—Víkingur Ólafs-
son’s newest album, which presents the
two revolutionary composers in dia-
logue with each other. Now, Víkingur
will finally take the album to the Harpa
stage as the Reykjvaík Art Festival’s
opening concert.
Two controversial
Frenchmen
The project began in March last year in
the weeks before the birth of Víkingur’s
son. “My boy arrived two weeks later
than expected, so I had all this time
on my hands. I started to play all these
pieces of Rameau on the piano and as I
played it, I just kept thinking about De-
bussy, which is weird because they are
from completely different periods,” he
explains. “It’s like comparing Picasso
to Rembrandt.”
But Víkingur saw an undeniable
thread between the two—one that only
grew stronger with time. “I started to
do some research and found out that
Rameau was one of Debussy’s favourite
composers. He wrote incredibly beau-
tiful reviews about his music and was
thinking of him on his deathbed,” he
says. “But the deeper I went, the more I
understood that they had some similar
elements in their lives.”
These similar elements relate to
both composer’s relationships with the
musical institutions and conventions
of their time. “They were both musi-
cal outsiders who didn’t really fit in.
They challenged the establishment and
picked fights with people. Enfants ter-
ribles,” he posits. “Today, [their music]
all sounds very nice and beautiful but
in their day, not so much. They were
shocking.”
But while it’s established that De-
bussy was a Rameau devotée, would
Rameau reciprocate? The pianist is
understandably hesitant to speak on
behalf of a dead man, but still takes a
moment to ponder their hypothetical
friendship. “Well, we have to remem-
ber that these are two Frenchmen and
Frenchmen are often totally surprising
and unpredictable in their views—and
they’re not always nice to each other,
especially when they are two giants,”
he laughs. “I think we should be careful
not to assume that Rameau would have
liked Debussy. He certainly hated many
of his contemporaries.”
The devil in the details
To be fair, comparing Rameau and
Debussy was a rather ‘enfant terrible’
move for Víkingur to make, but unfor-
tunately, the notoriously unpredictable
pianist stays mum on what artist—or
artists—he’s planning on diving into
next. “Every album has to be a sur-
prise,” he explains with a smile. That
said, he does reveal a few dream proj-
ects he’s been mulling over, such as de-
constructing a Beethoven symphony.
“There’s incredible potential in
the time dimension of a piece like a
Beethoven symphony,” he says. “It won’t
sound at all like the original; it’ll be-
come a new piece. I think you can bend
time in very interesting ways there.”
Mozart—a fellow enfant terrible—is
another area of fascination. “I’d be curi-
ous to do something with Mozart and
maybe five or six composers from his
time. Mozart wrote during the classical
period, when the rules were quite set
for how to make music. On the surface,
everyone sounds a little more connect-
ed and alike, but somehow Mozart still
sounds completely different from any-
one else always,” he explains. “It’d be in-
teresting to take a period like that [and]
show how extremely different Mozart
was, how the devil is in the details.”
Alone, no words, one
instrument
But right now, Víkingur is most ex-
cited to get back onstage. “The fact is
that I cannot wait for these concerts,”
he says, his voice uncharacteristically
animated. “Honestly, as much as I like
recording and doing TV, somewhere
inside I really am an exhibitionist, so
I love the spotlight. To be there alone
with a piano on a big stage and to have
all these people channeling into it,
that’s unlike anything else in life.” He
pauses. “A solo recital to me is the most
interesting form of expression. To be
alone with no words and only a single
instrument... Well, nothing equals it
for me,” he concludes. And there, per-
haps, we’ve found something that both
Debussy and Rameau would agree on.
Words:
Hannah Jane
Cohen
Photos:
Art Bicnick
&
Timotheé
Lambrecq
CULTURE
NEWS
Find today's events
in Iceland!
Download our free
listings app - APPENING
on the Apple and
Android stores
Just a man in a Mandarin collar
Info
Catch Víkingur
Ólafsson at Harpa
on September 6th
and 7th at 20:00
Tickets are 4,900-
9,900 ISK.
Art For One, Art For All!
Gilbert & George:
THE GREAT EXHIBITION
Until January 3rd, 2021 - Hafnarhús
Gilbert & George are known for their
pioneering performance pieces,
bold photo-based graphics and
anti-elitist “Art for All” ethos. From
modelling themselves as “living
sculptures” in the 1970s to filming a
lock-down video diary chronicling
the events of recent months, Gilbert
& George’s style is constantly
evolving and pushing creative
boundaries. The pair are widely
credited with helping to advance
changes in attitudes towards the
LGBTIQ+ community, making this
exhibition the perfect way to safely
celebrate the cancelled-Pride amid
the COVID-19 restrictions. PA
Poland Will Hear Us
Demonstration of Support for LGBTQ
People In Poland
August 16th - 17:00 - Polish Embassy
In light of the growing homophobia
in Poland, the community needs to
hear an expression of support now
more than ever. Join this
demonstration to send this
message of support to LGBTQ+
individuals in Poland, Iceland, and
beyond who have faced
persecution and discrimination due
to their gender or sexuality: “You’re
not alone!” As we are in the midst of
a pandemic, remember to take the
right precautions; bring a mask and
try to stand two meters apart. SPO
I've Seen It All... Online
Björk Orkestral Livestream
August 29th, September 13th, 19th &
28th - Various Times - Online - £15
Björk’s back, baby! That’s right, the
eccentric chanteuse will grace us
with three weekend performances
in collaboration with Iceland
Airwaves. Björk will be playing
unplugged, accompanied by some
of Iceland’s greatest classical
ensembles. Unfortunately, tickets
for the live show are now sold-out—
but fear not, the event will be live-
streamed. That's safer anyway! HJC
Dreaming of Debussy