Víkingur Heiðar Wins Two BBC Music Magazine Awards

Icelandic classical piano prodigy Víkingur Haiðar Ólafsson has just earned a new distinction, securing two BBC Music Magazine Awards this year.

“I am deeply touched to have received this important award, and that people have enjoyed listening,” Vísir reports Víkingur telling reporters shortly after receiving the accolades.

Víkingur was awarded both for his album of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, as Album of the Year, and was also awarded for Instrumental Album of the Year.

The Bach works have been receiving a great deal of critical praise. As reported, the New York Times has been amongst those recognising the raw talent behind his interpretations, saying, “There’s a quiet fearlessness to this album, which includes off-the-beaten-path selections and offers an array of ways to consider Bach, including through transcriptions by the likes of Busoni and Rachmaninoff. In meat-and-potatoes fare, Mr. Olafsson is a master of finding and exploiting unexpected pockets of musicality. J.B.”

Víkingur was also a feature cover star of the Grapevine, and you can learn more about him through the extensive feature interview we took with him in 2017.