A Closer Listen
Gabríel Ólafs may be only 25, but he’s been playing piano for twenty years. Over the past five years, he’s released albums for solo piano, piano and cello, and piano and small ensemble, but Orchestral Works ups the ante considerably and should shoot his career into the stratosphere. The album revisits tracks from his last three albums, reimagining them for the artist’s own Reykjavik Orkestra, conducted by Viktor Orri Árnason. The additional instrumentation shifts the tone from intimate to majestic, never drowning the ivories, but adorning them with light and hue.
Fittingly, the first notes belong to the piano. “Melodia Suite” begins with Ólafs alone, then proceeds through stages. The closing minute of the first part contain an understated elegance that would have been difficult to capture with piano alone, exposing the emotional heft of the composition. The following segment, “Filma,” sounds exactly like its title, offering a romantic theme for any couple who seeks one. We fully expect Ólafs to head into cinema scoring, a lifelong interest that now seems within reach. In the center of “Islandus Salon I” lie notes of such sweetness that they might break the heart before the ensuing pieces knit it back together.
While much of the album’s romantic center is occupied by songs originally heard on 2022’s Solon Islandus, that release’s “Raven” continues to stand out now as it did back then. This darker turn displays a different side of Ólafs; if the composition weren’t so beautiful it would be downright frightening. The huge low chords of “The Croak” give way to the screeching glissandos of “The Caw,” deepening our appreciation of the composer’s tonal range. This sets the stage for the set’s biggest track, “Fantasia for Cello and Orchestra,” which builds to an incredibly lush finale. The closing track returns to the former intimacy and wraps the set in a shiny bow.
With Orchestral Works, Ólafs has taken not a step forward, but a leap; and he’s stuck the landing. Many composers take a lifetime to produce something so refined; these “greatest hits” now come across as a symphony. With every album, we grow more confident that we’ll be talking about the composer for decades to come. (Richard Allen)
Wed May 15 00:01:23 GMT 2024