Ólafur Arnalds

There we were, seated in a full, sold-out, BARTS concert hall in Barcelona (around 1000 persons), at an early hour (19.30!), thanks to the cleverness of Cooncert guys, who are making possible to bring to our city artists “by request”. And, as starter, we are playing the game that Ólafur Arnalds uses to break the ice (I guess an Icelandic person has many tricks for that). He asks the audience to sing a C-tuned vowel that is then processed and used as a background drone in his typical opening number: “Þú ert sólin”. Indeed, the trick works its magic and, all of a sudden, we connect with the artist moods and enter into a dreamy, blurry, blissful state. I nevertheless experience, for a short while, some flashbulb memories of Wim Mertens’ first concerts in Barcelona, almost 30 years ago. The “deja-vu” sensation is justified: in front of us, we have a young, blond-hair, well-tempered pianist (no pun intended!), weaving a fabric of minimalist music that transports to emotional landscapes, proving by experience that “there are many ways to feel sad, not just about love” as Arnalds said elsewhere. The concert started to flow with the help of a string quartet, computer support to play loops and process live sound and video, and some occasional touch of trombone. Arnald’s sparse piano playing style makes possible, at times, a turn-taking game between the keyboard and the tablet. This way, subtle reverberation soon proves to be one of the touchstones in Arnalds’ sound: as “silences” have a capital role in many of his tracks, what happens between the notes is never left untouched as true silence. Shades, shimmering and grain are nuances to be appreciated when the instruments seem to be leaving room to the room resonances. Additional intriguing “deja-vu” experiences are triggered by several tracks. The majestic “Only the Winds”, for example, has Sigur-Rossian development and melodic content; though timbrically it belongs to a different planet (piano and strings play here the role of guitars and a voice). In fact this composition sounds like a wink to his compatriots or, more specifically, as a quotation of Popplagið (8th track from Sigur Ros’ “()”). This blending of genres and artists appears again in one of the tracks (was it “Brostjor”?) to be found in “Dyad 1909”. The track comes from a choreography soundtrack inspired by Shackleton’s expedition to Antarctica and it mingles power and frailty, fire and snow. Can you conjure up in your mind a fusion between bits of industrial noisy percussion and delicate strings and piano? I can’t believe that the beats and rhythm are making me think of Esplendor Geometrico!!! The Antarctic inspiration is also present in “3326”, a virtuosistic violin piece that, because it is basically a “solo”, breaks the flowing atmosphere of the concert but helps to make the transition to its second part, mostly devoted to “For Now I Am Winter”, the most recent release by Arnalds. If you were told that Arnór Dan, a falsetto singer that then became the focus of the night, is the regular front man of an Icelandic metal band (Agent Fresco), you could probably not believe that, as he delivered the repertoire with intense but gentle velvet tones. His voice never sounded strained or harsh, and blended well with the sometimes somber and sometimes desolate tones of the songs. Some projections contributed to the winterish atmosphere, playing with the shadow of the singer and some “snowyfication” of those images. We all knew that the concert could not be long. Arnalds warned us from the beginning that he had to catch a plane at 23h to return on time to his recording discipline. And the clock was ticking and the bells were tolling for the farewell moment. Out of sight, from the right side of the scenario, the progressively fading violin notes of “Lag fyrir ömmu” called for all our attention. They enclosed a message to enhance our sonic awareness, give room to silence, and keep our noisy appliances off more often. By the end of the piece, the notes were barely audible and we had to wait until Arnalds made a gesture indicating that the end had already been reached long ago. We could have been there for eons, if only to eternally keep that fleeting illusion of Heaven.

When the mere act of breathing can feel like an intrusion. The most delicate hoar frost softly fades in a morning's warming air. Autumn's leaves held in momentary stasis, you fall through the lake's thin ice and spiral into the darkness; accepting of your fate, wholly captivated by the sheer beauty of the light dancing through the water; a sublime beauty that surrounds. Weightless now, tumbling through time, eyes gently closing on this world, only to find yourself flying with the birds. -

This is the heartsong that inspires an Ólafur Arnalds concert. The music floats ghostly from the stage and I'm held in a spider's web of finespun brittle piano shards, painterly washes of a string quartet and the occasional rush of percussion, all suspended on a sublimely tender light show; an exquisite dream. -

Arnalds is also incredibly warm and engaging. He mostly allows the music to do the talking, but punctuates each song, and when he picks up the mic to speak, with his hands unconsciously clasped in reverence befitting the mood; his humility shines through. Whether it's improbable reference to his previous life in punk band Fighting Shit, the evolution of his music through his grandmother's love of Chopin, or how earlier that day he'd been able to take a hot bath on Hot Bath Street in Bath 'Which kept me amused for a good few hours.' -

The evening ends with Lag fyrir ömmu, simply translated as Song For Grandma; a song he wrote upon her passing. After the heart-felt introduction, he walks to the rear of the stage, and with his back to the audience, plays this achingly beautiful piece on an upright piano, it's face removed, the hammers visibly dancing in the softest of light. As the song reaches its close the playing becomes softer and softer, lighter and lighter, to almost being imperceptible of sound as the spotlight fades too. There is then twenty seconds of nothing; complete, breathless silence. Arnalds slowly moves and 1500 people break the shatterable silence. Extraordinary

Increíble, espectacular, maravilloso y me quedo corto en palabras para describir este compositor. Un concierto genial, donde lo pudimos disfrutar en el mismísimo Palau de la música de Barcelona.
La pasión que desprende y el talento virtuoso de los músicos que le acompañan, hace que disfrutara cada segundo del concierto.
Al final, como no podía ser de otra manera, una gran ovación por parte del público. Sólo nos regaló un bis que me supo a poco, pero estoy seguro que aunque hubieran sido más, también me hubiesen sabido a poco.
Espero repetir en una próxima ocasión.

We owe his grandmother and MySpace a huge dept. The first one exposed him to classical piano music; and after he posted his first song on MySpace, he was picked up by a record label.

If not for those two factors, we would not have had one of the best musical experiences in 2018!

Ólafur Arnalds creates songs - or sound scapes - that range from near silence broken by a single violin string to full arrangements of 3 piano's, a string quartet, drummer, and electronic loops.

The man has a beautiful musical mind.

As usual the concert of Ólafur Arnalds was perfect. Pure magic during one hour and a half. Send me back to Iceland and all over amazing places in the world. Let me with the sensation that at the very end it will be not that bad. I will return to see him probably again and again and again and...

The Barbican was a good choice in term of sound quality. Not perfect, but still good quality.

The show was amazing!

Ólafur Arnalds is a great composer and Pianist!
If you like getting into a trance you should go to a show of Ólafur Arnalds! I saw a cellist 4 violins a drummer and ofcourse ÓlafurArnalds playing on 3 piano’s with electronical stuff!

I went home totally relaxt and slept very good after It! Thank you! ☺️

It was really awesome!

´Till next time!

It was one of the greatest live music experiences ever. The whole band and Ólafur Arnalds himself are such a talented crew. He is such a gifted musician. I would very much recommend any concert to anyone enjoying icelandic, classical meets electronic music. Suave music pulses. I really hope I can enjoy his music some time soon. Unmissable date!

I found the opening artist a bit random and going from quite good to failing, and then Ólafur entered and he really engaged very well with the public, specially to sit down on the floor and fix the software at some point. I enjoyed the concert, it wasn't amazing but I was pretty decent and visually outstanding.

A beautiful, magical, inspiring evening. Good supporting act too.

Olafur plays with a talented quintet (mostly strings). Many pieces from his newest album Re:membered.

Olafur comes across as human, warm, modest - and funny!

Perhaps one of the most memorable concerts I've been to.

Memorable night! Well thought and presented stage, from the moment you enter the hall until the end of the concert.
Definitely worth going, it was obvious Olafur was passionate and immersed in his music, which made it a really honest and genuine experience.
Recommended!