The Athens & Epidaurus Festival kicks off its Farewell Celebrations at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus with a concert by the distinguished Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, making his debut in Greece, on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.

Vikingsur Ólafsson is undoubtedly a rare phenomenon of our time. Now in his early forties, his performances have lost none of the youthful enthusiasm, the groundbreaking spirit, and the deep spirituality that have characterized him since he burst onto the global music scene fifteen to twenty years ago. One of the most acclaimed artists of our time, having signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon years ago, Olafsson is above all a visionary musician, and his artistic choices stand out for their originality and the subversive perspective with which he approaches well-worn works—landmarks of the piano repertoire.

His recordings have resonated widely with audiences around the world, surpassing one billion streams and winning numerous awards, among them the recent GRAMMY for Best Classical Solo Performance (for Bach’s Goldberg Variations, 2025), the award for Best Album from BBC Music Magazine, as well as—twice over—the Opus Klassik for Best Solo Recording of the Year.

In his highly anticipated debut in Greece, Olafsson presents works by Bach, Beethoven, and Schubert, putting together a program titled *Opus 109*, the same title as his latest album released in November 2025. The title obviously refers to Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 30 in E-flat major, Op. 109, which the artist places alongside (or even in contrast to) other works by Beethoven himself and Schubert, without, of course, omitting his beloved Bach—after all, as he himself says, the two nineteenth-century composers confront the eighteenth-century giant “as every great composer ought to do.” The program’s connecting thread is the key of E (major and minor). Within this tonal field, Olafsson utilizes synaesthesia as a beneficial means to explore a wide range of the rich and vivid shades of green.

The program itself clearly illustrates the artist’s way of thinking: as he argues, one need only look to the past to see what is missing from today’s concert programs, which often give the listener the feeling of “leafing through a library catalog.” In nineteenth-century recital programs, he notes, one feels a true sense of liberation: they are striking, full of improvisational spirit and unexpected elements. And it is precisely this modern perspective on old masterpieces that makes Víkingur Ólafsson a great artist of the twenty-first century.