Jóhann Jóhannsson: Piano Works

Every work by Jóhann Jóhannsson, whose life ended far too soon, reveals unfiltered reflections of his beautiful, tender, melancholy soul. Alice Sara Ott travelled to the Icelandic composer’s homeland to record this flawless album on an old upright piano belonging to producer and engineer Bergur Þórisson, the delicate sound of which evoked what she calls a “sense of nostalgia, like memories of something that’s gone”. Jóhann Jֶóhannsson: Piano Works comprises 30 transcriptions of short pieces mined from his solo albums and soundtrack scores. The profound concentration of Ott’s playing creates an intimate meditative space, intensified by close recorded sound and the performer’s clear empathy for the man and his music. Take an intoxicating dose of transcendent beauty from her exquisite ego-free opening sequence of “Bað”, “Odi et Amo” and “Englabörn”, reimagined gems from Jóhannsson’s first full-length studio album, or the sublime “Melodia (III)”.