Víkingur Ólafsson explores the light and shade in the music of Mozart on his latest album, released by Deutsche Grammophon on 3 September 2021. Mozart & Contemporaries sees the artist juxtapose some of his favourite Mozartian pieces with works by other leading composers of the day – Haydn, C.P.E. Bach, Galuppi and Cimarosa. By focusing on the last ten years of Mozart’s life, Ólafsson dispels the image of the composer as the angelic and prodigious idiot savant. “I find this decade of Mozart’s life and art endlessly fascinating,” says the pianist. “This is the period when he was not just perfecting the Classical tradition but subtly subverting it … the shadows are darker, the nuances and ambiguities more profound.” Ólafsson, who has won Opus Klassik and BBC Music Magazine awards as well as being named Gramophone’s Artist of the Year 2019, has achieved worldwide acclaim with his recordings. Mozart & ; Contemporaries is his fourth DG album.