This week, pianist Víkingur Ólafsson headlines The Works, our playlist showcasing the latest and best classical albums, performed by some of the world’s finest artists and ensembles. Here, the Icelandic pianist plays the gently lilting Prelude No. 9 in E Major from the first book of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. It’s the opening track of his upcoming album Opus 109, which focuses on works that foreshadow Beethoven’s great Sonata No. 30, Op. 109. For Ólafsson, this piece serves as a kind of prologue to the album, an “amuse-bouche” as he describes it. “The E-major Prelude disarms you with its serene simplicity,” he tells Apple Music Classical, “but what makes it particularly beautiful is the bittersweet chromatics that Bach inserts in just the right moments.” Keen listeners will notice the closeness and clarity of the recorded sound that highlights, almost forensically, the subtle colours of Ólafsson’s piano touch. You can hear this immediately in the little ornaments that pepper the opening bars of the Bach. “We found a new sound with a completely new microphone setup,” confirms Ólafsson, “by removing the lid of the piano to avoid the early disturbance when the sound hits the lid to project into the hall. The mics are placed in a halo of sorts above me and the instrument, and the idea is that the listener should feel almost as if they are sitting right next to me on the piano bench.” Don’t forget that we regularly update The Works, so if you find a piece of music or a performance you particularly love, be sure to add it to your library.