Al-Monitor | Saeed Jalili: In December, when acclaimed Icelandic composer Olafur Arnalds stood alongside his band on a Tehran stage, lined with Persian carpet and decorated with candles, things felt “strange and surreal.”


Arnalds had no idea that he had such a large fan base in Iran — so large that all his December concerts in the country sold out. Arnalds sat down with Al-Monitor for an interview before his performance at Tehran's central Andisheh Hall. Just an hour later he would change from his white T-shirt into a casual button-down shirt and take the stage with his band — cellist Hallgrimur Jonas Jensson and violinist Viktor Orri Arnason — for his fifth and final Tehran show, before heading to the southern city of Shiraz for another concert.

Soon, the empty Tehran venue was filled with young music lovers listening to the band's tranquil piano tunes and lingering string music.

“It’s a good audience to play for," said Arnalds. "They are very attentive and silent and respectful in the concert. … They were all so happy to be here and I could feel that. They were very much listening and they’re really there — 100%.”


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