Review: VOLODOS plays Liszt on Sony Classical

[Lance]

Mini-Review

All Liszt Recital
•Vallée d'Obermann (No. 6 from Years of Pilgrimage, Book I: Swiss)
•Il Penseroso (No. 2 from Years of Pilgrimage, Book II, Italy)
•Légende No. 1: St. Francis of Assisi Walking on the Water
•Bagatelle Without Tonality
•Hungarian Rhapsody #13 [Volodos version]
•Sposalizio (No. 1 from Years of Pilgrimage, Book II, Italy)
•Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (Prelude in f after Bach's S.179)
•Funérailles (No. 7 from Harmonies poétiques et religeiuses)
•La lugubre gondola No. 2
•Nocturne - En rêve
Arcadi Volodos, piano (Steinway)
Sony Classical 88697065002, 76:18, DDD [compatible SACD disc]
(Recorded Berlin, Germany - May, August, September 2006)
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Volodos somewhat emulates the career of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, whose recordings and live performances were far and few between, but always of the highest quality and caliber of playing. Volodos is not pumping out his recordings a a high rate of speed like other pianists we know. He also seems to be taking the Dinu Lipatti approach of playing something and studying it for at least a year (or more) before it is heard in recital or on recordings. All of this gives, ultimately, a totally finished and polished performance and it is encouraging to see this Russian pianist taking this road. A new Volodos record release is always welcomed by collectors across the globe. The CD at hand represents Volodos's first all-Liszt recital.

The program offers a good cross-section of some of Liszt's finest solo piano music, though I might have preferred some other pieces. Based on the Years of Pilgrimage selections offered here, it might be time to have a new recording of the whole series of these pieces to complement the one offered by Lazar Berman [DGG] some years ago; perhaps Volodos would consider such a project. The Pilgrimage pieces offer a wide variety of Lisztian colours, which Volodos conveys on a huge canvas of sound, assisted by close microphones and an almost larger-than-life piano sound with a bombastic bass and ultra-clear and singing treble. (I found only one or two notes that didn't ring out, very noticeable to my ears, and probably due to voicing.)

The big major pieces on this disc are the Volodos version of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13, which is a knock-out. For someone to take already virtuosic pieces of Liszt and broaden them would seemingly take a lot of ... brass, but anyone with Volodos's technique and musical mind could do this (as did Horowitz and Cziffra) and "improve" the music by today's technical standards. I think Liszt himself would have enjoyed playing this version especially since he was a prolific transcriber himself. Funérailles is the other big piece, and it's rendered in the Horowitz style, but only bigger - if such a thing is possible, and it is not only possible but happens on this disc.

Most of these pieces are well known to Lisztians, and given the number of recordings of Liszt's music (including complete editions such as those on Hyperion and the one still in the works on Naxos), we move away from hearing the same pianist in all the repertoire and hear far more individualized performances in recitals such as this.

The CD is issued as an SACD [super audio], apparently the only way it is being issued. I have four CD players, and I have experienced some skipping on one of my players. It could be that the laser lens has to be cleaned, but I've observed skipping before with compatible CD/SACD recordings and when comparing the SACD to the regular CD, this does not happen. It does not occur on the other three CD players I use. If you experience this, you should have the lens cleaned on your player before thinking the disc is defective as I have noticed considerably better tracking if this step is taken.

Otherwise, this is a grand edition to the slowly-growing discography of Arcadi Volodos, in fact his sixth since his first ever release was made via Sony Classical. He's a grand artist with a lot to say behind the piano and backs up everything with the traditional grand teaching that comes from Russia, both technically and interpretively and he possesses one of the most fantastical musical minds I've heard at the keyboard.

This is a must recording for anyone who loves piano playing of the highest caliber and especially the music of Franz Liszt.

[Febnyc]

A "knock-out," indeed.

The first Volodos disc (I think it was) is one of piano transcriptions - another eye- and ear-opener, if ever there was one.

Volodos' rendition of the Third Movement (March) of the Tchaikovsky Sixth Symphony is astounding.

[Ricordanza]

I have two other CDs by this amazing pianist. This disc sounds like a winner, and has been added to my shopping list. Thanks for the recommendation, Lance!