Arcadi Volodos, Vladimir Horowitz, Sergey Rachmaninov, Franz Liszt, Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergey Prokofiev, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Transcriptions / Arcadi Volodos

Face it, anyone who can play Horowitz's fabled transcriptions or Cziffra's madcap interlocking octaves Flight of the Bumblebee will get attention. What is most impressive, though, is that Arcadi Volodos replicates the notes, but not the performances. His tempos and voicings are completely different, and just as valid, if not quite as coruscating as the originals. In other words, Volodos makes this repertoire his own, as well as the other selections on this well-recorded debut outing. --Jed Distler Amazon.com

Impressive

The performances are brilliant; Volodos's genius shines through (especially in the Turkish March); and it sets the standard for any other performances of those Horowitz pieces outside of the fabled master playing them himself. My only disappointment came as a result of having acquired most of the Volodos Sony Classical CDs in backwards order, this being the last of five I have now bought. I heard how incredibly beautiful and "singing" his playing can truly be, specifically in the Schubert and Rachmaninoff pieces, and when I came back in time to this earlier part of his career, I knew some of that was missing. True, he has always had great genius, and whips out amazing ornaments here, but these early recordings don't do justice to his current finesse and lyricism. They still have a large amount of emotion and musicality to them, but not very much when compared to his more recent recordings. Therefore, I would reccommend for someone who wants to know what Volodos is really like to get a newer CD such as the Schubert Pieces or Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninoff Concertos. May 8, 2008

Volodos

The piano transcriptions are fantastic.
Volodos proves that he's a real genious and one of the best in the world today. June 8, 2007

Warning: Saddening waste of technical gifts

I do not want to take away the pleasure of the many reviewers who have found this item a thrilling enjoyment. Only I want to issue a warning to all lovers of the art of the piano: Do not buy this album in the hope of hearing a worthy successor to such past Russian titans as Richter and Gilels! Volodos is easily their master in terms of blistering dexterity, power of attack and distinct arpeggios. Yet, in all other respects he is dwarfed by comparison. His playing, all in all, is egocentric, crude in terms of its conventionality of expression and bereft of the humour that might have made his incredibly overloaded arrangements truly delightful. Now, they are at most decent circus acts, leaving one to wonder how one man with only two hands can plays this fast and how that very same man can take such a hamfisted approach to his slap-stick repertoire.

With an orchestra Volodos most often plays as if he cannot hear the other musicians through the noise he is making. On his own he fares slightly better. Still, he seems to be more in the service of technical boasting than musical expression. To take two examples:

1. His "Bumblebee" clocks in at a mindboggling 1.36 sharp. That's about all that recommends it. In musical terms, the performance is absurd: This witty piece is meant to portray an amiably buzzing furball, NOT an angry wasp on steroids.

2. Many performers have been tempted to beef up Mozart's somewhat monotone K331 "Turkish March". Volodos' paraphrase goes over the top with nifty counterpoint coupled with all sorts of tricks from the virtuoso shelf. This could have been a true delight if the performer had only loosened up a little and offered the occasional comic relief that such an encore so obviosuly calls for. Here Volodos simply seems oblivious to the inherent potential for musical expression. On a repeated listening the performance tires by its utter conventionality of phrasing.

Praised be the day when Volodos opens up his ears to the music he is performing. Then we might hope for new reference recordings of various works in the superdifficult division. Until then we may only grieve that such supernatural technique is going to waste in sideshow idleness. If you crave for a contemporary Russian virtuoso, try out Nikolai Lugansky, even if his somewhat austere taste in the romantic repertoire might deter some fans of Horowitz et al. Lugansky is in supernatural technical command if the keyboard, yet never leaves you in doubt that you are listening to a true musician. February 6, 2007

superlatives fail

Volodos is simply one of the greatest pianists I have ever heard. The transcriptions on this CD are well worth your investment. I was fortunate to hear Volodos at Lincoln Center play the finger-bending Prokofiev 2nd piano concerto. I am a professionally trained pianist, and I have simply never heard a performance to equal it. I was convinced two or more people were playing. The emotional power was overwhelming. I wish he would record it. And the complete Transcendantal Etudes. October 21, 2006

Mind-shatteringly superb

Volodos strikes us with some incredible works here, friends. These are quite simply some of the most perfectly executed works upon the piano I have heard, and this is no light affair considering the depression-inducing difficulty of some of these behemoths of the piano (Horowitz transcription of the Hungarian Rhapsody sounds like it requires a virtuoso of the highest order to play well.) We're dealing with a pianistic genius who I'm sure will continue to astound us in the future. And what, he began studying at the age of sixteen!? I want him to record all the Transcendental Etudes, but who knows if that will ever occur. Check out his Rachmaninoff concerto as well, it's about as close to perfect as it gets.

Unbelievable. August 8, 2006

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