Volodos Plays Liszt [Hybrid SACD]

Five stars, but I do have a few comments for pianists

This CD has the best performance of Funerailles I've ever heard. Worth the price of admission alone.

Top notch playing across the board, and very musical.

Il Penseroso and Sposalizio were wonderful. These works deserve more performance certainly. The "after Bach" work was also interesting. I think probably the best thing about this CD is it's ability to spark a listener's curiosity for the repertory. I've been out of a Liszt mode for quite awhile, and I found myself digging up my score for Annees des Pelerinage pretty quickly and feverishly.

While Vallee d'Obermann was very interesting, I was hoping to hear a performance of the original score considering how rarely this work is recorded today. I also don't want to feel like I have to be skeptical anytime I listen to a Volodos recording (i.e. listen with a score). It's pretty easy to tell when he's done something. And if he's going to alter a work like that, it needs to be advertised as such. May 28, 2008

Sensational!

It is rare indeed for me to be silenced by any experience, good or bad, but after listening to this incredible SACD, I am virtually speechless.

Never the less, I find myself FORCED to write something - because this disc is such an awesome achievement that I would be remiss not to alert all music lovers that this is simply an unmissable experience.

I do not write as a blind Volodos fan. I heard him play the Tchaikovsky concerto live in Los Angeles - a terrifying example of extraordinary virtuosity, but cold and machine-like, leaving the listener without any real enjoyment or sense of resolution on an emotional level. His recording of the Rachmaninov Third too, is inexplicably marred by mannered rubato, and despite many examples of his great technique, hardly even belongs in the company of performances by the great virtuosi of our time - sad, but true.

But this recording is spellbinding - the equivalent of a bases-loaded home run in the bottom of the ninth, with the game on the line. - This my friends is musical treasure, and Sony has captured it with the great sound of a superb SACD. So get it immediately - and enjoy a truly great musical experience!

February 27, 2008

Historically great Liszt - we need more stars

If you love piano, you must hear this. Tip: also get Muza Rubackyte's Annees de Pelerinage. September 9, 2007

Extraordinary CD

The pianist's performance is outstanding, as other reviewers have pointed out. The SACD recording is super, true surround sound; as if the piano were live and next to you. July 28, 2007

Volodos the Artist

When Liszt was made Director of the new Musical Academy of Budapest, he insisted that all piano students study composition and improvisation. Very few pianists these days have ventured to mix composition and piano playing; the last known few were Busoni, Rachmaninoff, and even Horowitz. All legends of the pianoforte. When Volodos released his first CD, Piano Transcriptions, he set himself apart from the new age of piano virtuosos. He was a singer and conductor before venturing into piano playing. His Turkish March and Cello Paraphrases are musical gems that are rarely seen in this day and age. He has no fear of including his own cadenzas to the pieces that the composer suggests.
After 3 years of complete silence, Volodos returns with an all Liszt CD. And not the commonly known pieces: Valle d'Oberman, Sposalizio, and the atonal Bagatelle. All played perfectly and evocating the deepest memories of Liszt's emotions. Volodos does not need to struggle with such things as technique, he works directly with the sound and the images they convey. He would have been a perfect pupil of Liszt.
After having purchased all of his discs, I'd recommend the Transcriptions and Rach 3 concerto CDs for further Volodos listening. Let us hope more CDs from the blessed hands of Volodos. May 31, 2007

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