Arcadi Volodos Live at Carnegie Hall

Franz Liszt (Composer), Alexander Scriabin (Composer), Sergey Rachmaninov (Composer), Robert Schumann (Composer), Arcadi Volodos (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Arcadi Volodos
• Composer: Franz Liszt, Alexander Scriabin, Sergey Rachmaninov, Robert Schumann
• Audio CD (October 5, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000IPZ9
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #178,299 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #87 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > Composers > Scriabin, Alexander

Track Listings

1. Hungarian Rhapsody, for piano No. 15 in A minor (Rákóczi-Marsch III), S. 244/15 (LW A132/15)

2. Pieces (3) for piano, Op. 52: Énigme, No. 2

3. Pieces (2) for piano, Op. 57: Caresse dansée, No. 2

4. Piano Sonata No. 10 ('Trill'), Op. 70

5. Morceaux de fantaisie (5), for piano, Op. 3: Fragments in A flat major for piano, Op. posth.

6. Etudes-Tableaux, for piano, Op. 39

7. Etude-Tableau, for piano in C minor, Op. Post.

8. Bunte Blätter (14) (Colored Leaves) for piano, Op. 99: No. 1

9. Bunte Blätter (14) (Colored Leaves) for piano, Op. 99: No. 2

10. Bunte Blätter (14) (Colored Leaves) for piano, Op. 99: No. 3

11. Bunte Blätter (14) (Colored Leaves) for piano, Op. 99: No. 4

12. Bunte Blätter (14) (Colored Leaves) for piano, Op. 99: No. 5

13. Bunte Blätter (14) (Colored Leaves) for piano, Op. 99: No. 6

14. Bunte Blätter (14) (Colored Leaves) for piano, Op. 99: No. 7

15. Bunte Blätter (14) (Colored Leaves) for piano, Op. 99: No. 8

16. Bunte Blätter (14) (Colored Leaves) for piano, Op. 99: No. 9. Novelette

17. Bunte Blätter (14) (Colored Leaves) for piano, Op. 99: No. 10. Präludium

18. Bunte Blätter (14) (Colored Leaves) for piano, Op. 99: No. 11. Marsch

19. Bunte Blätter (14) (Colored Leaves) for piano, Op. 99: No. 12. Abendmusik

20. Bunte Blätter (14) (Colored Leaves) for piano, Op. 99: No. 13. Scherzo

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The only applause not left edited out of this recording of Arcadi Volodos's Carnegie Hall debut recital--given on October 21, 1998--comes after his house-burning encore of Liszt's maniacally florid variations (à la Horowitz) on the famous Mendelssohn "Wedding March." But the volley of enthusiastic cheers and wallops that ensues is enough to register the charismatic spell this young Russian pianist must have cast over his audience. Only in his mid-20s, Volodos seems to channel a bygone era of the Russian variety of Romantic virtuosity in its dual aspect, from hyperathletic prowess to exquisitely poised lyrical refinement. The recital opens with dazzlingly calibrated fireworks for Liszt's 15th Hungarian Rhapsody ("after Vladimir Horowitz," with whom Volodos justifiably invites comparison--as he did on his spectacular debut album--for his sinewy, larger-than-life negotiation of its thunderous octave runs and tangle of skittering flourishes). A far different world is brought to life in the enigmatic, compressed motivic echoes of the Scriabin pieces. The multiply trilled outbursts of ecstatic transport in his Sonata No. 10 beckon and dissipate like voluptuous hallucinations. Volodos can master the kind of interior poetry--breathtaking in its simple eloquence--needed for the two Rachmaninoff Études-tableaux. So too the aching, barely achieved tranquillity Schumann calls for in the most introspective of the "Bunte Blätter." Indeed, the variety of tonal color, warm legato, playful animation, and fully voiced harmonies Volodos brings out suggests the "varicolored leaves" of the collection's title. This is pianistic poetry that lingers long in the mind's ear, as it undoubtedly did for the lucky audience that night in Carnegie Hall. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterful Recital, January 30, 2002

By 

Frederic Sala (Detroit, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arcadi Volodos Live at Carnegie Hall (Audio CD)

Arcadi Volodos is one of the great pianists of our era. In this album, his Carnegie Hall Debut, he presents a wonderful selection of pieces through which we can discover what he is as a pianist. The disc contains the tumultuous Liszt-Horowitz Hungarian Rhapsody nr. 15 (Racokzy March), a selection of short works by Rachmaninoff, several Scriabin pieces including the Sonata nr. 10, and the Schumman "Bunten Blatter (Leaves of Different Colors)The Schumman is rarely heard and masterful. It concludes with the powerful Gewindenmarschen, which is followed by the formidable Liszt/Mendelson/Horowitz "Wedding March Variations". Volodos plays through these pieces with a stunning technical perfection and honest, not exaggerated, emotion. While some claim he has no feeling, it is the opposite, he can conjure many feelings without exaggerated playing. My only complaint is where are the rest of the pieces? The programme was actually 2 hours long, and concluded with a wonderful transcription Glinka transcription by Volodos.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting repertoire, November 28, 2002

By 

Norman Duffy (Amsterdam) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arcadi Volodos Live at Carnegie Hall (Audio CD)

I felt tempted to write this short piece after reading some of the other comments about this disc. Someone of the oversized temperament like this guy is probably always going to fire different reactions in different people.

Undoubtedly the repertoire choices here are audacious but to not be able to get beyond that in order to expand one's knowledge and experience is a great shame. This is particularly the case when the performances are of a quality such as they are here. I can understand that Scriabin is a bit of an unknown quantity to many but I also think that he will only remain unknown to those who do not want to know.

This is a superb recital and the centrepiece is the Schumann - how obscure is that?

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Volodos is at Home in Late Romantic Virtuoso Repertoire..., July 6, 2003

By 

Al Magliano (Nesconset, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arcadi Volodos Live at Carnegie Hall (Audio CD)

Arcadi Volodos has easily become one of my favorites after listening to this phenomenal debut CD. I dare anyone to listen to the first track (the diabolical Horowitz version of Liszt's fifteenth Hungarian Rhapsody) and not listen to the album in its entirety. The Scriabin is exotic and poetically introspective, the Rachmaninov is rich and nostalgic, and the Liszt is a triumph of virtuosity. My only reservation is Volodos' decision to record Bunte Blatter when so many other more successful piano-cycles exist in the Schumann catalogue (imagine an artist of this kind of versatility tackling Carnaval or Kreisleriana). I would also like to suggest Volodos' CD of virtuoso piano transcriptions and his Rach 3. He is a brilliant artist with the rare ability to combine keyboard pyrotechnics, a full-bodied tonal palette, and an inimitable sense of style. This CD is highly recommended.