Any new recording by Arcady Volodos is special, firstly because it is rare and secondly because it is made by one of the greatest pianists of our time.s34 As he himself puts it in a revealing interview, twenty-three to thirty concerts a year is more than enough, and as for further recordings of Schubert's C minor and B flat Sonatas, they will have to wait. A private man he scorns the worlds of social media and tic-toc and is happy to reflect on the playing of Rachmaninov, Sofronitski and Cortot, artists whose creation and re-creation came from a healthier world. Sadly, for his public but satisfyingly for himself he is ' proud of the records I have not made' adding that he will leave behind less 'litter.'
And yet the enigma remains. Many years ago, a music manager and later jury colleague telephoned me saying, 'I don't know what you are doing, but stop doing it and go straight to the Wigmore Hall. There you will hear Arcady Volodos, a pianist of a unique and phenomenal stature. More understatement than hyperbole his words were born out in head-spinning performances of a scarcely credible bravura, notably in the Tchaikovsky-Feinberg transcription of the Scherzo from the Sixth Symphony and in Volodos's own riotous transcription of Mozart's Turkish March.
Some years later there was a puzzling London recital where the playing was of an almost perverse restraint. Further recordings included a recital dedicated to Mompou, surely one of Volodos's most magical surprises. He has also made his mark far away from his earlier triumphs in Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov and in Horowitz's and Cziffra's virtuoso transcription confectionary. His new recording of the D major Sonata, D.850 joins earlier ones of the G major Sonata, D.894, E major(unfinished)D.157 and A major, D.959, all of a surpassing beauty and vision.
Everything about Volodos's way with the D major Sonata is different, of Schubert shone in an entirely personal and arresting light. His sonority is spare rather than full(the reverse of, say, Emil Gilels in his monumental recording where he is every inch the Romantic all-Russan pianist) with a playful, at times almost whimsical fondness for staccato and semi-staccato accentuation. There is a lightening of texture and intimacy almost as if Volodos was improvising before a small group of friends, a quality that some will take for a diverting, even quirky idiosyncrasy. This is never Schubert as you have known him.
As an encore there is Schumann's 'Kinderscenen' inspiring Volodos to speak in his interview movingly of his love for his daughter. His performance is of a special simplicity though in 'Catch me if you can' you sense the virtuoso pianism never far below the surface, while in 'Dreaming' his playing is the reverse of self-seeking(I recall a London performance by Horowitz that came close to parody),'The Poet Speaks' provides a haunting and memorable conclusion.
Sony's sound is superb. This is an extraordinary record, surprising, thought-provoking and wonderful in so many ways. It is Volodos.
Bryce Morrsion