Great pianist as he undoubtedly is, Arcadi Volodos is a cool customer, particularly when it comes to Tchaikovsky. Clearly in no hurry to record, he avoids all tub-thumping Romantic rhetoric and nonchalantly bypasses every difficulty with an ease that can leave you open-mouthed. For his stream of seven Rachmaninov encores Volodos, almost as if released from a pleasant if over-familiar task, allows his playing to blossom with an altogether fuller fragrance and expansiveness.

Since his debut recording released in 1997, Arcadi Volodos, is celebrated as a keyboard genius, and is without a doubt one of today’s most outstanding and internationally interesting pianists. His unlimited virtuosity along with his unique sense of timing, colour and poetry made him a romantic narrator of intensive stories. This performance is an awesome display of keyboard command. The recorded sound does gorgeous justice both to the playing itself, and to the surrounding Vienna Musikvereinsaal acoustic.