With a name like Arcadi Volodos. Tell me, what choice was there??? None of course. Excellence all the way!!!! This soloist was born to play Rachmaninov!!!
A legendary performance, Volodos play a perfect combination of superb technique and passion. Until now the best of the best, a interpretation very difficult to match, even to the elite.
...and still ANOTHER viewing. The triplets against the duple rhythm in the 2nd movement is so naturally accomplished. Thrilling, musical, individual, yet always Rachmaninoff. Volodos' Rachmaninoff.
FYI. Vibrant Japanist pianist, Hayato Sumino AKA Cateen (a Grand Prize Winner of Japan Piano Teacher's National Association's Competition), performed Rachmanioff's Comcerto No. 2 in 2018. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wK6PuiQi3SQ.html
Volodos is an absolute genius with this beautiful rendition! His technique is flawless & the interpretation is amazing...my absolute favorite!! Thank you for posting this!!
What can one say? This and the Bronfman 3rd. Though the sound is not quite up the later Proms RU-vid performances, it none the easy to hear magnificence from both the pianist and Maestro Chailly, Always a wonderful partner. Every section of his orchestra honed to perfection. As to (then young) Mr Volodos, it was a performance filled with thrilling articulation, propulsion, but never at the expense of the built in romanticism, and beautiful individual touches, such as the trill toward the close of the 2nd movement, as the orchestra then enters to play it's final strain of the main theme, one of Rachmaninoff's most beautiful creations. I say no more...words are not needed. What is needed is a replay of this video VERY soon. Many thanks for posting this...indeed a CLASSIC performance.
I can't decide which I like better, this one or Sviatoslav Richter's performance. Sadly there is no video of Richter's performance that I know of and sadly this one by Volodos seems to to have been recorded from the TV by someone with their VHS recorder so it's not of very good quality. I wonder if the BBC recorded it and whether or not there is a high quality master of it sitting in some BBC archive somewhere. If there is, I'd be prepared to pay a premium for a high quality DVD of this performance if the BBC published one from such a master.
@TheDatabaseDude -- True...the Richter is The Gold Standard here....alongwith Palvanov, Weissenberg, Prats and (for Mvt 1, Open & Close) Lang-Lang! Cheers from Acapulco!
Arcadi Volodos 1997 Ricardo Chailly No.2 Rachmaninov PC in C minor Op.18; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (formerly Concertgebouw Orchestra) Proms 1997, 3 Sep 1997 Royal Albert Hall. Prom 60
True...Volodos uncovers hidden details, nuances in the meticulous manner of Katsaris. The tempo here is mostly too brisk for me but -- along with Richter, Rösel, Weissenberg, Lang-Lang and Prats -- this is one of the magnificent performances....Maestro Chaillly sparkles, too....BRAVI TUTTI!
Stevee GALLO this piece is not a love story I don’t get how people think this is too fast, just my opinion. A brilliant powerful musical mind wrote this piece to show his prowess to the world and prove he is a genius to the masses not to show love. This piece is to deliver power and brilliance I feel, so shouldn’t it be played with “power and brilliance”?
"If only Rachmaninoff had been privileged to live long enough to hear Eric Carmen's momentous composition, he might have needed Dr Dahl once again". HAHAHA
I think Volodos, other than possessing an amazing technique, is nothing like Horowitz. Thankfully, this concerto was not part of Horowitz’ repertoire. Based upon his Rach 3 and a multitude of other pieces, if he had played it, it would have been too fast, filled with sudden and wild volume changes (ie. banging), and zero sensitivity in the more melodic sections.
FYI. Vibrant Japanese pianist, Hayato Sumino AkA Cateen, (a Grand Prize Winner of Japan Piano Teacher's National Association Competition), performed Rachmanioff Concerto No. 2 in 2018. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wK6PuiQi3SQ.html
Technique is only limited to the pieces you potentially play. The pianist that says no difficulties exists is the one with the greatest technique. Modesty is not welcomed to gain understanding of what a pianist can or can not do.
Оркестр замечательный!)) у пианиста шикарное пиано и восхитительная артикуляция во всех трактовках пиано . Но его, стиль, психотип- харизма мне не близки. Нехватает фатализма, масштабности, не магнитит.
I'm very sorry but for me, the performance of Anna Fedorova (and also of the brilliant solists of Nordwestdeutsche Orchestra) recorded in Amsterdam in 2013 is very much better than this marching through.
Check this out. A 23 year old Japanese pianist, Hayato Sumino AKA Cateen (Prize Winner of Japan Piano Teacher National Association Competition), performed Rachmanioff's Concerto in 2018. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wK6PuiQi3SQ.html