Arcadi Volodos: Schubert piano sonata D850, Schumann Kinderszenen op15 – play, longing and beauty | Classical music

Arcad Volodos writes frequently, making each album an event. The two works here, both of the main Romantic piano repertory, could not be more different, but he manages to tie them together, bringing the elasticity and space of fantasy Schubert’s D major sonata, D850 while he is still Schumann’s evergreen Kinderszene and the level of Schubertian desire.

In the opening of the sonata Allegro vivace, he does not have a younger subject than, for example, Alfred Brendel or Radu Lupu, but he is very flexible – bold at times. Measured words are covered with supple rubato, this line has a slight emphasis. A slow rhythmic movement, punctuated by musical questions, offers the benefit of slowness. Volodos can play, too, with a mischievous take on an unstructured scherzo and a beautiful ending that crosses over into coquettish.

Kinderszenen, introduced here by the knowledge of an adult, varies in different ways. Fast tracks tend to be hotter, as opposed to slower tracks where the tone is more intense. He brings the relaxed beauty of Von fremden Länder und Menschen, the crystalline artistry of Hasche-Mann (though without the wit of Horowitz) and the weightless control of Träumerei. Der Dichter spricht’s vulgarity comes full circle, the music dissolves into nothingness.

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