Arcadi Volodos's reputation has been based on fire-eating virtuoso material, but he brings wit, poetry, and depth to this unexpected but very welcome foray into Schubert. All three attributes are prominently displayed in Schubert's first, unfinished Piano Sonata, on which Volodos plays the first movement melody with disarming lyricism and sets it off against the bolder, Beethovenian contrasting passages, which are done with a big, full-bodied tone and slashing accents. A highlight is the gently sung andante movement. The main work is the big G Major Sonata, a mature masterpiece. Volodos floats the opening, its tentative measured tread apparently materializing out of thin air--a nice touch. When Schubert morphs that strange melodic fragment into a theme poised between hesitant withdrawal and urgent poetry, Volodos responds with tremendous feeling. He's as effective in the jagged, stabbing forte restatement of the theme, varying tonal color and dynamics to great effect. The encorelike filler, Liszt's arrangement of Schubert's song Der Muller und der Bach, is done with flowing grace. Throughout, Volodos brings personal touches to these works that clearly reflect his affection for Schubert's great keyboard works. --Dan Davis

Track list:

Sonata in E Major for Piano [unfinished] D. 157 (1815)
1 I. Allegro ma non troppo [7'57]
2 II. Andante [7'12]
3 III. Menuetto. Allegro vivace - Trio [3'56]

Sonata in G Major for Piano D. 894 (1826)
4 I. Molto moderato e cantabile [19'04]
5 II. Andante [7'51]
6 III. Menuetto. Allegro moderato - Trio [4'19]
7 IV. Allegretto [8'05]

8 Der Muller und der Bach [D. 795/19] S. 565 [5'17]

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