Volodos!

Arcadi Volodos is hailed as a “poet at the piano,” with critics particularly highlighting his ability to “sing at the piano” and his magical soft tones, which are especially evident in works by Schubert and Chopin. Both had a decisive influence on 19th-century piano music and, through their shorter piano forms, created great works full of melancholy.

With his Impromptus and Moments Musicaux, Schubert established the song-like, intimate tradition of character pieces. Chopin revolutionized piano music above all through his poetic études, mazurkas, and nocturnes, which combine technical brilliance with emotional expression and elevate the piano to the status of a salon instrument. Schubert discovered the infinity of melodic arcs—often described as “heavenly” expanses—and, with his shifts between major and minor keys, plunges us into a wonderful rollercoaster of emotions.

Chopin, on the other hand, became a pioneer of modern harmony thanks to his eccentric use of chromaticism. Both became celebrated stars of the musical salons—one in Vienna, the other in Paris—and both died far too young.

In his Mazurkas, Chopin transforms the rhythms of his Polish homeland into highly sensitive character studies. The spectrum ranges from the narrative Op. 33 to the simple Op. 41 and on to the wistful late work Op. 63. The Prélude, Op. 45 seems almost like an improvised masterpiece full of bold harmonic twists. Schubert completed his last Piano Sonata, No. 21, two months before his death. It is a work of enormous formal scope and dizzying expressive depth. As a result, when listening to it, one immediately gets the impression that we are becoming auditory witnesses to a message sent ahead from the afterlife.