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Piano Works

Alexei Volodin

Piano Works

Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917258721
Catnr: CC 72587
Release date: 08 February 2013
1 CD
 
Label
Challenge Classics
UPC
0608917258721
Catalogue number
CC 72587
Release date
08 February 2013

"Alexei Volodin proves that he blongs to the greatest pianists of our times."

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About the album

Sergei Rachmaninoff, a cosmopolitan with Russian soul. “If I don’t practise one day I notice it myself, if I don’t practise for two days, my friends notice it, if I don’t practise for three days, my audience notices it.” Franz Liszt’s statement makes clear what price he had to pay for his legendary fame as a piano virtuoso. Sergei Rachmaninoff (as he wrote his name in Latin letters) became the trustee of Liszt’s pianistic heritage through his later teacher Alexander Siloti, who was one of Franz Liszt’s last pupils and particularly close to the master. Nevertheless, Rachmaninoff’s mastery of the piano did not come about without a hard struggle. Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was born on 1 April 1873 on his family’s estate in the administrative centre of Novgorod in north-west Russia; according to the Julian calendar still valid in Russia the date was 20 March. His mother had brought country estates into the marriage as part of her dowry, but his father had no understanding whatever of economics. By 1882 the last estate had gone by the wayside, and the impoverished family moved to St. Petersburg. It must be said that Rachmaninoff’s musical gifts actually came from his father’s line: his grandfather was a student of John Field, and his father was also an excellent pianist. When little Sergei demonstrated his exceptional talents during his first piano lessons at home, further tuition was entrusted to a graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. It was not long before his career led him to Moscow. Alexander Siloti, Sergei’s cousin, ten years older and already a famous pianist, paved the way in 1885 for Sergei to go to Siloti’s earlier teacher Nikolai Sverev. This legendary piano teacher was renowned for his generosity and always let three outstandingly gifted piano pupils live with him free of charge – an important circumstance for the cash-strapped Rachmaninoff family; when Sergei arrived in Moscow, he had been given a mere hundred roubles to take with him for his sojourn in the capital; more could not be mustered for him. Along with his fellow pupils in Sverev’s house the thirteen-year-old Rachmaninoff met various fellow musicians who later became famous, including Alexander Scriabin, who, however, attended the Moscow Cadet School and did not live at Sverev’s. The relationship between the two geniuses was not good and remained fraught until Scriabin’s early death in 1915. The pupils’ daily routine was strictly regimented – six hours’ practice was compulsory. Nonetheless, Rachmaninoff himself had fond memories of his time with Sverev: “Sverev transformed his house, which might have become a musical prison, into a musical paradise. On Sunday a completely different person emerged out of the strict teacher. He kept open house the whole afternoon and evening for the foremost figures of the Moscow music scene: Tchaikovsky, Taneyev, Arensky, Safonov and Siloti called round, also professors from the university, lawyers, actors, and the hours passed by in talk and making music.” In 1888 after three years’ study with Sverev, Alexander Siloti enrolled his cousin into his piano class for advanced students at the Moscow Conservatory. His interest in composition now increased, and he studied with Taneyev and Arensky; Tchaikovsky, Siloti’s friend and earlier teacher, also supported him with advice. 8 9 and intellectuals to leave Russia and go into exile: after short sojourns in Stockholm and Copenhagen, in November 1918 he moved to America with his family. He was celebrated as a star and was among the best paid pianists in the world, but never felt at home in the USA. His English remained abysmal and his house employees, whom he could afford as a wealthy man, were each and every one Russian. Russia having become inaccessible, his homesickness eventually led him at least temporarily back to Europe: in 1930 he purchased a plot of land on Lake Lucerne and built a villa there, a retreat where he worked at his compositions during the summer months. Only in the year of his death did he apply for American citizenship – he died of cancer on 28 March a few days before his 70th birthday. Sergei Rachmaninoff’s wish to find his last resting place in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow was never fulfilled; his grave is in the Kensico Cemetery near New York.
Rachmaninovs populaire werken uitgevoerd door een van de beste Russische pianisten
Dit is Alexei Volodin’s derde album bij Challenge Classics. Het bevat werken van Sergej Rachmaninov, één van de favoriete componisten van de pianist. Zijn stijl van uitvoeren is uniek. Het is een stijl waarin geen ruimte is voor oppervlakkige effecten. Met zijn vingervlugheid en aangrijpende speelstijl in virtuoze stukken, en de mogelijk om zelf te genieten van de lyrische momenten beneemt hij het publiek de adem. Deze opname belooft ook ademend mooi te zijn!

Rachmaninov was een van de beroemdste pianisten van zijn tijd. Daarnaast componeerde hij ook ontroerende en opzienbarende werken, die hij soms zelf dirigeerde. In 1904 werd hij dirigent bij het Bolshoi Theater, waar hij onder andere uitvoeringen van zijn eigen opera’s dirigeerde.

Alexei Volodin is één van de meest voortreffelijke Russische pianisten van deze tijd. Hij werkt samen met hooggewaardeerde orkesten, bijvoorbeeld het New York Philharmonic, het London Symphony Orchestra en het Gewandhausorchester. Bovendien heeft hij masterclasses gevolgd bij I. Chaklina, T. Zelikman en Professor Elisso Virasaladze.
Rachmaninows populäre Werke mit einem der besten russischen Pianisten.

Alexei Volodin gehört zu den bedeutendsten russischen Pianisten unserer Zeit, dessen eher introvertierte Persönlichkeit am Klavier jede Zurückhaltung vergisst. Mit seiner phänomenalen Fingerfertigkeit und seiner zupackenden Spielweise in virtuosen Stücken, sowie die Fähigkeit lyrische Momente auszukosten, versetzt er sein Publikum in atemloses Staunen. Seine Neuaufnahme mit Werken von Rachmaninow verspricht in diesen Dimensionen weiterzugehen.
Nato a San Pietroburgo nel 1977, Alexei Volodin ha studiato con Irina Chaklina e Tatiana Zelikman all’Accademia Gnessin e più tardi con Elisso Virsaladze al Conservatorio di Mosca. Nel 2001 ha proseguito gli studi presso l’Accademia Internazionale di Pianoforte del Lago di Como. Nel 2003, con l’assegnazione del Primo Premio alla nona edizione del Concorso Géza Anda di Zurigo, inizia la grande carriera internazionale. Considerato uno dei più completi pianisti della sua generazione, Volodin è apprezzato da critica e pubblico per la sua tecnica staordinaria, la bellezza del suono, la versatilità del repertorio e l'intensa interpretazione dei brani che esegue.

La terza registrazione di Alexei Volodin su Challenge Classics è dedicata al suo compositore prediletto, Sergej Rachmaninov.

Artist(s)

Alexei Volodin (piano)

Alexei Volodin is one of the most outstanding Russian pianists of the present day. A virtuoso and deeply philosophical musician, Alexei Volodin has a performing style that is entirely his own, one where there is no room for superficial effects. His pianism stands apart for its precision and the subtle nature of his performances of works from various ages and in different styles. Alexei Volodin was born in 1977 in Leningrad. He studied under Irina Chaklina, Tatiana Zelikman and Eliso Virsaladze, in whose class he graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire and completed his postgraduate studies. In 2001 he continued his studies at the International Piano Academy Lake Como (Italy). The musician’s international career truly began to take off following his victory...
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Alexei Volodin is one of the most outstanding Russian pianists of the present day. A virtuoso and deeply philosophical musician, Alexei Volodin has a performing style that is entirely his own, one where there is no room for superficial effects. His pianism stands apart for its precision and the subtle nature of his performances of works from various ages and in different styles.
Alexei Volodin was born in 1977 in Leningrad. He studied under Irina Chaklina, Tatiana Zelikman and Eliso Virsaladze, in whose class he graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire and completed his postgraduate studies. In 2001 he continued his studies at the International Piano Academy Lake Como (Italy). The musician’s international career truly began to take off following his victory at the International Géza Anda Competition in Zurich (Switzerland) in 2003.
The pianist frequently appears at the world’s most prestigious venues, among them the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), the Tonhalle (Zurich), Barbican, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall (London), Lincoln Center (New York), the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Salle Pleyel (Paris), the Palau de la Música (Barcelona), the Philharmonie and Konzerthaus Berlin, the Alte Oper (Frankfurt), the Herkulessaal and the Gasteig (Munich), the Konzerthaus (Vienna), La Scala and Sala Verdi (Milan), the Sydney Opera House (Australia) and Suntory Hall (Tokyo) among many others.
Alexei Volodin works with many highly acclaimed orchestras, among them the New York Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Gewandhausorchester, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, NHK (Japan), the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Tonhalle-Orchester in Zurich, the Orchestra of the Bayrische Rundfunk, the Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo and the Orchestre National de France under such outstanding conductors as Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Vasily Sinaisky, Mikhail Pletnev, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, David Zinman, Gerd and Marc Albrecht, Carlo Rizzi, Semyon Bychkov and Marek Janowski.
The pianist has appeared at prestigious festivals throughout the world including the Rocque d’Anthéron, La Folle Journée in Nantes and Radio France Festival, Verbier and Lucerne (Switzerland), the Ruhr Festival, Baden-Baden and Bad Kissingen (Germany), the Stars of the White Nights (St Petersburg) and the Moscow Easter Festival. He has produced recordings together with Live Classics (Germany), ABC Classics (Australia) and Challenge Records (Netherlands).
Alexei Volodin is an exclusive artist for the company Steinway and Sons.

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Composer(s)

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov was a Russian pianist, composer, and conductor of the late-Romantic period, some of whose works are among the most popular in the classical repertoire. Born into a musical family, Rachmaninov took up the piano at age four. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1892 and had composed several piano and orchestral pieces by this time. In 1897, following the critical reaction to his Symphony No. 1, Rachmaninoff entered a four-year depression and composed little until successful therapy allowed him to complete his enthusiastically received Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1901. After the Russian Revolution, Rachmaninov and his family left Russia and resided in the United States, first in New York City. Demanding piano concert tour schedules caused...
more
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov was a Russian pianist, composer, and conductor of the late-Romantic period, some of whose works are among the most popular in the classical repertoire.
Born into a musical family, Rachmaninov took up the piano at age four. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1892 and had composed several piano and orchestral pieces by this time. In 1897, following the critical reaction to his Symphony No. 1, Rachmaninoff entered a four-year depression and composed little until successful therapy allowed him to complete his enthusiastically received Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1901. After the Russian Revolution, Rachmaninov and his family left Russia and resided in the United States, first in New York City. Demanding piano concert tour schedules caused his output as composer to slow tremendously; between 1918 and 1943, he completed just six compositions, including Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Symphony No. 3, and Symphonic Dances. In 1942, Rachmaninov moved to Beverly Hills, California. One month before his death from advanced melanoma, Rachmaninov acquired American citizenship.
Early influences of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev, Mussorgsky, and other Russian composers gave way to a personal style notable for its song-like melodicism, expressiveness and his use of rich orchestral colors.[3] The piano is featured prominently in Rachmaninov's compositional output, and through his own skills as a performer he explored the expressive possibilities of the instrument.

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Press

Alexei Volodin proves that he blongs to the greatest pianists of our times.
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Often bought together with..

Robert Schumann, Maurice Ravel, Alexander Scriabin
Miroirs
Alexei Volodin

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