Arcadi Volodos

Arcadi Volodos, who was born in 1972 in St. Petersburg to parents who were both singers, initially studied voice and conducting at the St. Petersburg Conservatory before deciding to focus entirely on piano playing (starting in 1987); he completed his piano training with Galina Egizarowa at the Moscow Conservatory, with Jacques Rouvier at the Paris Conservatoire, and with Dmitri Bashkirov at the Reina Sofía College of Music in Madrid. Without ever having participated in an international competition, Volodos was “discovered” by a record manager at a private concert in 1996 and then signed to a large label. In 1997, he released his first recording, a CD of transcriptions that included his own arrangements. It caused a sensation, as did his live appearances. Volodos soon received offers to perform in the leading international concert venues. Since then he has also worked with such major orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York and Israel Philharmonics, the Chicago and Boston Symphony Orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouworkest, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. His repertoire focuses on works by Beethoven, the Romantics, and Russian and Spanish composers. During the 2019-20 season, Volodos will perform at the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Berlin Philharmonie, the London Barbican Centre, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Parco della Musica di Roma, and the Auditorium Gulbenkian in Lisbon. His recordings have won numerous prizes. His 2017 album Volodos Plays Brahms, which includes late piano pieces by the composer, received the Diapason d’or, a Gramophone Award, and an Edison Award. His most recent recording, dedicated to piano music by Franz Schubert, was released in November.

LUCERNE FESTIVAL (IMF) debut on 16 August 1997 playing Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with the Royal Concertgebouworkest under Riccardo Chailly.

October 2019