Piano Sonata D 959

The new studio album from Arcadi Volodos captures the master pianist's finely honed interpretation of Schubert's late Piano Sonata in A major D 959, as well as three of his very rarely recorded minuets: D 334, D 335 und D 600. After spending years performing and refining his interpretation of Schubert's penultimate piano sonata, Volodos has now committed the work to ''tape'' for posterity. For him, a recording is a personal testament to a creative period's culmination - this explains the relative rarity of a new Volodos recordings. Volodos personally selected the three rare minuets to accompany the piano sonata, additionally choosing to pair the D 600 Minuet with the D 610 Trio. Volodos brings these extremely rarely recorded works to life with his unmistakable tonal brilliance and stylistic elegance. Released 17 years ago, Volodos's first - and, until now, only - recording of Schubert's works, coupling the Sonatas in E major D 157 and G major D 894, garnered much praise. ''Here is irrefutable proof of Arcadi Volodos' genius and versatility,'' wrote Gramophone magazine at the time. The German specialist magazine Fono Forum observed that ''Volodos makes the piano sing like few other pianists today''. In the intervening years, Volodos' relationship to the works of Schubert has only deepened. Reviewing his performance at this year's Salzburg Festival, Der Standard wrote, ''When Arcadi Volodos plays Schubert, time stands still.'' So, too, this recording offers a snapshot of a master pianist at the height of his interpretative powers.