Young Russian pianist Alexei Volodin here plunges into two of Beethoven's late masterpieces, the difficult Piano Sonata No. 30 in E minor, Op. 109, and the off-the-charts Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier." There's no doubt about it; he's technically equipped for the task. The blistering, thorny final fugue of Op. 106, which Beethoven correctly foresaw as something written for the pianists of centuries hence, is fast and crystal clear, its trills echoing sharply through the contrapuntal structure. ...
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Young Russian pianist Alexei Volodin here plunges into two of Beethoven's late masterpieces, the difficult Piano Sonata No. 30 in E minor, Op. 109, and the off-the-charts Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier." There's no doubt about it; he's technically equipped for the task. The blistering, thorny final fugue of Op. 106, which Beethoven correctly foresaw as something written for the pianists of centuries hence, is fast and crystal clear, its trills echoing sharply through the contrapuntal structure. The arpeggios-over-low-left-hand trill climax of the finale of Op. 109 is confidently executed. What's less clear is whether his interpretive equipment is keeping pace at this point. There's plenty of excitement but less overarching thinking. The opening movement of Op. 109 has an impromptu flavor that bleeds over into the variation set; Volodin breaks off too quickly from the clear variation structure and reduces the impact of the final virtuoso outburst. The echo effects of the...
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