Kissin, Zimerman, Argerich:  You might as well leave on your white gloves,
because there's a new talent in town--the likes of which San Francisco
hasn't seen since...since...  whoever was the subject of my last review.
His name? Volodos.

(Just tipping my hat to Janos Gereben--author of the politest critiques
and cleverest titles--I always enjoy your posts!)

Anyway, this is Johnos, and he and his friend Tom Davey got to see Volodos
in action Saturday night in Davies Symphony Hall playing Tchaikovsky's 1st
Piano Concerto, along with Copland's "Inscape," and a thrilling performance
of Adams' "Harmonielehre."

By the first few piano notes of the Tchaikovsky, one was aware that there
would be no battle between man and piano; and therefore we all sat back,
relaxed, and surrendered our complete confidence to Volodos.  *He* sat
back, literally, through most of the concerto; sometimes looking and the
ceiling, the players, or MTT.  He might as well have been playing in
Nordstrom, and when it was all over, Tom and I had to remind ourselves
that we had, in fact, been listening to an extremely difficult 45-minute
Romantic war-horse--the octaves, arpeggios, filigree, and leaps were so
flawless and effortless that their novelty quickly faded.  There were
certainly moments of poetry and shading, most notably towards the end of
the 1st mov't and, of course, the whimsical 2nd.

Volodos played an encore from his CD:  the Concert Paraphrase on Mozart's
"Turkish March." In a stunning moment towards the end, he (simultaneously)
played the melody in the middle of the keyboard, filigree on top, and
16th-note (!) octave leaps on the bottom--at a speed that made it one of
the most superhuman things I have *ever* seen, and one of the only moments
in the concert where Volodos looked as though he was being a little taxed.
Tom, ever the thinker, wondered afterwards if the encore wasn't perhaps a
little purposely vulgar, ("Seelly Americans--so you vant a wulgar encore?
I geeve it to you...."), though the next day while CD shopping, I spotted
a CD in his shopping cart that he then quickly tried to hide at the bottom.
All I caught were the letters, V-O.  "What CD is that?" I asked, "Uh...Von
Webber?" he replied.  Hmmm.  (The recorded performance of the Turkish
March seemed less extravagantly-difficult than the one we witnessed
Saturday night.) The concert opened with Copland's last major composition,
"Inscape." Inscape is the result of Copland's attempt to write in a more
rigorous, 12-note style.  It was OK, though there wasn't much (off-set)
polyphony, color, or rhythmic tweaking to titillate these ears or give the
piece a sense of forward momentum.  Many of the thick chords lumbering
along reminded me of Messian.  (These are observations of my first hearing,
so by all means, check it out for yourself!)

Adams' "Harmonielehre" is a great piece.  My favorite recording is with
Simon Rattle on EMI, though I had no idea how much visceral impact the
piece packed, especially in the finale, until hearing it live.  The
audience went nuts.  If I had a nit to pick, it was that MTT plowed
through many of the composer's gorgeously-searching and long-limbed
melodies.  Long-limbed melodies from a Minimalist? If you do not like
Minimalism, Harmonielehre might change your mind!

John Smyth