Piano Transcriptions / Arcadi Volodos

Face it, anyone who can play Horowitz's fabled transcriptions or Cziffra's madcap interlocking octaves Flight of the Bumblebee will get attention. What is most impressive, though, is that Arcadi Volodos replicates the notes, but not the performances. His tempos and voicings are completely different, and just as valid, if not quite as coruscating as the originals. In other words, Volodos makes this repertoire his own, as well as the other selections on this well-recorded debut outing. --Jed Distler