Biography
Volodos has everything - imagination, passion and a phenomenal technique - to carry out his ideas on the piano. His limitless virtuosity, combined with a unique sense of rhythm, color and poetry, makes Volodos the narrator of intense stories and infinite worlds!
Born in St Petersburg in 1972, Arcadi Volodos began his musical studies with lessons in singing and conducting. He did not begin serious training as a pianist until 1987 at the St Petersburg Conservatory before pursuing advanced studies at the Moscow Conservatory with Galina Egiazarova and in Paris and Madrid.
Since making his New York debut in 1996, Volodos has performed throughout the world in recital and with the most eminent orchestras and conductors. He has worked with, among others, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and Munich Philharmonic orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, Orchestre de Paris, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, and the Boston and Chicago Symphony orchestras, collaborating with conductors such as Myung-Whun Chung, Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Paavo Järvi, Christoph Eschenbach, Semyon Bychkov and Riccardo Chailly.
Piano recitals have played a central role in Volodos’s artistic life since he began his career. His repertoire includes major works by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Beethoven, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Prokofiev and Ravel together with less often performed pieces by Mompou, Lecuona and de Falla.
Volodos is a regular guest of the most prestigious concert halls in Europe. In the season 2025-26, he will appear at the Barbican Centre in London, Philharmonie de Paris, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Vienna Konzerthaus, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Tonhalle in Zurich, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Prinzregententheater in Munich, Auditorium National in Madrid as well as in Lisbon, Rome, Brussels, Montecarlo, Lyon, Sevilla and at the Festivals of Salzburg, Roque d’Antheron and Klavier Festival Ruhr.
Volodos's recording history is truly unique. Since his Gramophone Award-winning debut at Carnegie Hall in 1999 (Sony Classical), he has built a singular and carefully curated discography. Rather than releasing frequently, Volodos has chosen to craft each album with exceptional artistic depth. Each CD represent a personal artistic statement, offering revelatory interpretations that have earned the most prestigious awards worldwide.
Volodos’s early discography includes three iconic recordings that brought him worldwide recognition: Volodos Piano Transcriptions, Volodos Live at Carnegie Hall, and Volodos in Vienna. These were followed by acclaimed live performances with the Berliner Philharmoniker—Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto conducted by James Levine, and Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto conducted by Seiji Ozawa. In 2007, Volodos Plays Liszt was released to great acclaim, earning numerous international prizes. His 2010 recital at the Musikverein was issued on both CD and DVD, and was met with rapturous critical praise across the globe. In 2013, Volodos released Volodos Plays Mompou, a deeply personal album devoted to the music of Frederic Mompou, which was honored with both a Gramophone Award and the Echo Klassik Prize.
Volodos Plays Brahms followed a couple of years later and was immediately considered a landmark in Brahms interpretation. The CD received numerous accolades, including the Edison Classical Award, the Diapason d’Or, and the Gramophone Award. In 2019, Volodos Plays Schubert was released and also received the Edison Classical Award.
A new album is set to be released in Spring 2026, featuring a live recording of Volodos in Paris, performing works by Schubert and Schumann.
October 2025
Arcadi Volodos: A keyboard poets beyond compare
The Independent