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- Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor. Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 has one of the most sublime melodies of any piano concerto ever written in its first movement.
- Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor. Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto is widely described as the greatest piano concerto ever written. And listeners of Classic FM tend to agree, voting it right at the top of the Classic FM Hall of Fame every year.
- Vocalise. Even though Rachmaninov’s short piece, Vocalise, was written for solo voice and orchestra originally, it is a song without lyrics. Instead, the singer can opt to perform the sublime melody through any vowel of their choosing.
- Vespers (All-Night Vigil) Rachmaninov’s Vespers, also titled All-Night Vigil, was composed in 1915 and is among the composer’s more introspective works.
We bring you the finest recordings on disc of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2, the most cherished of all the Russian composer's works.
- Piano Concerto No.2 in C Minor, Op.18
- Sonata For Cello and Piano in G Minor, Op.19
- 10 Preludes, Op.23
- Symphony No.2 in E Minor, Op.27
- The Isle of The Dead, Op.29
- Piano Concerto No.3 in D Minor, Op.30
- Vocalise, Op.34, No.14
- The Bells, Op.35
- All-Night Vigil, Op.37
- Rhapsody on A Theme of Paganini, Op.43
Following the disastrous premiere of his First Symphony Rachmaninov composed almost nothing for around three years. He sought help from a hypnotherapist and his comeback piece, the Piano Concerto No 2, dedicated to his hypnotherapist, is one of the greatest works in the piano repertoire. The concerto opens with a steadily intensifying series of pia...
After the success of his Op.18 Rachmaninov threw himself into his work. This fine cello sonata appeared not long after the Second Piano Concerto’sconfidence-restoring premiere, its magical ‘Andante’ at times reminiscent of the earlier work’s ‘Adagio’. In the sonata, however, the music feels less at ease, more delicately poised between hope and desp...
Rachmaninov composed 24 piano preludes: one in each major and minor key. The famous C sharp minor Preludecame first, in 1892; the complete Op.23 set followed 11 years later, and the final 13 preludes arrived in 1910. The set of ten Op.23 preludes range widely in mood. Alongside the mysterious opener and the yearning No.4 (with shades of Chopin) are...
The premiere of Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony took place in St Petersburg, the scene of the First Symphonyfiasco. But this time, with Rachmaninov on the podium (rather than a probably drunk Glazunov), things went to plan and the symphony, one of Rachmaninov’s best works, went on to become an audience favourite. Highlights include the athletic ‘Sche...
The Isle Of The Deadwas inspired by an Arnold Böcklin painting in which Charon, the ferryman of the dead in Greek mythology, is seen rowing a coffin across to a spooky island. Rachmaninov’s symphonic poem opens with a repeated five-in-a-bar figure, perhaps representing Charon’s oars pulling through the water. Over the top we hear fragments of the D...
Rachmaninov wrote this concerto for a US tour, using a silent keyboard to learn the piano part on the boat crossing. This, the third piano concerto, is recognizably by the same composer as the second, although it’s longer, more intense, and even tougher to play. The opening piano melody is reasonably laid back, but before long sparks begin to fly. ...
Rachmaninov’s Op.34 consists of 14 songs for voice and piano. Numbers one to 13 employ texts by a selection of big-name Russian poets. Vocalise, on the other hand, is wordless: the performer sings the same vowel sound throughout. This poignant song without words, one of the best Rachmaninov works, has captured the attention of countless composers a...
Rachmaninov’s superb choral symphony is a setting of a Russian adaptation of a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. The poem is handily divided into four sections, focusing on birth, marriage, terror, and death respectively. In turn, each of these life experiences is associated with a type of bell: silver, gold, brass and iron. In the first movement, Rachmanin...
This setting of the Russian Orthodox All-Night Vigil service is scored for unaccompanied choir, with tenor and alto soloists. In nine of the 15 movements, Rachmaninov makes use of traditional Orthodox chants: simple, single-line melodies. The rich harmonies, however, are the composer’s own throughout. He writes for the choir with great freedom: at ...
The last of Nicolò Paganini’s 24 Caprices For Solo Violinhas provided the basis for music by many other composers, including Brahms, Liszt, Lutosławski and Szymanowski (as well as Benny Goodman and Andrew Lloyd-Webber). Rachmaninov’s tribute to his fellow composer-performer is a set of variations for piano and orchestra and is one of Rachmaninov’s ...
- 19 min
- Gramophone
- Piano Concerto No 2. Leif Ove Andsnes pf Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Antonio Pappano. 'The Second Concerto (live, as opposed to the studio First, but without any appreciable difference in acoustic and balance) is, similarly, given a Rolls-Royce reading with which only the pickiest could find fault.
- Symphony No 2. London Symphony Orchestr a / André Previn. 'It has to be André Previn, whose rehabilitation of this symphony ranks among his most enduring contributions to our musical life.'
- Preludes. Moura Lympany pf. 'Lympany’s is a unique achievement... From the first notes of the famous Prelude in C sharp minor to the final Prelude of Op 32, you feel in safe hands, knowing that nothing will be exaggerated or sentimentalised, agogics and dynamics faithfully translated, in performances that take no account of the inhibiting power of the red light...
- Piano Concerto No 3. Vladimir Ashkenazy pf LSO / André Previn. 'What nobility of feeling and what dark regions of the imagination he relishes and explores in page after page of the Third Concerto in particular.
2 and 3 are some of the best pieces ever written imo. They contain some of the most beautiful and intense music I've ever heard. Basically every movement is full of breathtaking and memorable moments while also maintaining an insane consistency in quality.
May 5, 2019 · Rachmaninov takes the theme faster than I have ever heard it played and this gives the theme an altogether different feel. Rather than being more dreamlike, it flows ahead faster, more dance-like. The balance between the piano and orchestra, most of the time, is fine.
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Sergei RACHMANINOFF: Concerto No.2, 2nd. movement - Violin & Piano. The greatest pianist, the genius of his era, one of the most romantic souls who ever lived. All those titles fit Rachmaninoff...
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- For the Love of Music
