Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 (with Score)

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Sergei Rachmaninoff:
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 (with Score)
Composed: 1900–01
Piano solo: Sviatoslav Richter
Conductor: Stanisław Wisłocki
Orchestra: Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra

00:00 1. Moderato (C minor)
11:11 2. Adagio sostenuto (E major)
23:05 3. Allegro scherzando (C minor - C major)

Rachmaninov composed this work in 1900, and played the first complete performance on November 9, 1901, with Alexandre Siloti conducting the Moscow Philharmonic Society.

He suffered a shattering career crisis in the 1897 massacre of his First Symphony in St. Petersburg, by its first conductor, Glazunov, who was reportedly disablingly drunk -- a fiasco the critics en masse, led by César Cui, laid at the composer's feet like an animal carcass. The audience -- ever mindful that Rachmaninov had been expelled in 1885 from the local temple of musical instruction -- listened stonily, glad for the failure of a young lion schooled elsewhere (in Moscow, he completed the Conservatory course in 1891, and graduated a year later with highest possible grades). Because of the failure of the Symphony No. 1, Rachmaninov began to drink immoderately. Believing himself unfit to compose, he tried concentrating on parallel courses as a concert soloist and opera conductor, but embroiled himself in a love affair that ended very badly. By the end of 1899, he was an alcoholic whose hands shook, imperiling his keyboard career. Between January and April 1900, Sergey Vassilyevich saw Dr. Dahl, a Moscow specialist in "neuropsychotherapy," daily, and was urged under hypnosis to compose the new piano concerto that a London impresario was asking for. Trance therapy roused the composer from his lethargy; indeed, he worked with great facility on an excellent new concerto -- the Second, in C minor, Op. 18 -- dedicated to Dr. Dahl in gratitude. Never again in the remaining four decades of his life was Rachmaninov immobilized by depression, despite several convulsive changes of fortune.

The opening, C minor, movement in sonata form was composed last; structurally it is the most conventional. Ten bars of unaccompanied keyboard chords lead directly to a palpitant principal theme for violins, violas, and clarinets -- motivic rather than tuneful, despite a melismatic extension for cellos. An episode links this to the second theme, in E flat, one of Rachmaninov's most celebrated melodies, introduced by the piano. Following the development and a maestoso alla marcia reprise, there's a brilliant coda -- but no solo cadenza, yet.

In the E major, Adagio sostenuto movement, after four bars of Tchaikovskian string chords, piano arpeggios introduce a two-part principal theme, played first by the solo flute, then by the solo clarinet. Piano and orchestra develop both parts before a Tchaikovsky-like theme for bassoons nudges the tempo a bit. Further development goes even quicker, culminating in a solo cadenza that's been teasingly postponed, after which the original material returns, soulfully.

The finale is an Allegro scherzando in C major. The strings play a rhythmic figure that builds to a staccato climax. The piano enters with a flourish, setting up the principal subject -- again, as before in I, motivic rather than tuneful, but admirably constructed for developing. This is followed by another of Rachmaninov's signature melodies, lushly undulant, sung by the solo oboe and strings. (In the postwar 1940s, this was garnished with words and performed unrelentingly by big-band vandals as Full Moon and Empty Arms). A fugato brings back the principal subject, followed by a Maestoso statement of "The Tune." Accelerating fistfuls of piano chords set up a crowd-rousing conclusion.
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Beyond this world. One of the greatest pieces of music ever composed.

Dylonely_
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The 2nd movement is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard.

leinad
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1º mov:
0:34 - Tema A
2:11 - Transición
2:27 - Tema B
5:09 - Desarrollo
6:00 - Clímax
6:46 - Reexposición
10:27 - CODA

2º mov:
11:12 - Introducción

3º mov:
23:42 - Tema A
24:37 - Tema B
32:57 - CLÍMAX ABSOLUTO

alejandronogalesalmagro
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The first movement is quite possibly my favorite piece of music ever. It just sounds so complete, and the changes in tempo are fantastic. I might be biased as an oboe player myself, but I adore the flute and oboe parts in this piece. Around the 4:30 mark is the most wonderful thing I've ever heard. I also like how pronounced the piano is compared to other pieces (and other composers in general) because it brings so much life to the music. I forgot where I first heard this, but I completely fell head over heels for this song. The first movement will always hold a special place in my heart.

heatherduke
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The first movement sounds so depressing and tragic, then the second and third movements are full of hope and joy.
Beautiful way to combine those feelings

diegocastillo
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33:04 truly one of the best endings ever written

johnphillips
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24:50 how nice of rachmaninov to give this amazing melody to the violas

prototypeinheritance
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The first LP Richter I bought-The piano sounds always above the orchestra !!Unlike most of the modern pianists whose sound is weak!Many thanks for uploading this treasure!

fa-la-mi-mi-re
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21:49 moves you in a way that’s indiscribable. This man was a genious in so many ways.

juanescudero
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4:30 this never fails to bring me into tears.

NavyTchai
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The Famous Piatti excerpt is around 26:20 Minutes, on Rehearsal Number 32.
You’re Welcome Fellow Percussionist Friends 😅

pedrogouveia
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Smiling laughing laughing laughing. Maybe calmness forward laughing its called loved

jessicalove
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アップありがとうございます。自分の中では、
Richter & Warsaw N.P.O. のRachmaninoff piano certo No.2が一番好きです。

これ以上の演奏を探せない。Zimer man の演奏も好きだけど、、。

CDも持ってますが、youtube ばかりで聴いているので、とても嬉しいです。
スコアまで付けて下さってありがとうございます。
m(_ _)m

まゆ-yh
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There is nothing else in music that compares with the sheer beauty of the Alla Marcia in the first movement.

qfcbv
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33:25 onwards - the chords in the piano keep making references to the first movement theme of you think about it.
edit 4 months later: in fact, it’s a reference to the first four notes of the third movement theme, which themselves I feel are derived from the first movement theme.

ShaunakDesaiPiano
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Blowing leaves and kindness towards tomorrow. Maybe everyone is happy, not depressed. Also maybe in love, child like, being at you first moment. This smells like clouds, .

jessicalove
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One of the most important performances of this concert!!!WOW!!

bui
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watching this rn bc i SUCK AT COUNTING RESTS

LuciusLucius
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Inexpressibly and incomparably beautiful.

therealrealludwigvanbeethoven
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32:21 sounds like water droplets. Its my favorite part

norman