Music #408 - Rachmaninoff

Sergei Rachmaninoff  

[sʲɪrˈɡʲej rɐxˈmanʲɪnəf]  (1873 – 1943)

A Russian-born composer, pianist and conductor, he is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day, and one of the last great composers of Romanticism in Russian classical music.


Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

- one of his best known works

The piece is a set of 24 variations on Paganini's Caprices No.24 (for solo violin).

Variation 18 [15:20] was adopted in Somewhere in Time (1980 movie), starring spoony Christopher Reeve and prettier-than-Mona-Lisa Jane Seymour:

 

... The movie remained in cinema for 223 days, a record length for Hong Kong at the time, between the period of 12 September 1981 and 22 April 1982.

 

Many girls went watch the movie a few times, and sobbed every time. (Girls dared go alone, as admission was highly priced beyond most color-wolves could afford.)

 

How Variation 18 varies

Prelude in C-sharp minor

 

Prelude in G minor

Piano Concert No.1

Piano Concerto No.2  

Yuja Wang 

* I. Moderato
* II. Adagio sostenuto - Più animato
* III. Allegro scherzando
Totaling 30 minutes

Anna Fedorova

Piano Concerto No.3  

- aka "Rach 3"

* Mvt.1 Allegro ma non tanto

* Mvt.2 Intermezzo: Adagio

* Mvt.3 Finale: Alla breve

 
To get a feel of the challenge of the recital

Famous for its technical and musical demands on the performer,
as dramatized in the Shine movie:
* Training
* Playing

Symphony No.1  

The performance was a disaster. 
Rachmaninov suffered a nervous breakdown, and could not compose anything for 3 years. 

Symphony No.2  

* Mvt.1 Largo - Allegro moderato

* Mvt.2 Allegro molto
* Mvt.3 Adagio
* Mvt.4 Allegro vivace.

Source: Wikipedia