(1 April [O.S. 20 March] 1873 — 28 March 1943) Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music.
Early influences of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and other Russian composers gave way to a personal style notable for its song-like melodicism, expressiveness and his use of rich orchestral colors.
The piano is featured prominently in Rachmaninoff’s compositional output, and through his own skills as a performer he explored the expressive possibilities of the instrument.
(0:00) Piano Concerto No.2 in Cm Op.18 – I. Moderato (
9:19) Piano Concerto No.2 in Cm Op.18 – II. Adagio sostenuto
(19:50) Piano Concerto No.3 in Dm Op.30 – I. Allegro
(34:46) Piano Concerto No.4 in Gm Op.40 – III. Allegro vivace
(43:26) Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Op.43
(1:04:04) Symphony No.1 in Dm Op.13 – I. Grave – Allegro ma non troppo
(1:17:52) Symphony No.2 in Em Op.27 – III. Adagio
(1:33:00) Symphonic Dances Op.45 – I. Non allegro
(1:44:59) Prelude Op.23 No.02 in Bbm – Maestoso
(1:48:41) Prelude Op.23 No.10 in Gbm – Largo
(1:52:49) Morceaux de Salon Op.10 – No.5 in G – Humoresque
(1:59:57) Etudes-tableaux Op.39 – Allegro moderato – Tempo di marcia in D No.9
(2:03:37) Cello Sonata in Gm Op.19 – III. Andante
(2:09:19) The Bells Op.35 – III. Presto
(2:18:10) Vespers Op.37 – Bless the Lord, O my soul
(2:23:03) Francesca da Rimini Op.25 – I. Prologue Performers: Piano Concertos No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Earl Wild (pianist) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Jascha Horenstein (conductor) Symphony No.1 in Dm Op.13 – I. Grave – Allegro ma non troppo (USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra and Gennady Rozhdestvensky (conductor) Symphony No.2 in Em Op.27 – III. Adagio (London Symphony Orchestra and Gennady Rozhdestvensky (conductor) Symphonic Dances Op.45 – I. Non allegro (Russian State Symphony Orchestra and Valery Polyansky (conductor) Prelude Op.23 No. 2 and No. 10 (Santiago Rodriguez (piano) Morceaux de Salon Op.10 – No.5 in G – Humoresque (Alexander Ghindin (piano) Etudes-tableaux Op.39 – Allegro moderato – Tempo di marcia in D No.9 (Nikolai Lugansky (piano) Cello Sonata in Gm Op.19 – III. Andante (Yakov Flier (piano) Daniil Shafran (cello) The Bells Op.35 – III. Presto (Olga Lutsiv-Ternovskaya (soprano) Leonid Bomstein (tenor) Vyacheslav Pochapsky (bass) State Symphony Capella of Russia and Valery Polyansky (conductor) Vespers Op.37 – Bless the Lord, O my soul (Olga Borusene (soprano) Yuri Korinnyk (tenor) Mykhaylo Tyshchenko (tenor) The National Academic Choir of Ukraine “Dumka” and Valery Polyansky (conductor) Francesca da Rimini Op.25 – I. Prologue (Bolshoi Orchestra and Andrei Chistyakov (conductor)