Rachmaninoff Birth Anniversary

Piano soloist Boris Berezovsky is accompanied by the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Sladkovsky in a performance of Sergei Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto no. 1, Op. 1. Rachmaninov composed his first concerto while studying at the Moscow Conservatory at the age of 18. The concert opens with 'Heavenly Movement', a composition by the young Russian composer Elmir Nizamov (*1986). This concert was recorded at the Tchaikovksy Concert Hall of the Moscow Philharmonic Society on April 28, 2017.

Sergey Rachmaninov’s third piano concerto is famous as well as notorious. Famous with the audience because of its beautiful musical lines, but notorious among pianists for its demanding solo. It has the reputation of being one of the most difficult piano concertos: Josef Hofmann, the pianist to whom the piece was dedicated, never played it in public because it ‘did not suit him’. The piece saw its premiere on 28 November 1909 in New York with Rachmaninov himself – who, apart from being a composer, was an exceptionally talented pianist – on piano. The piece has long been in the shadow of Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto, a shorter and easier piece, but in the end it has earned – partially due to the virtuosity it requires – a secure spot in concert programmes.

Fabio Luisi conducts the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in this powerful performance taken from the 150th Anniversary celebrations of Denmark’s national composer, Carl Nielsen. Alongside Nielsen’s inscrutably ironic Symphony No. 6, this performance features world-renowned French pianist Lise de la Salle as soloist in Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 4. This lesser-known concerto saw three separate iterations throughout the composer’s life and is characterized by bold chromaticism and a distinctly Jazz-like quality. Luisi and de la Salle have prior experience with this piece, having previously performed and recorded it together. This performance was recorded at the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2017.

The National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia is joined by acclaimed Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky in an interpretation of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 43 Conductor Konstantin Khvatynets leads this concert, recorded at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Russia, in 2017.

Sir Simon Rattle leads the Berlin Philharmonic in a performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27. After the disastrous premiere of the composer’s Symphony No. 1 in 1897, Rachmaninoff seriously doubted his ability as a symphonist. Almost a decade later, in October 1906, he started composing his Symphony No. 2. Months of revisions followed. He finished this large orchestral work in the summer of 1907, followed by a highly successful 1908 premiere in St. Petersburg. This performance at the magnificent Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain is part of the Europakonzert 2011.