Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2

Rachmaninov's second piano concerto is one of the most popular piano concertos ever written, both among pianists and listeners. Written in December 1900, and dedicated to his physician Nikolai Dahl, the concerto was premiered by Rachmaninov himself, and was received warmly by the public (remember this was the age where crowds still booed music that wasn't to their taste).

The work is in the standard three movements. The first movement features the ideal starting for a nervous pianist. It opens with bell-like tolling chords, which build tension to the main theme. This gives the pianist a chance to get a feel for the piano without doing anything extraordinarily difficult. In the next minute or so, the orchestra is given a powerful melody, which drowns out the piano. This is while the pianist is playing what are almost scales, an excellent warm up, and the audience can't even pick up mistakes. Following this period, the piano is given a gorgeous melody, and the concerto just builds from there.

The second movement, adagio sostenuto, opens with chords by the strings, in which they modulate from the C minor of the last movement to E major. The movement reaches it's climax with a stunning piano cadenza, before dying away, with just the soloist playing in the end.

The allegro scherzando last movement once again opens with the orchestra. The piano then has has a short cadenza, which leads to the first theme. A lyrical theme is introduced, and after a development the tension is built up by a brillant piano cadenza. The second theme explodes on the scene with the whole orchestra coming in, leading to a fast coda to draw the piece to an exciting close.

I give this concerto 8/10, 2 off simply because I can't play it! That being said it's a 10/10, an absolute masterpiece of the romantic period.