Ian Duh plays Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor--I. Moderato (Part 1)

History:
When Tchaikovsky died in 1893, Sergei Rachmaninoff became severely depressed and poured his melancholy into his music. Among the pieces of this period of overwhelmingly gloomy music was Rachmaninoff's First Symphony in D Minor, which premiered in 1897 with Glazunov (who was, according to many accounts, drunk at this performance). Rachmaninoff remarked, "I am amazed--how can a man with the high talent of Glazunov conduct so badly?" Thus, the piece was poorly received, which compounded Rachmaninoff's depression to the point where he completely stopped composing for three years. In 1900, Rachmaninoff began sessions of auto-suggestive therapy (not much unlike hypnotism) with Dr. Nikolai Dahl, whose name appears at the beginning of the score. The creation of this concerto marks Rachmaninoff's recovery from depression and from writer's block, and it's instantly phenomenal reception allowed Rachmaninoff to have confidence once again. This story make this piano concerto my favorite piano concerto of all time.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Rachmaninov
• Rachmaninoff
• Piano
• Concerto
• No
• in
• Minor
• mineur
• Moderato
• 1st
• movement
• mvt
• mmt
• Op.
• 18
• Ian
• Duh

[Yuen29]

Amazing! I hope you have come much further now! I look forward to hearing your whole rendition. The 1:52 mark is so awkward, any tips on how to play it well?

[ixd735]

@Yuen29

1) Practice SLOWLY and speed it up SLOWLY. Play it at like 40 different speeds starting nearly 3 times slower than it should be played.

2) Practice staccato.

3) Stop after one sextuplet, then play 2, then play 3, then play 4, etc...

4) Pause between groups.

[magicpianoboy]

Really fantastic! I love the opening especially. The awkward section around 1:52 is spot on too.

[ixd735]

Haha thanks! That spot is a real pain to learn, but it's so rewarding if you learn it right.

[betolala]

I hope one day i can play this.

[kristianjl]

Awesome job!! Have you ever seen Harpo Marx's Rachmaninoff scene? Its hilarious. Its on youtube.