Rachmaninov!!!

[Lebenssturme]

what's the most important thing we should know when we are learning a rachmaninov concerto??

[pianistimo]

if you are playing the complete version or the incomplete?  (the first one he wrote was when he was a young boy and was incomplete - the one in c minor)\

[pianohopper]

I would think the most important thing is to keep in mind his common themes -- such as wind/bells, etc.  Other than that, everything applies to concertos by other composers too.  Do you have background in Rachmaninov?  If not, maybe you should play some shorter solo works first to get a feel for his style. 

[Lebenssturme]

I've played about 5 preludes and 3 etudes-tableux of him...But, anyway, playing a concert is a diferent thing because it isnt soloist. There must be lots of things we must think about and know about while we're learning it....that was my question!..

[maxy]

Feeling depressed can help... 

[jeremyjchilds]

Know yourself...Have an honest assesment of your technical skill, so that the piece can be approached with sharp focus, not random jabbing.

[stevie]

if you are playing the complete version or the incomplete?  (the first one he wrote was when he was a young boy and was incomplete - the one in c minor)\

really? ive never heard about this, is it any good?

[pianistimo]

i don't know.  i got the information from my sole source right now 'a history of the concerto' by roeder (page 301).  i wonder if he finished this later and it is the now famous 2nd concerto as we know it.  on page 302 it says he 'finished the second and third movements' saying nothing of the first movement.  maybe he modified the start and completed the entire concerto. 

 

[stevie]

yeah it probably is i rmemeber reading something similar

so he really did just compose 4 concerti and 1 rhapsody, but a few versions of the 1st 3rd and 4th particularly exist