rachmaninov concerto no.4

[ravel]

i dont get it why this concerto is so neglected.
Its suchhhhhhhhhhhhhh an amazing piece.
does any one have the answer?

[comme_le_vent]

i have only listened to it a few times, and the reason why i dont think its as listened to or played as the others, is becaus eit doesnt 'grab' you as much, it is less immediate.

[zhiliang]

Another reason i think is that this piece is really complex and not many pianists are able to bring out the essence of it convincingly. Therefore also explains the very few recordings available of this piece. Its definitely an underrated piece. Just listen to the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli's recording on EMI and how he actually makes the piece so coherent.

Zhiliang

[ravel]

well , i dont think it is as complicated as rach 3, or even 2.
i know some  parrts of it seem not very well connected,
but i think there are some really good melodies , some really good music in it , maybe not as great as rach 2 or 3, but it is definitely under rated.

[Motrax]

I just got a CD of Rafael Orozco playing all the concertos and the Paganini Rhapsody. His interperetation, although perhaps not as boldly profound as that of many other more famous recordings, is absolutely incredible. There's a certain subtilety to the music which I believe is absolutely perfect for the 4th concerto.

Indeed, it's a very fragmented-sounding piece. The first movement has various melodies weaving back and forth almost incoherrently; the second movement at times seems more appropriate for a lullaby than a concerto in its quiet simplicity, and the third movement is extremely musically complex as well. However, I've listened to it four times since yesterday evening when I got the CD, and have loved it more and more after each subsiquent performance.

To understand the piece, I believe it is essential that one listen to all three movements in one sitting. Seperately, the three movements do indeed sound rather incomplete - this is because of how they are intricately woven. When you reach the third movement afetr having listening to the previous two, all of the disjointed melodies and phrases begin to make sense. It's like reading a few different books at once, moving to the next book after finishing a single chapter, and the third movement signifies the ending for each book. But all the endings have similarities, and as a whole they create a truly profound ending to a great muddle of different seemingly unrelated stories.

Hope I've helped, rather than confused even further.


Here's a link to the CD on amazon, by the way.
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000004167/qid=1082408439/sr=1-13/ref=sr_1_13/104-5662273-2210358?v=glance&s=classical