Piano Forum

There are a lot of beautiful Rachmaninoff pieces, and not all of them are as difficult as the concertos (at least two of which I will call breathtaking works, the second and third)
From Opus 3, "Melodie" is a simple and gorgeous piece. Lilacs, Op. 21 no. 5, is beautiful and light. The Prelude from Opus 3 is huge and incredibly difficult, especially for small-handed players (my teacher will not allow me to play it because my hands are tiny and she does not want me to hurt myself. I'm currently playing Polichinelle, also from Opus 3, and have to wear and wrist brace whenever I'm not on the piano) but not breathtaking (though it is gorgeous, it is more terrifying than breathtaking)

the man did a lot of stuff, though. don't be discouraged by the angry pieces if that's not your thing: I'm sure you can find some soothing Rachmaninoff. If not, I'd turn to Brahms (the famous Intermezzo is emotionally difficult to handle but it's gorgeous) or Debussy (cause we all know he wrote some beautiful and technically simple pieces.) Mendelssohn's songs without words are a good source of breathtaking beauty in a small package, too. I love his Venetian Boat Songs