Rachmaninoff 2nd Sonata

[lorditachijr]

I hate to start another pointless thread like this, and I apologize in advance for any arguments it may cause. Recently in the past couple of months, I have become enamored with the Rachmaninoff 2nd Sonata. I've played around with the score some (just the revised, although my edition came with both versions of the piece) and know that it's incredibly difficult. I was just wondering if anybody could give me a general idea about its difficulty compared to Beethoven's Appassionata. This is probably the hardest piece I'm working on at the moment excluding Rach 2, but that's mostly off for now since I have to prepare Mendelssohn 1 for a concerto competition that is coming up. I don't mean specific things, but I'm just wondering if you think they're at all in the same league. I've read through it a couple of times (just the first movement) and haven't really come across anything that I thought of as "way too hard." I am interested to hear you opinions on this. Thank you in advance.

[franz_]

I hate to start another pointless thread like this, and I apologize in advance for any arguments it may cause. Recently in the past couple of months, I have become enamored with the Rachmaninoff 2nd Sonata. I've played around with the score some (just the revised, although my edition came with both versions of the piece) and know that it's incredibly difficult. I was just wondering if anybody could give me a general idea about its difficulty compared to Beethoven's Appassionata. This is probably the hardest piece I'm working on at the moment excluding Rach 2, but that's mostly off for now since I have to prepare Mendelssohn 1 for a concerto competition that is coming up. I don't mean specific things, but I'm just wondering if you think they're at all in the same league. I've read through it a couple of times (just the first movement) and haven't really come across anything that I thought of as "way too hard." I am interested to hear you opinions on this. Thank you in advance.

As you gave me advice on my topic, I give you my advice for this; I adore the sonata too. For many years already. If you want to play it, start with the last movement ) It is the hardest, so If this one works, you'll probably be able to play it. Although there are 1 or 2 difficult places in the first movement too. (sixts or thirds, I forgot)  I haven't played it, but I read through, listened a lot to is, and had several discussions about it. I think if Appassionata isn't too hard for you you can start it may be. Could be good to work on it in combination with his 2nd concerto, the works will help each other.

[lorditachijr]

Thank you so much for your response. I think I can handle it, but I want to wait until I finish up some of my current pieces. I'll also talk about it with my teacher, and see what she thinks.

[edwardweiss]

Listen to Horowitz playing it-all available versions and especially the "Pirated" unofficial live versions. Then decide if you still want to play it. Many have played it-but few indeed have really mastered it-including some of our so-called "Star" pianists of the moment.

[precipitato]

hello there! good to see you embarking on masterworks by composers like beethoven and rachmaninoff!

i have learnt the appassionata sonata and is planning to use it for competitions. for me i feel the 1st movement is actually the most challenging... a lot of tricky things here and there, but once you get everything right its OK. richter has a good version i feel. sofronitsky's quite ok for me too, generally the first movement seems toe most general ones.

2nd movement, the rhythm counting is a huge headache. apart from that, nothing much as technically its not very demanding either, the sound control is needed to keep a soft tone yet audible in a hall.

and 3rd movement... so many different interpretations here and there! i prefer brendel playing it at the speed which i like, after all allegro ma non troppo and presto has to be clearly distinguished. the hardest part is the coda all the way to the end, where the presto should be carried on all the way, blazing to the end of the piece. some people play it too harsh and make it like a showpiece. the other hard part is the left hand 23 - 15 left hand chords (chord and octave), of which when it reach the 2nd part of d-flat + f, and a-flat octave i feel its the hardest. but other than that, i feel it should be of steady speed throughout.

rach sonata 2 and appassionata both are not a easy nut to crack. after all both are in ftcl and frsm pieces, each have their own difficulty. i'll rate both as hard as each other, but it depends on personal strengths and weaknesses to determine. but assuming you have done rach sonata 2 perfectly, appassionata, go for it.