Piano Forum

Topic: Favorite Rachmaninoff Piano Pieces?  (Read 7744 times)

Offline scherzo123

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 481
Favorite Rachmaninoff Piano Pieces?
on: July 20, 2012, 12:17:07 AM
 ;D

Bach Prelude and Fugue BWV848
Beethoven Piano Sonata Op.13
Chopin Etude Op.10 No.4
Chopin Scherzo Op.31
Mussorgsky "The Great Gate of Kiev" from Pictures at an Exhibition

Offline rachmaninoff_forever

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 4933
Re: Favorite Rachmaninoff Piano Pieces?
Reply #1 on: July 20, 2012, 02:15:11 PM
Everything except prelude Op. 3 No. 2, and Op. 23 No. 2

But my top five are:

Rach concerto 3
Rach concerto 2
Rach concerto 1
Rach sonata 1
Rach sonata 2
Live large, die large.  Leave a giant coffin.

Offline nanabush

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 2081
Re: Favorite Rachmaninoff Piano Pieces?
Reply #2 on: July 20, 2012, 04:08:31 PM
Ahh the Op 23#2 is awesome! 

The pieces that really 'struck' me at first listen:

-the opening to Rach2... those chords were just so epic; the third movement is my favorite concerto movement

-prelude in E major (Op 32 #3)... for some reason no one gives this piece attention!  It's my favorite prelude, no question.  When the main motif comes back in C# minor... ahhhhh so satisfying!

-prelude in D major... another beautiful piece, and at the opening it really doesn't remind me immediately of Rach... it sounds too serene :P ; playing it though, the leaps/chords that accompany the melody are riddled with hints of his writing.  I'm rambling...whoops

-prelude in G minor... mostly because I finally got the chords at the top of page 2 working well.  The octav-ish scale bits in between the chords are deadly!!  The middle section is beautiful.

...
I just remembered his etudes; the numbers in Op33 are strange, so I'll describe them  ;)

-Etude Tableau in Eb minor (op33!); Lugansky's recording is so devastating, and it dissipates into nothing at the end.  Reminds me of a very mini-Scarbo.

-The entire op39 set is my favorite group of pieces by rach (I'm not a huge fan of #2 though).  The C minor #1, A minor, and my absolute favorite #7 (the bell part at the climax... if you haven't heard it, listen to that piece through).  The kind of morbid character throughout that piece just leads to these epic church bells... I can't explain it!
Interested in discussing:

-Prokofiev Toccata
-Scriabin Sonata 2

Offline scherzo123

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 481
Re: Favorite Rachmaninoff Piano Pieces?
Reply #3 on: July 20, 2012, 04:15:26 PM
Everything except prelude Op. 3 No. 2, and Op. 23 No. 2


Why? :-\
Bach Prelude and Fugue BWV848
Beethoven Piano Sonata Op.13
Chopin Etude Op.10 No.4
Chopin Scherzo Op.31
Mussorgsky "The Great Gate of Kiev" from Pictures at an Exhibition

Offline davidjosepha

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 893
Re: Favorite Rachmaninoff Piano Pieces?
Reply #4 on: July 21, 2012, 12:51:23 AM
-prelude in G minor... mostly because I finally got the chords at the top of page 2 working well.  The octav-ish scale bits in between the chords are deadly!!  The middle section is beautiful.

Oh man! I thought I was the only one who struggled with the scale octaves! Those took me foreverrrrrrrr to get right, and even then, I had to use some "tasteful" "rubato" (hehe) to slow it down just a tad.

Offline rachmaninoff_forever

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 4933
Re: Favorite Rachmaninoff Piano Pieces?
Reply #5 on: July 21, 2012, 06:42:16 AM
Why? :-\

I just don't like them dude.  I've had beef with those preludes for quite a while now, and I still have no intention of making up with them!

But my favorite prelude is Op. 32 No. 10 by far.  It was also Rachmaninoff's favorite as well.
Live large, die large.  Leave a giant coffin.
For more information about this topic, click search below!
 

Logo light pianostreet.com - the website for classical pianists, piano teachers, students and piano music enthusiasts.

Subscribe for unlimited access

Sign up

Follow us

Piano Street Digicert