Favorite Rachmaninoff Concerto?

[bachrach]

What is your favorite Rachmaninoff Concerto and WHY?

[nanabush]

The 2nd one.  I find it the most memorable (this goes for all three movements).  I played the first movement last year for jury, and even though the technique didn't [totally] stop me, the amount of work coordinating it with orchestra/accompanist is craziness.

When theme 2 comes back at the very end of the 3rd movement in the huge C major powerhouse of a section, chills everywhere...

[patrickd]

Piano Concerto #4 with this being my favorite performance.

[chadbrochill17]

The 2nd. I think 1 and 3 are also amazing, but more so from a bad-ass sort of sense. I get the feeling of awesome power from 1 and 3, but from 2 I get non stop chills and feeling of the sublime throughout. It is quite simply one of the most beautiful pieces ever written.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Third

[lisztrachmaninovfan]

The 2nd. I think 1 and 3 are also amazing, but more so from a bad-ass sort of sense. I get the feeling of awesome power from 1 and 3, but from 2 I get non stop chills and feeling of the sublime throughout. It is quite simply one of the most beautiful pieces ever written.

I love the 2nd concerto...But truthfully, who doesn't? 

However, what's your opinion on the 4th? I still remember listening to it for the first time at a concert when I was a kid, and I hated it. I wanted it to be over. I'd end up listening to it a few years later, and I was intrigued. I listened to it a few more times, and I completely fell in love with it. Many people don't give it a try; several haven't even heard of it! That's why I felt like I need to vote for it...It truly has a hidden beauty and meaning which you definitely won't recognize on the first few listens. 

Even if you've listened to it already, you should listen to it again. The orchestration, textures, and that lovely climax towards the end of the piece gets me every time.

[ziddy6]

Oi, this is hard. Rach 1 is so fiery and bold with a beautiful slow movement. Rach 2 is passionate and turbulent. Rach 3 is triumphant and regal. Rach 4 is jazzy and mighty.

I chose Rach 3 because of the mood and the regal quality. Rach 2 is a close second.
 

[ale_ius]

Why no vote option for the cool number 5?

my vote. No V.

example

[ziddy6]

Wasn't #5 just an arrangement of Rach's second symphony?

Hmm... 

[andreslr6]

I love the 2nd concerto...But truthfully, who doesn't? 

I don´t like it... wait, no.... I HATE IT! 

My favorite is the 4th, but sometimes I do enjoy listening the 3rd.

[cranston53]

Probably the fourth, but my favourite individual movement is the andante from the first.

[orangesodaking]

No option for the Paganini Rhapsody?