rachmaninoff concerto

[shostglass]

So just for some fun since I was bored I read through Rachmaninoff's piano concerto 3 (I know I can't play it) and in the third movement I notice right away it says on the first bar the fingering for the left hand say 135 135 2 135 135 2, how does that exactly work do you just throw your hand into position it looks weird can anybody elaborate on this.

[apmapmapm]

There's nothing weird about that fingering. The 1-3-5 fingering works for the A-E-B chord. The 2 fingering hits the C# to cross over and land with 1-3-5 on the next D-A-D chord.

[coda_colossale]

The 2th finger, feels far more natural as you reach for the D5 chord with C# as a transition point, compared to the only other choice one has, since the other three fingers are unavailable, where the hand has to expand really fast from a closed position when one tries to reach for the D5 chord after striking the C# with 4nd finger. That kind of motion is ubiquitous in this concerto, though, i.e. the repated tones at the exact same passage.