Rachmaninoff - Preludes: Favorite and hardest?

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Which of Rachmaninoff's 24 total Preludes is your favorite, and which do you believe is hardest?

[droprenstein]

I really like 23/2 in B flat major, really powerful piece if played well, good balance of showmanship and musicality that I'm always looking for. A really good encore piece.
I also like 32/3 in E major, really underrated piece imo.
As for the hardest, I think that's 32/4 in E minor for me, I've tried playing it before and those fast moving chords are horrible, especially in trying to make it sound musical beyond just playing the notes.

[evergreen]

I've been working on the 23/3 in D minor for the last couple months and actually finished memorizing it today. In my opinion it is a very underrated piece, and I hold it very dear. I love the minuet-like opening of it and the middle part is absolutely wonderful too. It is the exact right piece for the level I'm at right now, it uses a lot of different techniques and I learned a lot by playing and practicing it. I would highly recommend giving it a try, or listen!

[the green piano man]

My favourite is maybe 32 no.10 and 32.no.13 . Really good pieces and rachs favourite was 32 no.10 . The hardest is 32 no.13 im sure. Technically, musically complex. One of my academic friend learns it rn and he said he thinks its harder than rachs 1 sonata, but its just shorter than that . So my Pick is definitely goes for that one

[liszt-and-the-galops]

I myself am leaning towards 23/9, both for favorite and hardest.

[lelle]

I've always loved the one in G sharp minor. Really evocative.

[transitional]

Rachmaninoff's not really my favorite, so I don't know too much about the preludes, but the ones that stick out to me most are 23/3, 23/6, 32/5, 32/7, and 32/11. There's some beautiful typical Rach melodies and pulses. Some of them get too dense and perpetual for me, so many of the ones that I like happen to be the easier ones. I learned the 3/2 and am not a really big fan but might try some of the ones just mentioned.

I agree with liszt-and-the-galops on 23/9 for the hardest. None of the other ones really seem to require so much dexterity as that one.