Sunday, April 19, 2009

Rachmaninov piano concerto No. 2

The symphony last evening was fabulous. Of course the part of the program everyone was there for was the Rachmaninov piano concerto No. 2. with its familiar haunting themes. Here's just the start. I've added links for the full concerto below. Isn't YouTube great?

Our soloist last evening treated us to two encores, Rachmaninov Prelude in G, and an amazing rendition on a Billy Joel theme.

We started our evening with a leisurely dinner at the Naked Fish sushi restaurant, just a short walk from symphony hall. And as always, I was thrilled to find an excellent parking place right on the street. The evening was a complete success.



Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

And in my search of YouTube, I discovered a number of recordings of Rachmaninov himself performing in concert. So I'm adding a link here to him performing the lovely little Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 , a piece that I have played for years. And in keeping with my resolutions this year to memorize piano pieces, I think this may be the next one I do. I think I like the Rubinstein recording of it better. Ok, that's quite enough links for one day.

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