Music alike Rachmaninov's Piano Concerti

[Moe]

Hey GMG.

I've recently taking a huge liking to Rachmaninov, and what stands out the most for me is his Piano Concerti number 2 and 3.

Especially the first movement of number 2 and the third movement of number 3.

Can't really describe what I find so extraordinary about it, I think it's just perhaps they very heavy and intense atmosphere of the first movement of his 2nd piano concerto.

Is there any other composers which are alike Rachmaninov? (Is the correct way actually Rachmaninov or Rachmaninoff?)

Cheers,
- Moe

[North Star]

Rakhmaninov spelled his name in the US 'Rachmaninoff'.
If you want very heavy and intense, try Prokofiev's 2nd Piano Concerto.

[Karl Henning]

In a strict sense, the correct way is Рахманинов : )  And there are various ways of Latinizing the name, even in a single Western language; both Rachmaninov and Rachmaninoff have been used.

I find that the Brahms second concerto sort of "prefigures" the Rakhmaninov concerti in interesting ways.

And Karlo's suggestion of the Prokofiev g minor concerto is excellent.

[Moe]

Thanks, both of you, for the very quick replies! :-)

I will make sure to check out both the pieces of Brahms and Prokofiev that you suggested.

As far as Rachmaninov/Rakhmaninov/Rachmaninoff/Рахманинов goes, I'll probably stick to Rachmaninov, which is how it's spelled mostly, where I'm from! (Hope people don't dwell too much on it!;-))

Cheers.

[North Star]

And of course it's spelled Rahmaninov in Finland...

[BobsterLobster]

If you've recently come across Rachmaninov concertos, this CD may be right up your street:

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[mc ukrneal]

A concerto in the same style is one by Alnaes - this one:
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I enjoy the Sinding too, though that one is more rreminiscent of other composers.

[Brian]

Anton Rubinstein's Fourth Concerto is an obvious choice, I believe he was either Rach's teacher or an inspiration at least.

[DaveF]

There's always Medtner - or Metner, or Метнер - who is very much in the same Russian romantic mould as Rachmaninoff, but without (to my ears) much of Rach's bold, heart-on-sleeve romanticism.

[jochanaan]

What?  No one's yet mentioned Tchaikovsky #1?!

If you like dramatic and intense, you'll probably love the Beethoven concertos if you haven't fallen in love with them already.  You might also like Saint Saens' Concerto #2 in G minor; the last movements are kind of lightweight musically but the first is "lovely, dark and deep". (Robert Frost)

[pjme]

From the Hyperion CD:


The Bortkiewicz Concerto has been recorded once before, albeit in a heavily cut version. This Hyperion issue is therefore a premiere recording of the complete work. The American pianist Marjorie Mitchell made several out-of-the-way concerto discs with the conductor William Strickland in the late 1950s and early '60s, those by Carpenter, Field, Delius and Britten among them. Her recording of the Bortkiewicz Concerto was coupled with Busoni's Indian Fantasy! That Brunswick disc has acquired something of a legendary status among collectors (it is extremely hard to come by) because Bortkiewicz's Piano Concerto No 1 is one of the great 'fun' concertos with its heady bravura writing, lush orchestration, strong, well-wrought and effective material and, in the first movement, one of the most seductive, romantic themes of the whole genre. Hollywood never had it this good—close your eyes and black-and-white films of lost love, heartache and yearning passion are conjured up. If the other two movements are less successful they are only slightly so; the second is a gorgeously tuneful Andante, the Finale a Russian dance. Chronologically, of course, Hollywood has nothing to do with Bortkiewicz and his First Concerto. Dedicated to his wife, the work was premiered in 1912 (and published the following year), after which it was taken up enthusiastically.

Like Arensky, Bortkiewicz was Russian (he was born in Kharkov, 16 February 1877) and studied at the St Petersburg Conservatory—in his spare time at first, for his father insisted that he study law. 'I inherited my mother's pleasure in music-making', he wrote. 'And what a blessing it was that we made much music when I was young. My mother played the piano very well and I was passionately fond of music.'

Later, from 1900 to 1902, he studied at the Leipzig Conservatory—piano with the former Liszt pupil Alfred Reisenauer (1863–1907), and composition with Salomon Jadassohn (1831–1902), another erstwhile Liszt student and among the most celebrated German pedagogues of the time, famously arch-conservative in his codified views on harmony and counterpoint.

Unlike some of his Russian contemporaries (Rachmaninov, Medtner, Scriabin) Bortkiewicz was not a sufficiently gifted pianist to make a career as a soloist, though after his debut (Munich, 1902) he made several European tours. He made no records or piano rolls and while one critic felt he produced a 'harsh, jarring sound' others give the impression of him being only a capable player, at his best in his own works. His strengths, he eventually decided, were teaching and composition. He taught at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory in Berlin from 1904 until the outbreak of the First World War when he was forced to return to Russia. After the Revolution he left his native land, like so many never to return again, and after a peripatetic existence, including a two-year stay in (then) Constantinople, Bortkiewicz finally settled in Vienna in 1922, dying there in October 1952.

'I am a Romantic and a melodist', he wrote in an essay towards the end of his life, 'and as such and in spite of my distaste for the so-called 'modern', atonal and cacophonic music, I do hope that I composed some noteworthy works without getting the reputation of being an epigone or imitator of composers who lived before me.' Bortkiewicz's compositions are dominated by those for his instrument and many are well worth investigating (Lamentations and Consolations, Op 17, for example, and some of the Preludes from Opp 13, 15, 33 and 40, Lyrica Nova Op 59 from 1940, and the 1907 Piano Sonata No 1 in B major, Op 9). Perhaps, like the present Concerto (he wrote two others), they lack profundity and originality in the widest sense. But does the only music we appreciate have to be by the great composers who overturned systems, struck out for the unknown, and challenged their muse? One hopes not. There must always be a place for those like Arensky and Bortkiewicz who reflect so elegantly and expertly on what has gone before, rather than shake us by the ears and grab us (sometimes screaming) into the future.

If you want to find out where Kharkov/Kharkiv lies :http://www.cincinnatisistercity.org/kharkiv_info.htm


A really fun rarity ( on You Tube) is this concerto by Théo Ysaÿe - (brother of Eugène)

http://youtu.be/7eHXRCuHtyQ

And do try this:

Yevgueni Svetlanov: Pianoconcerto in C minor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymu_V1LHRTQ&feature=share&list=PLC19EB09F3F36B33C

Otar Taktakishvili ( from Georgia) : http://youtu.be/e9G2RfWJx9o

From Bulgaria: Veselin Stoyanov: http://youtu.be/l2YuVI_EkHQ

and there's much, much more "à la manière de"!

P.

as you will hear Rachmaninov made a HUGE impact...

[Parsifal]

Like Arensky, Bortkiewicz was Russian (he was born in Kharkov, 16 February 1877)

Kharov is not in Russia.

[Brian]

Kharov is not in Russia.

It was an ethnically Ukrainian part of Russia at the time, and of course Ukraine was then known as "Little Russia" (as in Tchaikovsky's Second Symphony, which today would be subtitled "The Ukrainian").

[Parsifal]

It was an ethnically Ukrainian part of Russia at the time, and of course Ukraine was then known as "Little Russia" (as in Tchaikovsky's Second Symphony, which today would be subtitled "The Ukrainian").

Kharov was never part of Russia.  The Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire, as was Poland, but that does not mean that Chopin was a Russian.

[Florestan]

And of course it's spelled Rahmaninov in Finland...

Exactly as in Romania...

Try this:

[BobsterLobster]

Of course, if you want more music like Rachmaninov's concertos, you can always listen to some recordings of his 2nd Symphony and Piano Trio arranged as 'extra' piano concertos:

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They're pretty good...

[Karl Henning]

Oh, I like the Trio far too well, to see it misshapen into an ersatz concerto.

[jochanaan]

It was an ethnically Ukrainian part of Russia at the time, and of course Ukraine was then known as "Little Russia" (as in Tchaikovsky's Second Symphony, which today would be subtitled "The Ukrainian").

Actually, "Little Russia" is today's Belarus.

[Brian]

[Florestan]

Actually, "Little Russia" is today's Belarus.

No, no, no, that is incorrect. "Little Russia" or "Малороссия" is Ukraine all the way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Russia