Top 5 Favorite Rachmaninov Works

Started by Mirror Image, June 02, 2015, 09:01:30 AM

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Mirror Image

June 02, 2015, 09:01:30 AM Last Edit: December 08, 2019, 09:12:19 PM by Mirror Image


It's that time again. ;) Pick your Top 5 Favorites from Rachmaninov. Two stipulations for this poll: you can only choose one symphony and one concerto. Have fun!

My list in no particular order:

Three Russian Songs, Op. 41
Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27
Trio élégiaque No. 2 in D minor, Op. 9
Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 30

Brian

#1
June 02, 2015, 09:04:00 AM
Random order:

Symphony No. 2
Symphonic Dances
Paganini Rhapsody
Preludes, Op. 23
Preludes, Op. 32

Honorable Mention: Variations on a Theme of Chopin

Thing I haven't listened to and I apologize to GMG since it will inevitably be GMG's #1 choice: Vespers

North Star

#2
June 02, 2015, 09:06:39 AM
All-night Vigil
Piano Concerto no. 3
Symphonic Dances
Isle of the Dead
Etudes-tableaux Op. 39

E: Yes, Brian, it will be. ;)
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Cato

#3
June 02, 2015, 09:10:55 AM
Not to be different for the sake of being different, but here are some which I have liked for many decades:

The Bells
The Covetous Knight
Piano Sonata #2
Symphony #1
Isle of the Dead

Honorable mention: Prince Rostislav
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Dancing Divertimentian

#4
June 02, 2015, 09:42:35 AM
Quote from: Cato on June 02, 2015, 09:10:55 AM
Piano Sonata #2
Symphony #1

I think I'll join you in the piano sonata love:

1st piano sonata
3rd piano concerto
Etudes-tableaux Op. 39
Cello sonata
Preludes (both sets)

Need to check out the first symphony again. Been awhile...

Veit Bach-a baker who found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill and played while the grinding was going on. In this way he had a chance to have the rhythm drilled into him. And this was the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants. JS Bach

Wanderer

#5
June 02, 2015, 10:13:37 AM
Piano Concerto No.4
Piano Sonata No.2
The Miserly Knight
The Bells
Vespers

Christo

#6
June 02, 2015, 11:00:58 AM
Perhaps not my favourite composer, but with some favourite pieces:

Symphonic Dances
All-Night Vigil
Piano Concerto No. 2
Symphony No. 2
Caprice bohémien
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

#7
June 02, 2015, 11:07:57 AM Last Edit: June 02, 2015, 11:09:44 AM by vandermolen
The Bells
Symphony 1
Piano Concerto 4
The Rock (or 'The Crag')
Prince Rostislav
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

#8
June 02, 2015, 11:11:58 AM
Quote from: Christo on June 02, 2015, 11:00:58 AM
Perhaps not my favourite composer, but with some favourite pieces:

Symphonic Dances
All-Night Vigil
Piano Concerto No. 2
Symphony No. 2
Caprice bohémien
I have a very soft spot for Symphony 2 and PC No.3 as they were my mother's favourite pieces of music.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Sergeant Rock

#9
June 02, 2015, 11:36:19 AM
Piano Concerto No.2 C minor
Symphony No.1 D minor
Isle of the Dead
Variations on a Theme of Corelli Op.42
Prelude C sharp minor Op.3 No.2 (a sentimental favorite: my mother played it on her upright piano when I was a tyke)


the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Lisztianwagner

#10
June 05, 2015, 01:09:31 AM
Piano Concerto No.3
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Symphony No.1
Symphonic Dances
Preludes Op.23
"You cannot expect the Form before the Idea, for they will come into being together." - Arnold Schönberg

Karl Henning

#11
June 05, 2015, 03:12:41 AM
All superb choices, Ilaria  :)
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

#12
June 05, 2015, 03:14:11 AM
Quote from: Brian on June 02, 2015, 09:04:00 AM
Thing I haven't listened to and I apologize to GMG since it will inevitably be GMG's #1 choice: Vespers

Expert analysis, that  8)  0:)  :)
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Lisztianwagner

#13
June 05, 2015, 05:06:57 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on June 05, 2015, 03:12:41 AM
All superb choices, Ilaria  :)

Thank you, Karl. :) What about yours? Or you're not a great Rach's fan?
"You cannot expect the Form before the Idea, for they will come into being together." - Arnold Schönberg

Florestan

#14
June 05, 2015, 05:20:56 AM
Today's list

PC 2
Symphony 2
Symphonic Dances
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Cello Sonata

Tomorrow's list may be different.  :D
"Beauty must appeal to the senses, must provide us with immediate enjoyment, must impress us or insinuate itself into us without any effort on our part. ." — Claude Debussy

Cato

#15
June 05, 2015, 05:28:19 AM
A variation on my list, which allows me to give praise to The Rock and the Fourth Piano Concerto.

Quote from: vandermolen on June 02, 2015, 11:07:57 AM
The Bells
Symphony 1
Piano Concerto 4
The Rock (or 'The Crag')
Prince Rostislav
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Madiel

#16
June 05, 2015, 05:55:23 AM Last Edit: June 05, 2015, 05:57:03 AM by orfeo
The poll stipulation is clearly invented by one of the orchestra-obsessed people around here.  ;)

Etudes-Tableaux op.39
Variations on a Theme by Corelli
Symphonic Dances (including 2-piano version)
Isle of the Dead
Symphony No.1?

I dunno, off the top of my head I have a certain trouble remembering which symphony is which. I have this memory of either Symphony No.1 or PC No.1 unexpectedly impressing me, and it seems more likely that it was Symphony No.1 that surprised me just because of its history.

The main Rachmaninov 'rule' I have in my head is that the op.39 and the small handful of post-Russia works are first class. I haven't heard the op.41 choruses yet, though.
Every single post on the forum is unnecessary. Including the ones that are interesting or useful.

springrite

#17
June 05, 2015, 05:57:56 AM
The Rock
Isle of the Dead
PC2
PC3
Preludes Op ... (Well, don't make me choose)
Do what I must do, and let what must happen happen.

Florestan

#18
June 05, 2015, 05:59:29 AM
Quote from: springrite on June 05, 2015, 05:57:56 AM
PC2
PC3

Breaking the rules, breaking the rules...  ;D
"Beauty must appeal to the senses, must provide us with immediate enjoyment, must impress us or insinuate itself into us without any effort on our part. ." — Claude Debussy

Karl Henning

#19
June 05, 2015, 06:01:23 AM
Quote from: Lisztianwagner on June 05, 2015, 05:06:57 AM
Thank you, Karl. :) What about yours? Or you're not a great Rach's fan?

A great fan, indeed . . . my problem would be, which five?

So . . . I shall elide the problem by going with the first five which come to mind:

«Всенощное бдѣніе» (All-Night Vigil), Op.37
«Остров мёртвых» (Isle of the Dead), Op.29
Piano Trio in d minor, Op.9
Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op.42
Романсы (15 Songs), Op.26
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot
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