Main content

Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto

Tom Service explores Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, asking what is the secret of its continuing emotional appeal and also why critics disliked it so much.

Tom Service examines one of the most famous concertos in the piano repertoire. What is the secret of its appeal? Why does it have such emotional impact? Why did the critics hate it, yet why is it such a classical favourite in the world of popular culture - from Mickey Mouse to Marilyn Monroe to Muse? And what did Rachmaninov have to go through to compose it? With pianist Lucy Parham.

Available now

32 minutes

Last on

Fri 13 Jan 2023 16:30
BBC Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Transcendence

Next

Why is music addicted to bass?

See all episodes from The Listening Service

Music Played

  • Buddy Kaye

    Full Moon and Empty Arms

    Composer: Buddy Kaye. Composer: Sergey Rachmaninov. Performer: Frank Sinatra.
    • Greatest Hits: The Early Years, Vol. 2.
    • Columbia.

  • Muse

    Space Dementia

    • Origin of Symmetry.
    • Mushroom Records.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Prelude in C sharp minor Op.3 no.2

    Performer: Nikolai Lugansky.
    • Rachmaninov: Preludes.
    • Erato.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Symphony No.1 in D minor

    Performer: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy.
    • Ashkenazy Rachmaninov Symphony NO 1.
    • Decca.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Fate op 21 no 1

    Performer: Sergei Petrovich Leiferkus. Performer: Howard Shelley.
    • Rachmaninov - Songs For Baritone.
    • Chandos.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18 (extract)

    Performer: Lucy Parham.

  • Richard Addinsell

    Warsaw concerto for piano and orchestra

    Performer: Jean‐Yves Thibaudet. Performer: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Performer: Hugh Wolff.
    • Warsaw concerto : romantic piano classics from the silver screen.
    • Decca.

  • John Adams

    Grand Pianola Music

    Performer: Alan Feinberg. Performer: Ursula Oppens. Performer: Solisti New York. Performer: Ransom Wilson.
    • John Adams - Grand Pianola Music.
    • EMI.

  • John Corigliano

    Kaleidoscope for two pianos

    Performer: Ursula Oppens. Performer: Jerome Lowenthal.
    • Winging It: Piano Music.
    • Cedille.

  • Martha Argerich & Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky

    Musique Populaire for two pianos

    • Oeuvres pour Piano.
    • Valois.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18

    Performer: Sir Stephen Hough. Performer: Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Performer: Andrew Litton.
    • Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concs.
    • Hyperion.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 11 Sep 2016 17:00
    BBC Radio 3
  • Sun 28 May 2017 17:00
    BBC Radio 3
  • Fri 2 Apr 2021 16:30
    BBC Radio 3
  • Sun 8 Jan 2023 17:00
    BBC Radio 3
  • Fri 13 Jan 2023 16:30
    BBC Radio 3

Why do we call it 'classical' music?

Why do we call it 'classical' music?

Tom Service poses a very simple question (with a not-so-simple answer).

Six of the world's most extreme voices

Six of the world's most extreme voices

From babies to Mongolian throat singers: whose voice is the most extreme of all?

How did the number 12 revolutionise music?

How did the number 12 revolutionise music?

How Schoenberg opened a new cosmos for composers and listeners to explore.

Why are we all addicted to bass?

Why are we all addicted to bass?

Bass is everywhere, but why do we enjoy it? Join Tom Service on a journey of discovery.

Watch the animations

Watch the animations

Join Tom Service on a musical journey through beginnings, repetition and bass lines.

When does noise become music?

When does noise become music?

We like to think we can separate “noise” from “music”, but is it that simple?

Podcast