“War Horse”
The title of today’s post refers to music that is so well-known that perhaps we have stopped listening to its magic. Other compositions in this category are the Symphony #5 by Beethoven, or the Piano concerto #1 by Tchaikovsky, made famous by the late Van Cliburn, when he won the first prize at the Tchaikovsky competition in Russia many years ago.
“ Music calms the savage Beast”— that’s the way I can describe the impact of Rachmaninov’s piano Concerto #2 on me, this morning. I had been ill for a couple of days, and some calming music was certainly welcome.
This music has become so familiar because it is loved so universally. And it makes sense to hear it again, because it is so magical.
If you like the video that I have for you below, you can get the entire piano concerto on the DVD that you can see on the left side;
Here are the contents of this DVD:
- Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62, Egmont Overture, Op. 84
- Debussy: La Mer, Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
- Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor/Alexis Weissenberg (piano)
- Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé – Suite No. 2
- Rossini: Guillaume Tell Overture
- Wagner: Tannhäuser – Overture
- Weber: Der Freischütz Overture
Here is pianist Alexis Weissenberg, performing the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2, second movement; Herbert von Karajan is conducting, and there is an amazing interplay that is totally seamless between the Berlin Philharmonic and the piano soloist:
http://youtu.be/GxSKjpq5BNY
Let’s hear another amazing pianist play the music of Rachmaninov; here is Evgeny Kissin performing the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18:
Tags: Rachmaninov, Weissenberg, Karajan, Concerto #2