{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2","description":"We humans seem to love comeback stories, and there is no comeback quite as compelling in the classical music world as Rachmaninoff\u2019s Second Piano Concerto. It was written three years after the disastrous premiere of his First Symphony, a premiere so catastrophic that it lives on in the annals of musical history, and is the essential starting point for understanding the Second Piano Concerto and how it came to be. The concerto revived both Rachmaninoff\u2019s career and his spirits, and it remains his most famous orchestral work. It is a towering masterpiece of Romanticism, overflowing with glorious melody after glorious melody, supported by virtuosic and sumptuous writing for the solo piano, and a deeply satisfying orchestral part that continues to make audiences swoon around the world. Today on the show, we\u2019ll begin with the story of Rachmaninoff\u2019s First Symphony, and then walk through this extraordinary concerto, highlighting what truly makes Rachmaninoff\u2019s music so special. Hint: it\u2019s not just the pretty melodies. Recording: Vladimir Ashkenazy with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin cond. ","author_name":"Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/stickynotespodcast.libsyn.com\/","html":"