Piano Concerto No. 3 (Rachmaninoff)

Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 (colloquially known as The Rach 3) is famous for its technical and musical demands on the performer. It is commonly known as the most difficult piano concerto in the standard repertoire.

Following the form a standard concerto, the piece is in three movements:

1. Allegro ma non troppo
2. Intermezzo: Adagio
3. Finale: Alla breve

The third movement follows the second without pause (attacca).

Movements

Allegro ma non troppo

The first movement revolves around a sweet melody that is diatonic and moving, which develops into very complex pianistic figuration. The climax is the piano cadenza; there are two versions, one with a lighter feel than the other, but both have essentially the same melody.

Intermezzo: Adagio

The second movement consists of melodies which follow one another without a rigid scheme. It leads into the last movement without pause.

Finale: Alla breve

The third movement is quick and vigorous and contains many of the themes that are reminiscent of the first movement, which unites the whole concerto cyclically. The last movement is concluded with a triumphant melody in major.

History

Written in the peaceful setting of his family's country estate, Ivanovka, the concerto was completed on September 23, 1909. Rachmaninoff wrote this piece in order to showcase his own talents not only as a composer, but as a pianist. Contemporary with this work are his first piano sonata, his fairly well-known tone poem The Isle of the Dead and his setting of the liturgy.

The concerto is respected, even feared, by all pianists. Józef Hofmann, the pianist to whom the work is dedicated, never attempted to play it, saying that it "wasn't for" him.

Due to time constraints, Rachmaninoff could not practice the piece while in Russia. Instead, he took a silent keyboard with him on a ship to the US, on which he began and completed the work.

The famous beginning of the piano part

It was first performed on November 28, 1909 by the now-defunct New York Symphony Society with Walter Damrosch conducting and Rachmaninoff appearing as the guest artist on piano at the New Theater (later rechristened the Century Theater). It received a second performance under Gustav Mahler several weeks later, an 'experience Rachmaninoff treasured' [1]. The manuscript was first published in 1910 by Gutheil. The first performance in England was given by G T Ball (later Sir George Thalben-Ball) at the Royal College of Music in London.

A typical performance lasts around 45 minutes, compared to the typical concerto length of 20-30 minutes.

It was popularized by the 1996 film Shine, which portrayed the famous Australian pianist David Helfgott performing "the hardest piece in the world" for a concerto competition at the Royal College of Music in England.

Popular recordings of the concerto include Vladimir Horowitz's 1951 recording with Fritz Reiner and the RCA Symphony Orchestra. Most famous pianists have recorded the Third Concerto, including Byron Janis, Earl Wild, Stephen Hough, Martha Argerich, Van Cliburn, Evgeny Kissin, Vladimir Feltsman, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Emil Gilels, Arcadi Volodos, Bernd Glemser and Rachmaninoff himself.

Further reading

• W.R. Anderson: Rachmaninov and his pianoforte concertos. A brief sketch of the composer and his style. London 1947

External links

• Rachmaninoff's Works for Piano and Orchestra - History and analysis