Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto no.2 op.18 - Anna Fedorova - Complete Live ...

38,286,042 views Sep 2, 2013

Also watch Rachmaninoff's 'Piano Concerto no.3' with Anna Fedorova:    • Rachmaninoff: Pia...  . The musical program: Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto no.2, op.18 The musicians: Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie led by Martin Panteleev Anna Fedorova, piano Recorded: Het Zondagochtend Concert, 1 september 2013 in het Koninklijk Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. Rachmaninovs Tweede pianoconcert is zijn populairste: het is te horen in vele films en is een mijlpaal in de carrière van alle grote pianisten. Het Zondagochtend Concert is a concert serie by the Dutch public radio broadcaster NPO Radio 4.

Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 tops Classic FM Hall of Fame in composer’s 150th anniversary year

Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 is voted as the new No.1 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2023. Picture: Alamy

By Classic FM

@ClassicFM

 

There’s a new number one in the Classic FM Hall of Fame, as Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto tops the chart for the first time in 10 years.

Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 has topped the Classic FM Hall of Fame for the first time in 10 years, in the year that marks 150 years since the composer was born.

A long-time favourite in the world’s biggest survey of classical music tastes, the monumental work has reached the No.1 spot eight times since the chart began in 1996.

In recent years it has lost out to Vaughan Williams’ enduringly popular The Lark Ascending, which has enjoyed four consecutive years in the top spot before being knocked off in 2023.

The new chart, which was revealed live across the four-day Easter weekend on Classic FM, also sees a record number of film music entries with 35 soundtracks voted in.

View the full Top 300 >

Rachmaninov finished writing his second piano concerto in 1901, as he emerged from a period of particularly troubling mental health. He dedicated the piece to the neurologist Nikolai Dahl as thanks for his treatment and support throughout his illness.

The piece was premiered in November of that year to great acclaim, and remains a firm favourite more than a century later. It featured prominently in the soundtrack of the 1945 romantic drama, Brief Encounter, and provided Eric Carmen with the inspiration for his hit pop power ballad, ‘All by Myself’, in 1975.

The tune cemented its popularity in 1996, when Canadian vocal powerhouse Celine Dion famously released her cover – and further still, when it was featured to great comedic effect in the 2001 film Bridget Jones’ Diary.