Concerto No. 3 for Piano and Orchestra in D Minor, Op. 30

For his upcoming concert tour of the United States, SERGEI RACHMANINOFF wrote his Piano Concerto No. 3, considered to this day as an exceptional creative peak and a model in the genre. This is the concerto that embodies Rachmaninoff's genius as both composer and pianist, and it has been respected by musicians of all generations. It overcomes the famous structural sparseness and exaggerated pathos of the composer's previous opuses in favor of harmony, clarity, orderliness, and a strong poetic charm. Even the composer's critics found the concerto 'wonderful': 'Whoever does not know Rachmaninoff's lyricism, whoever is not accustomed to his way of singing melody, whoever does not remember his broad and clear keyboard writing, will find at once all the features of Rachmaninoff's work in the Third Concerto, and will be satisfied to see that the composer's talent is just as fresh and clear as it was in Rachmaninoff's best works'. The youthful impulse to romantic revelation is gone, the lyricism is restrained, sometimes harsh, the dramatic contrasts are sharpened, the performance roles are reversed in the soloist-orchestra dialogue in favour of the soloist's unquestioned leadership. The keyboard texture is richer and more varied in technique to the point of compelling monumental keyboard symphonism. The Concerto No. 3 stands out in power and artistic cogency against the decadence of European art. The first movement of the concerto, and especially its main theme, gives reason to look for an analogue or model of folk or liturgical origin, and hypothetical connections with the Znamennian refrain have been reached. Rachmaninoff denied the existence of a prototype theme: 'The first theme of my Third Concerto derives neither from folk-song forms nor from church sources. It was just born that way. I wanted to 'sing' the melody on the piano as the singers would have sung it, and to be able to combine it, without it being muted, with the orchestral scale." The music, by the composer's own admission, was born instantly, naturally and with ease. Josef Hofmann, the pianist to whom the work is dedicated, never publicly performed it, saying that it "wasn't for" him, despite the fact he ranked among pianists with impressive technique. Rachmaninoff completed the Concerto at the family estate in Ivanovka on 23 September 1909. He premiered it on 28 November 1909 with the New York Symphony Society Orchestra and Walter Damrosch, and a few weeks later Gustav Mahler conducted a second performance. The score was published in 1910. Since then, this concerto has been one of the most repertoire opuses. The composer himself soloed in the 1939 recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy. Vladimir Horowitz's performances prevail - a 1930 first recording of the concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra; a 1941 recording with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Sir John Barbirolli; a 1951 studio recording with Fritz Reiner; and a 1978 concert recording. Next to Horowitz's recordings is Martha Argerich's recording with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly from a 1982 concert. The performances of the Concerto by Russian pianists follow in terms of realisation and high professionalism: several recordings by Sviatoslav Richter, Mikhail Pletnev, Evgeny Mogilevsky, and the Deutsche Grammophon disc with Nikolai Lugansky's performance is impressive.