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Pogo, I'll really be interested in hearing your recording of the Rachmaninoff 1st Sonata, because I'll be damned if I can figure out what all the shouting's about -- WAY too much work for the esthetic payoff. I first heard the work in performance by Yakov Kasman, and, as wonderful a pianist and interpreter as he is, my initial reaction then was -- much ado about not very much. At the last Chicago Amateur Competition, one contestant presented the first movement in the 2nd round, and (IMO) deservedly made it into the final round to play the entire piece. An enormous technical accomplishment -- but I confess I remained unmoved by the music. As expressive a pianist as you are, I'll be truly interested in hearing how you make music out of that.
What do you mean music out of "that"? Haha! The first and second movements are full of poetry! But you have to live the piece, you have to know how to make it sound simpler... Even the third movement has poetic moments - fragments that occur from the previous movements, and the coda is phenomenal! Completely Faustian, even if Rachmaninoff "discarded" the idea throughout composing it.
It's easy to make it sound like virtuosity with no substance, but that's not what it is...
Much deeper than the 2nd sonata I think.
"The eyes can mislead, the smile can lie, but the shoes always tell the truth."
Pogo, I'll really be interested in hearing your recording of the Rachmaninoff 1st Sonata, because I'll be damned if I can figure out what all the shouting's about -- WAY too much work for the esthetic payoff. I first heard the work in performance by Yakov Kasman, and, as wonderful a pianist and interpreter as he is, my initial reaction then was -- much ado about not very much. At the last Chicago Amateur Competition, one contestant presented the first movement in the 2nd round, and (IMO) deservedly made it into the final round to play the entire piece. An enormous technical accomplishment -- but I confess I remained unmoved by the music. As expressive a pianist as you are, I'll be truly interested in hearing how you make music out of that.
Have you ever heard Ogdon play it? Even better, have you explored it yourself? I learned(ish) the first movement last summer and it is unbelievable. Honestly, I think the technical challenges aren't as demanding as those of the second sonata, (at least the original version), haha.
Have you ever heard Ogdon play it? Even better, have you explored it yourself? I learned(ish) the first movement last summer and it is unbelievable. Honestly, I think the technical challenges aren't as demanding as those of the second sonata, (at least the original version), haha.
Um... Have you ever tried to perform the entire thing, or even just the first movement? Put together it makes the second sonata (at least the revised) a child's play..... That and, I used to literally use the first mvt of the 2nd sonata as a warm up before practicing the first haha
"The eyes can mislead, the smile can lie, but the shoes always tell the truth."
OSW, if the Ogdon performance is on YouTube, I may very well have a complete listen -- he has a combination of immense power and poetic vision that just might turn my head around regarding the First Sonata. In the interests of full disclosure, I was never much a fan of the Second Sonata, either -- but, again, at the Chicago Amateur Competition, another contestant provided a meltingly beautiful performance that changed be opinion considerably. So, it IS possible to win me over!
Incidentally, the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Chorus is providing a performance of "The Bells" this weekend -- that's one I've never heard, and I'm looking forward to it, because I think Rachmaninoff is especially good at choral music.
OSW, if the Ogdon performance is on YouTube, I may very well have a complete listen -- he has a combination of immense power and poetic vision that just might turn my head around regarding the First Sonata...
...So, it IS possible to win me over!
Let's see...
Pogo, it's been a while and I honestly haven't touched the 2nd sonata (either version). So I guess I don't know for myself, but I've also heard a couple pianists say the first isn't as hard for them as the second. But difficulty is subjective often times, I guess?
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