Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 | Antonio Pappano with the Staatskapelle Dresden

A frenzy of timbres: Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27, performed by the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden under the baton of Antonio Pappano. The concert took place in the Semperoper Dresden in 2018.

The second symphony by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943) could also be called his "Dresden Symphony" since Rachmaninoff wrote the symphonic work in 1906/07 in Dresden, where his family had spent the winter months for three consecutive years. The premiere of Symphony No. 2 took place again in St. Petersburg in 1908 under the composer's direction and was a great success, which Rachmaninoff was in dire need of, since the premiere of his first symphony in 1897 had been a debacle and had plunged him into depression and a deep creative crisis.

All the more astonishing was the great success he had with his 2nd Symphony. This may be due, on the one hand, to the balance that characterizes the form of each of the four movements. But above all, it is the symphony's tonal colours that give it an incomparable radiance. Through lush orchestration and varied combinations of instrumental groups, the orchestra's tonal possibilities come into their own.

In the past, Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 was often performed in an abridged version. Here, the Staatskapelle Dresden plays it completely authentically – in its unabridged original version and at the location of its creation.

(00:00) Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27
(00:25) I. Largo - Allegro moderato
(19:23) II. Allegro molto
(29:50) III Adagio
(44:19) IV. Allegro vivace

© EuroArts Music International

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