Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 4 [Op. 40]

Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 4. Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
Conductor - André Previn.
Piano - Vladimir Ashkenazy.

0:00 I. Allegro vivace
10:28 II. Largo
18:08 III. Allegro vivace

Compared with its predecessors, the Fourth Concerto contains sharper thematic profiles along with a refinement of textures in keyboard and orchestra. These qualities do not lead to greater simplicity but to a different sort of complexity. It was also a continuation of Rachmaninoff's long-range creative growth: the Third Concerto and the recomposed First Concerto were less heavily orchestrated than the Second Concerto. In keeping with its general character, the Fourth Concerto is lighter still, yet more oblique.

The concerto is probably the least known of all Rachmaninoff's piano concertos, but it is frequently performed in Russia. There may be several reasons for this. The structure was criticized for being amorphous and difficult to grasp on a single hearing. Only the second movement (Largo) contains a prominent melody, while the external movements seem to be composed mainly of virtuosic piano runs and cadenzas. Like most of Rachmaninoff's late works, the concerto has a daring chromaticism and a distinctive jazzy quality.

Pianists Vladimir Ashkenazy, Leslie Howard and Yevgeny Sudbin, and biographer Max Harrison, have argued that, as with his Second Piano Sonata, Rachmaninoff got everything about the Fourth Concerto right the first time. They find it extremely disappointing that he yielded to adverse opinion, repeatedly making changes weakening what had initially been a powerfully original work.

The percussion notes are arranged purely for aesthetic reasons. This midi was generated and generously shared by autumn mixture, original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q16xx...

Reuploaded to fix and update some visual effects.