Composer of the Week - Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) - Episode 2

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Sergei Rachmaninov and concentrates on his three-year creative block. The composer visited his hero Tolstoy hoping for a pep talk, but instead found what he called 'a thoroughly disagreeable man'. Eventually he got back on track with the help of a noted Moscow hypnotist, Dr Dahl, who managed to rouse him from his lethargy. He subsequently produced works that include his opera Francesca da Rimini, the Second Piano Concerto - one of his most enduringly popular works - and the Cello Sonata. Morceau de fantaisie in G minor (1899) Howard Shelley (piano) Hyperion CDS44043 Track 4 Francesca da Rimini, Op 25 (1900, 1904-5) - Sc 2; epilogue Paolo ...... Misha Didyk Francesca ...... Svetla Vassileva BBC Philharmonic BBC Singers Stephen Betteridge (chorus master) Gianandrea Noseda (conductor) Chandos CHAN 10442 Ttracks 8-10 Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, Op 18 (1900-01) - 1st mvt Stephen Hough (piano) Dallas Symphony Orchestra Andrew Litton (conductor) Hyperion CDA67501/2 CD 2 track 1 Sonata in G minor for cello and piano, Op 9 (1901) - 3rd, 4th mvts Daniil Shafran (cello) Yakov Flyer (piano) Revelation RV 10017, tracks 3, 4.