Live at the Mariinsky

Featuring

George Li
Joseph Haydn
Frédéric Chopin
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Franz Liszt

Did you know?

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Cultural Impact

Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 in C sharp minor, S244/2, became so popular that Liszt discouraged his pupils from bringing it to him for coaching, and it was later appropriated in jazz arrangements and animated shorts like 'Rhapsody Rabbit' featuring Bugs Bunny.

Composition History

Sergei Rachmaninov's Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op.42, are based on the 'La Folia' theme, which was appropriated by Arcangelo Corelli, an Italian Baroque composer, for his own set of variations, not originally composed by him.

Compositional Technique

Despite its popularity, Frédéric Chopin's Piano Sonata No.2 in B flat minor, Op.35 is considered atypical of his style, largely eschewing the filigree and decorative passages characteristic of his other works.

Critical Reception

Robert Schumann, a German composer and influential music critic, believed that Frédéric Chopin's Piano Sonata No.2 in B flat minor, Op.35 lacked organic unity, describing its movements as 'four of his maddest children under a single roof'.

Compositional Technique

Joseph Haydn's Keyboard Sonata in B minor, Hob.XVI:32, features a bassoon-like staccato accompaniment and a Finale that foreshadows the thematic economy of Beethoven's early sonatas.

Composer Biography

Sergei Rachmaninov, after leaving Russia due to the 1917 Revolution, solidified his career as a concert pianist in the United States, which led to a significant slowing of his creative output.

Interpretation

Sergei Rachmaninov would sometimes omit variations from his Corelli Variations, Op.42, during concerts, depending on audience coughing, once playing only half the piece.