IDAGIO | Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27 - Lyadov: The Enchanted Lake, Op. 62 7318599920719

Featuring

Andrew Litton
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Anatoly Lyadov

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Critical Reception

Rachmaninov's Second Symphony was often performed with cuts, sanctioned by the composer, and it only became common practice to perform the symphony complete from around the mid-1960s.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Rachmaninov, conservative by temperament, never questioned the late-Romantic style inherited from Tchaikovsky and was known for his approach to long-range construction.

Composition History

Rachmaninov initially abandoned his Second Symphony after sketching it, writing to his librettist, 'It was a severe worry to me, and I am not going to think about it any more.'

Composer Biography

Anatoly Liadov, an older contemporary of Rachmaninov, was known for his extreme personal reserve; it was a running joke that none of his friends had ever met his wife.

Composition History

Anatoly Liadov's delay in starting the music for Diaghilev's ballet 'The Firebird' ultimately gave the young Igor Stravinsky his great opportunity to compose it.

Composer Biography

Despite his prodigious gifts as a composer, pianist, and conductor, Rachmaninov suffered from terrible insecurity throughout his life.

Historical Context

Rachmaninov moved to Dresden in 1906, cancelling all his engagements in Russia, due to the general anxiety gripping Russia after the revolutionary movements of 1905.