The beginning of the opening theme of the Piano Concerto No. 3
History
Proofing copies of the concerto (1910)
Rachmaninoff composed the concerto in the peaceful setting of his family’s country estate, Ivanovka,[2] completing it on September 23, 1909. Contemporary with this work are his First Piano Sonata and his tone poem The Isle of the Dead – both in the same key of D minor.
The concerto is respected, even feared, by many pianists. Josef Hofmann, the pianist to whom the work is dedicated, never publicly performed it, saying that it “wasn’t for” him. Gary Graffman lamented he had not learned this concerto as a student, when he was “still too young to know fear”.[3]
Due to time constraints, Rachmaninoff could not practice the piece while in Russia. Instead, he practiced it on a silent keyboard that he brought with him while en route to the United States.
The concerto was first performed on November 28, 1909 by Rachmaninoff himself with the now-defunct New York Symphony Society with Walter Damrosch conducting, at the New Theater (later rechristened the Century Theater). It received a second performance under Gustav Mahler several weeks later, an “experience Rachmaninoff treasured.”[4] Rachmaninoff later described the rehearsal to Riesemann:
“At that time Mahler was the only conductor whom I considered worthy to be classed with Nikisch. He devoted himself to the concerto until the accompaniment, which is rather complicated, had been practiced to perfection, although he had already gone through another long rehearsal. According to Mahler, every detail of the score was important — an attitude too rare amongst conductors. … Though the rehearsal was scheduled to end at 12:30, we played and played, far beyond this hour, and when Mahler announced that the first movement would be rehearsed again, I expected some protest or scene from the musicians, but I did not notice a single sign of annoyance. The orchestra played the first movement with a keen or perhaps even closer appreciation than the previous time.[5]”
The manuscript was first published in 1910 by Gutheil. Rachmaninoff called the Third the favorite of his own piano concertos, stating that “I much prefer the Third, because my Second is so uncomfortable to play.” Nevertheless, it was not until the 1930s and largely thanks to the advocacy of Vladimir Horowitz that the Third concerto became popular.
Orchestration
The concerto is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, piano and strings.
Selected recordings
Soloist/ Conductor/ Orchestra -Record Company/ Year of Recording/ Format
Vladimir Horowitz/ Albert Coates /London Symphony Orchestra HMV 1930/ CD, LP
Sergei Rachmaninoff/ Eugene Ormandy/ Philadelphia Orchestra RCA Red Seal 1939/ CD, LP
Vladimir Horowitz /John Barbirolli/ New York Philharmonic /Label 1941 /CD, LP
Emil Gilels /André Cluytens Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire/ EMI Classics 1955/ CD, LP
Van Cliburn Kirill Kondrashin/ Symphony of the Air RCA/ Red Seal 1958/ CD, LP
Vladimir Ashkenazy André Previn /London Symphony Orchestra Decca/ 1973/ CD, LP
Martha Argerich Riccardo Chailly/ German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philips 1982/ CD
Dimitris Sgouros Yuri Simonov /Berlin Philharmonic /EMI 1983/ CD, LP
Horacio Gutiérrez Lorin Maazel /Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Telarc/ 1991/ CD
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