What is Rachmaninoff hardest piece?

Perhaps the most difficult piece ever written for piano, Rachmaninoff's third piano concerto is 40 minutes of finger-twisting madness.

washingtonpost.com - 'Rach 3' is a concerto that pianist Daniil Trifonov needed to grow into

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When Daniil Trifonov made it to the final round of the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition, he had a tough choice to make. Like several of his competitors, Trifonov had been practicing Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a piece known for wowing judges with its bombastic difficulty. At the last minute, however, he opted to play an understated Chopin concerto instead, and his thoughtful performance won first place.

What triggered the change of heart?

“I felt that I needed a bit more experience with other Rachmaninoff music before I could understand his third concerto,” he says. ”Everything has its time.” That time is now. Trifonov, 24, is playing the legendary “Rach 3” in major concert halls worldwide, including three performances with the National Symphony Orchestra this weekend. Perhaps the most difficult piece ever written for piano, Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto is 40 minutes of finger-twisting madness. How tough is it? The concert pianist Rachmaninoff wrote it for flatly refused to play it, and one famous piano teacher, Cyril Smith, compared the piece’s physical demands to shoveling 10 tons of coal.

Trifonov says that’s a bit of an overstatement.

“It’s certainly a very demanding piece, but Rachmaninoff provides a natural warm-up,” he says. Rachmaninoff, after all, was a pianist himself. Born in Russia in 1873, he came from an aristocratic, but not particularly wealthy, family. He had to support himself by touring. That’s perhaps why he gave his most challenging concerto a slow start — so he wouldn’t sprain a finger. “He starts by introducing a theme in a rather simple setting, and then gradually he makes it more complex in structure,” Trifonov says. That trickle of notes soon becomes a torrent that even great pianists struggle to make sense of. That’s because Rach 3 is a novel, rather than a short story. Themes develop gradually over many pages of music. “You have to cover a lot of material with a single, sustained wave of concentration,” Trifonov says. In addition to technical and intellectual challenges, the piece spans the entire range of human experience, from ecstasy to despair, he adds. That, more than difficulty, is what caused Trifonov to back off of the concerto four years go.

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“It demands a lot of spiritual powers on the part of the performer,” Trifonov says. “It’s really the emotional challenge that leaves you exhausted after a performance.” Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW; Thu., 7 p.m., Fri. and Sat., 8 p.m., $10-$85.

Rach on

Can’t get enough of the Russian composer? Check out these concerts.

Rachmaninoff’s last composition was a transcription of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Lullaby.” Originally for soprano and piano, Rachmaninoff rewrote it for solo piano. Pianist Donald Manildi will perform the piece as part of a program including two other Rachmaninoff works at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (University of Maryland, College Park; Thu., 8 p.m., free.) After the failure of his first symphony, Rachmaninoff was determined that his second would be a hit — and it was, thanks to its lush melodies and shimmering orchestration. Even ’70s crooner Eric Carmen was a fan, borrowing one tune for his hit song “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again.” The Philadelphia Orchestra will perform Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St. NW; Tue., 8 p.m., $35-$105.) “The Bells,” Rachmaninoff’s gloomy take on an already gloomy Edgar Allan Poe poem, was one of his favorite compositions. The National Symphony Orchestra and The Choral Arts Society of Washington will perform the piece at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St. NW; April 16, 7 p.m., April 17 and 18, 8 p.m., $10-$85.) Overlapping melodies and frequent key changes make Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata No. 2 a favorite among modernists. Pianist Ryo Yanagitani will perform the piece at Evermay (1623 28th St. NW; May 16, 7:30 p.m., $65.)

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washingtonpost.com - 'Rach 3' is a concerto that pianist Daniil Trifonov needed to grow into

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