Rachmaninoff Piano
Piano Concertos Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky?
Question: which of tchaikovsky’s three piano concertos are the most technically difficult to play. Some say it is his 1st others say it is his second, most agree that his 3d and last in E Flat is the easiest. So is the second or the first more difficult. If we take tchaik’s most difficult piano concerto, is it MORE difficult then Sergei Rachmaninoff’s 3d piano concerto in D minor, again, some say tchaik is more difficult then Rachmaninoff 3d other say that the rd piano concerto by Rachmaninoff is the most difficult piano conerto ever written
What is true hear??
Thanks
Among performers, the commonly accepted sentiment is that, of the Rachmaninoff concertos, the second is the hardest by a long measure. Although it’s heard a lot, I don’t believe for a second that any performer finds the Rach 2 or 3 to be the hardest concerto. If they do, that performer has a very narrow repertoire. Check out the Prokofiev 1 and 3 to see some truly terrifying music.
I have never played the second or third of Tchaikovsky’s concertos, but I know that the second could only be considered ‘harder’ if you were measuring how akward it is to play. The first is longer, more musically/artistically intricate, and easier to make sound terrible; I would think it is, overall, more difficult to perform. It is certainly more artistically challenging than the Rachmaninoff 2, although the later beats it in terms of technical difficulty. Rach 3 is nearly as hard on an emotional level, but a bit easier than Tchaikovsky as far as keyboard technique. Of course, the Tchaikovsky is probably the longest concerto in the standard repertoire, and certainly the longest of any by himself and Rachmaninoff, making it the most difficult to play through entirely.
So, despite all my soliliquizing, I can’t really say for sure that Tchaikovsky is harder or easier than Rachmaninoff’s second, although I can pretty much rule out the third. It just depends on things like how big and nimble your hands are and how easy you find it to put emotion into a performance. They both have their difficulties and strengths, so I don’t think there’s a sure way to objectify the overall difficulty, but I hope this gives you an idea of what each one is like.
Rachmaninov plays Rachmaninov Piano Concerto 3 (1939)
