- Concerto Pour Piano N°2 En Ut Mineur, Op. 18 - Rhapsodie Sur Un Thème De Paganini, Op. 43 - Eliahu Inbal Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 33 Nos 3 Et 6 Et Op. 39 N° 5

This 1982 Philips release features the iconic Second Piano Concerto and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninoff. These works represent the height of the Romantic piano repertoire, composed during the composer’s period of intense stylistic maturity. The concerto, completed in 1901, was a pivotal work that helped Rachmaninoff overcome a period of clinical depression, while the Rhapsody, written in 1934, remains one of the most technically demanding and structurally ingenious sets of variations in the history of classical music.

The recording features Eliahu Inbal conducting, a figure noted for his precise and analytical approach to orchestral color. Released during a period when Philips was highly regarded for their rich, nuanced recording fidelity, this specific pressing captures the mid-twentieth-century European approach to Russian romanticism. Critics of the era generally praised Inbal for his clear articulation and avoidance of excessive sentimentalism, allowing the structural integrity of Rachmaninoff’s writing to emerge through the lush orchestration.