Sergei Rachmaninoff

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…helps to correct the notion that Rachmaninoff in excelsis must be somber and maudlin. The slow movement, beginning with Beethoven "Moonlight"-Sonata-like triplets in the piano accompanying piquant conversations in the winds, is a multi-faceted canvas on which dazzling virtuosity and impassioned emotionalism are splashed in primary colors. After some cadenza excitement, the initial mood returns, followed by some grand gestures from the keyboard which is left to conclude the movement alone, in a whisper.