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Sergei Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943) was a Russian classical composer and pianist. He is known as a 'romantic' and is one of my favourite composers.
It is very difficult to pick a favourite piece but I have decided that his Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini has to be the one. The track below is played by pianist Daniel Petrov with the Russian State Synphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Tchiakov.
Rachmaninov's 3rd piano concerto featured in the award winning film Shine I remember seeing which told the story of Australian pianist David Helfgott. During his studies at the London Royal Academy of Music Helfgott tells his tutor, played by Sir John Gielgud, that he wants to perform Rachmaninov's 3rd piano concerto who says to him 'Are you sure? Rach 3. It's monumental'. And it is here played by the stunning Yuga Wang, in looks as is her pianistic ability, with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada.
Rachmaninov wrote three symphonies of which his 2nd is the most popular. Here is is performed by the Oslo Philharmonic conducted by Vasily Petrenko.
Sergei Rachmaninov discography can be found here.