Concerto For Piano and Orchestra No. 2: Masterclone BLACK

Concerto For Piano and Orchestra No. 2 ( CVLD394 )

Sergei Rachmaninoff
Concerto For Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
(arr. For Piano and String Quartet by Jeremy Liu)

1 Moderate, 12:27
2 Adagio sostenuto, 11:46
3 Jokingly, 13:14
Total Time: 37:30

Eliana Grasso, piano
Alessandra Pavoni Belli, violin I
Roberto Testa, violin II
Susanna Tognella, purple
Chiara Torselli, cello

24bit/88.2kHz digital recording and mix made in Milano (Italy) on February, 2022 Analog mix and mastering made in Naquera (Spain) at VLS studio on May, 2025

Production: MARCO LINCETTO for VELUT LUNA
Recording and Mixing: Michele Sartor
Analog Mastering: Marco Lincetto
Design and Layout: The Image

Thanks to Paolo Campanini, “I fiori della musica” and to Spazio Classica (Milan) - Association Circolo degli Artisti (Turin)

Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto is one of the most iconic pieces of so-called 20th century Classical Music. Performed for the first time in Moscow in 1901 with the composer himself at the piano, over time it has gained ever-increasing critical and public success, to the point of being often used as part of the soundtrack in some of the most famous Hollywood films between the 1950s and 1960s (Rhapsody, The Seven Year Itch, etc.). This "use" has allowed this musical masterpiece to become fixed in the collective imagination as an icon of broad-spectrum romanticism. It has been recorded by practically all the greatest performers and all the greatest orchestras in the world, although in my opinion the reference interpretation, in some ways definitive, is the one proposed by the great American pianist Van Cliburn, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fritz Reiner in 1958. Velut Luna offers this very particular chamber version for piano and string quartet composed by Jeremy Liu, until now unreleased on disc. While maintaining the demanding piano part which is exactly the same as the orchestral version, the orchestral part has been adapted to the multiple expressive possibilities of the string quartet formation, offering a vision absolutely respectful of the original emotions, although characterized by different and surprising colors for agility and freshness.