I’d been asked several times over the years to play Rachmaninoff’s Piano Trio No. 2 in D minor, Op. 9, but never felt it was a piece I wanted to play. Sometimes that kind of feeling never changes, but in this case, on track with my ever-increasing appreciation and re-thinking of Rachmaninoff, when asked by Salt Bay Chamberfest Music Director (and dear friend) Wilhelmina Smith, I felt ready and jumped at the chance.
What an experience it has been to study this collosal work, and to attempt to reconcile its inner workings and contradictions. Here below is the first movement from last week’s performance at Salt Bay, with fabulous colleagues Sean Lee and Yeesun Kim. (The complete audio is here.) How moody, this funereal opening in the piano, and how poignantly mournful the string theme that grows above it.