Rachmaninoff - Preludes in C sharp minor & G minor

Performed in Seoul Arts Center by Georgii Cherkin - piano

Seoul Arts Center is the biggest concert hall in South Korea with over 2500 seats.

The prelude in C sharp minor became one of Rachmaninoff's most famous compositions. In the autumn of 1898, he made a tour of Western Europe and the United States, with a program that contained the Prelude. Soon after, London publishers brought out several editions with titles such as The Burning of Moscow, The Day of Judgement, and The Moscow Waltz. America followed suit with other titles, such as The Bells of Moscow.[3] It was so popular that it was referred to as "The Prelude" and audiences would demand it as an encore at his performances, shouting "C-sharp!"

The prelude in G minor is second in popularity to the famous Prelude in C-sharp Minor. It is a vigorous composition with a wide dynamic range in march style except for the beautifully romantic and lyrical center section. It has been described as a "contrast of stern reality with a central episode of haunting, nostalgic lyricism; its beauty intensified by a second voice echoing the first" (Ashkenazy). Emil Gilels played this prelude at a front in World War II, in support for the Soviet military forces fighting in the war. The narrator says (in Russian): "Gilels is playing at the front, to remind us what the war is worth fighting for: Immortal music!"

Видео Rachmaninoff - Preludes in C sharp minor & G minor канала Georgii Cherkin LIVE