Rachmaninov composed the Piano Concerto No. 1, his Opus 1, at the age of 18, while he was still a student at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1917, more than two decades and two piano concerti later, he revised the score thoroughly, shaping the work into the form in which it is known today. This revised, "authoritative" version of the work is a tightly organized distillation of youthful passion and ardor, with the added influence of the turmoil that would soon force the composer to leave his native Russia for good.

The Concerto opens with a portentious declaration from the horns and a cascade of piano chords that recall the pealing of the composer's beloved Russian bells. The main theme is lyric and melancholy, the second sprightly by contrast. The first movement's huge solo cadenza, propelled by powerful chords—highly suggestive, again, of bells—and fiery expression, is the real heart of the work. The Andante second movement provides respite before the Allegro vivace finale, which is marked by a wild main subject in shifting rhythms and a fleet, virtuosic second theme. Rapid-fire chordal passagework from the keyboard brings this most melodramatic of Rachmaninov's concerti to a thrilling conclusion.

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