Discovering Rachmaninov

A few years ago someone commented to me that Rachmaninov was their favorite composer. I buried that comment in my subconscious until recently when I came across a CD of his Piano Concerto No. 2 and 3 and decided to buy it.

I thought I'd never heard his music before, but it was about halfway through Piano Concerto No. 2 that it became hauntingly familiar. I started humming to the music and then I recognized it and out came the words "when I was young, I never needed anyone, and makin' love was just for fun, those days are gone"....yup, it was "All by Myself" by Eric Carmen. As a teenager, I wore that eight-track out (I know, dating myself here - eight-track???). I loved that song. The words were sappy but the melody stuck. There was a piano solo in there that was my favorite part. Little did I know, I was loving Rachmaninov back then.

Of course, the original concerto is so much better and richer. I can't play piano, but if I could I would want to play this. I could get lost in it's sweet melancholy erupting into passionate chords for hours.

Now, if I could just Eric Carmen's voice out of my head! * o

Discovering Rachmaninov