Boris Giltburg gives a detailed tour of the magic of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2

16 October 2017, 17:05 | Updated: 17 October 2017, 10:17

At the piano with one of the greatest virtuosos, who talks us through the magic, mystery and genius of one of the world's best-loved piano concertos.

Sergei Rachmaninov's second piano concerto is one of the most extraordinary pieces of music ever composed, combining technical virtuosity, lush orchestration and some of the most beautiful, emotive writing. It's loved by performers, maestros and audiences, climbing to the very top of the Classic FM Hall of Fame chart eight times.

Pianist Boris Giltburg has a deep love and fascination with this concerto - he's just released a brand new recording of it, accompanied by our Orchestra in Scotland, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. 

We sat down at the piano with Boris and he gave us a detailed tour of the concerto and all the ways Rachmaninov created something of so much emotion, power and glorious melody. 

Take it away, Boris...

The power and melodic complexity of the first movement:

The beautiful lyricism and romance of the Adagio sostenuto:

The breathtaking finale:

In the mood for more? Here's Boris' extraordinary new recording of this concerto on Naxos.