Classical Music Work of the Week - January 2, 2006

Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 is, perhaps, Rachmaninov's most well known concerto. This lyrical, flowing, rapturous work was composed after Rachmaninov was hypnotized! Suffering from "writers block," Rachmaninov had himself hypnotised. What turned out was amazing. He premiered this exquisite piece on October 27, 1901. The audience lapped it up; it was a tremendous success. Afterwards, Rachmaninov dedicated the concerto to his hypnotist, Dr. Dahl.