Storming Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 finale at the Royal Albert Hall | Classic FM

Rising star pianist’s thrilling Rachmaninov finale blows away a packed Royal Albert Hall. British/Iranian virtuoso Arsha Kaviani plays with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Jamie Phillips at Classic FM Live.
The spectacular concert was a Hall of Fame special held at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday 16 October, and broadcast on Sky Arts on Monday 18 December 2023.
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[@agolakchub]

Well done Classic FM for showcasing this wonderfully talented pianist and for such a such an evening. For all of us there, it was a brilliant thing to see live. You are keeping classical music alive with one of the best repertoires out there. He is a pianist and a composer - a tremendous combination! This performance is one of the best we’ve seen - Rachmaninoff would be incredibly proud to see his legacy still carried on.

[@JanUllmann]

Breathtaking performance! Only an envious person would hate on a talent like this... 😌 Well done, Mr. Kaviani! 🙏

[@AndyKYD]

Agreed!

[@sdjoshua2002]

Brilliant

[@IvanaLuizaDjordjevic]

Absolutely brilliant ❤

[@cindyj5522]

Stunning!!!!

[@martinmarsola6477]

Classic music from Classic FM! A fine pianist! Thank you! ❤️🇬🇧🙂👍🇺🇸

[@eftychiasacharidou2274]

Stunning performance, Rachmaninow is alive!

[@billsanderson6336]

One of the best performances of this symphony I have ever heard. Beats many more famous pianists. Wonderful clarity and sensitivity. Rachmaninov would have loved to know that his work is still played like this.

[@inchoiringmind1]

It's not a symphony, it's a concerto.

[@rickwilson183]

Beautiful interpretation

[@user-cc1un1oy6n]

Gheili ghubi !! Gheili mamnun ! Man gheili doust doram !

[@JacquesGlaserI]

Golden age pianism in 2023! Wow!the push and pull and colours reminiscent of Malinin, and even the composer's own recording, people wanting robotic recordings look elsewhere, or don't understand rachmaninoff or soviet school pianism of the early 20th century - he performs as a composer which I blieve they are, a long lost art amongst a sea of copycats - The only thing not to my taste was the jacket 😆

[@CuratorOfRealities]

"Storming" is a bit of an overstatement. A more sensitive microphone over the timpani than over anyone else doesn't automatically make a performance "storming".

[@user-of7jx8fn8q]

If youre gonna play rach 2 you better get your tempos right. The entire world knows what great interpretations sound like

[@LegallyBlue]

Definitely disagree with many of the decisions of the pianist regarding the tempo. And while I agree with some other comments that certain bits need re-working, it is undeniable that he has great talent. I don't doubt that he'll make it far!

[@gameclips5734]

wouldn't say storming, seems like a mild performance. i don't think the poor audio mixing of the video helped though

[@saidtoshimaru1832]

Are there no other piano concertos than Rachmaninov's 2 and 3?

[@mckernan603]

Beethoven op 80

[@null8295]

there is number 5

[@saidtoshimaru1832]

@@mckernan603 Brahms 1 and 2. But what I meant is that they just seem to play Rach 2 and 3.

[@jakehouston3377]

Rachmaninoff concertos are so overrated. I honestly much prefer even Mendelssohns concerto in G minor@@saidtoshimaru1832

[@gameclips5734]

@@saidtoshimaru1832 as in why they don't play 1 and 4 or just other composers?

[@runnertomonutube]

Dislike is not hate! I just don't like it. There is nothing particular with this performance. There are far more outstanding interpretations of the concert out there.

[@Michachel]

Gotta agree w you tbh

[@carloscappellini1687]

Absolutely agree. He is in a hurry. Maybe overwhelmed with the obvious pressure of the place. Too young, not feeling the piece, too much tension.

[@petrascholder5785]

Agree!

[@sdjoshua2002]

I was mesmerized by everything including the filming.

[@Michachel]

@@carloscappellini1687 at this point we can’t even say too young anymore bc of yunchan lim 😭

[@ddiachen]

Pretty rough performance. Odd how he can seem to be rushing while also dragging the tempo.

[@gameclips5734]

yeh it was...odd

[@murrayedington]

Yunchan Lim and Marta Argerich are much more my taste TBH but that's just my preference. He seems to be in some sort of hurry or perhaps thinks he is in some form of macho face off? Either way, it leaves me cold - this concerto needs expression and interpretation, not some robotic display - nothing personal but perhaps some years of maturity and introspection might help?

[@hendrikbotha665]

I agree. In recent times pianists get judged more on the speed they play than on their interpretation. One of the most moving interpretations of any Rach piano concerto I've ever experienced was Rach 3 with Gavrylyuk at the RAH. Now THERE is a soul inspiring experience. The man lived every phrase and note!

[@agolakchub]

While everyone is entitled to an opinion, this was played beautifully for us live in the audience. To call it a macho face off or a robotic display is making it personal, especially given he is one of the top living pianists in the UK who has a tremendous repertoire at his young age. This was meant to be a more broadly appealing concerto and evening instead of an all out Rach night - we loved it and so did anyone you spoke to that evening. Many of the youth who were in attendance were quite inspired to discover more of this beautiful genre and our friend Rach! Unless you can perform this monster piece better, putting down such a talented pianist and composer (he’s an exceptionally gifted composer too) doesn’t help grow this music and talent to future generations. We loved the evening and kudos to Arsha and the other artists for such a wonderful performance. Even Messi, Ronaldo, Tiger Woods, Lebron James and Federer have performances that may not please everyone, it doesn’t mean they are immature or lack introspection or are robots - the talent is there even during their off days. It was a marvellous evening and hats off to Classic FM for a wonderful evening!

[@patriciagordon160]

Beautifully said. Wish I had been there.

[@gameclips5734]

not sure how you can think yuncham lim doesn't hurry but he's maybe a little more expressive

[@gameclips5734]

@@agolakchub you would be hard-pressed to play this concerto, even with an amateur pianist and not have it sound great live. most people certainly won't even notice how well the pianist plays but i'm glad they got hear the piece.

[@nikolaeva8413]

Oh no…

[@cocochocho2]

Love Arsha Kaviani‘s virtuosic musicality! Quite breathtaking!

[@cassalexander4302]

Virtuosic technique - deprecated musicality.

[@carloscappellini1687]

Meh