zygis on May 20th, 2009Sergei Rachmaninov Piano Sonata Op. 28 No. 1 in D minor
Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 28, is a piano sonata in D minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff, completed in 1908. It is the first of three “Dresden pieces”, along with Symphony No. 2 and part of an opera, which were composed in the quiet city of Dresden, Germany. It was originally themed after Goethe’s tragic play, Faust, and although Rachmaninoff abandoned the idea soon after beginning composition, traces of this influence can still be found. After numerous revisions and susbstantial cuts made at the advice of his colleagues, he completed it on April 11, 1908. Konstantin Igumnov gave the premiere in Moscow on October 17, 1908. It received a lukewarm response there, and remains one of the more underperformed of Rachmaninoff’s works.
