Juozas Rimas asks:

>I'd like to ask how Rachmaninov is appreciated in the west and what you
>think about his place among other 20th century composers.  Thanks for your
>opinions.

Rachmaninov's orchestral works and concertos are better-known than his
piano or chamber music.  I'd say that his reputation is about the same as
that of Elgar: he wrote a comparatively small number of major works of
very high quality.

The 2nd Piano Concerto has always been popular, and the 2nd Symphony
has been popular too since the recording made by Previn and the LSO (I
understand that they did it on TV, too, but I'm not quite old enough to
have heard that performance).

As well as those two, my personal favourites would include the Cello Sonata
and the Corelli Variations.

Peter Varley
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