The variations originated from a waltz by Anton Diabelli, a music publisher and contemporary of Beethoven’s, who sent his piece to all the well-known composers of Vienna, including Schubert, Hummel and Beethoven’s friend and patron Archduke Rudolph. The pianist Alfred Brendel described the Diabelli Variations as “ the greatest of all piano works” and like Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody, they remain one of the most significant and popular works in the classical piano repertoire. 43 – Variation 18: Andante cantabile (Yuja Wang, piano Mahler Chamber Orchestra Claudio Abbado, cond.) Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 – Introduction: Allegro vivace (Yuja Wang, piano Mahler Chamber Orchestra Claudio Abbado, cond.) The 18th variation is the most famous, with its tender, lyrical love theme, and has been transcribed for solo piano and other instruments. The variations contain a wide variety of moods, characters and textures and remain a cornerstone of the piano repertoire. The work, for piano and orchestra, was premiered by the composer himself, with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and was an immediate success. Inspired by a simple tune by the early nineteenth century violin virtuoso Niccolò Pagainini, Rachmaninoff’s 24 variations on a theme were written in 1934 when the composer was leading a fairly settled life in Lucerne, Switzerland.
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