# Tchaikovsky - Op. 44 - Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major



## HansZimmer (11 mo ago)

First of all, for the users who like film music, I announce that I've just opened a new poll for the competition in the Movie Corner, if you want to vote: Best Dramatic Film Score - 1996


Here we have the piano concerto no. 2 of Tchaikovsky. How do you rate it?

Piano: Mikhail Pletnev
Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra
Conductor: Vladimir Fedoseyev


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

Very good. Tchaikovsky is my favorite composer of all time, but his 2nd piano concerto in my humble opinion does not rise to the same stratospheric level as his first. A very fine composition, but not stellar.

I don't have too many favorite recordings of this composition, but to my ear Matsuev's recent recording with the Mariinsky Orchestra and Gergiev is a fine recording of this concerto.


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## Scherzi Cat (8 mo ago)

Not so good and not so bad. I’ve listened to it plenty of times and it has still never really caught on for me. When I do listen to it, it’s not bad in a way that would make me turn it off, it just doesn’t grab my interest and make me want to really listen. Below average for Tchaikovsky. 

I usually listen to Xiayin Wang’s recording.


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## HansZimmer (11 mo ago)

Scherzi Cat said:


> Not so good and not so bad. I’ve listened to it plenty of times and it has still never really caught on for me.


I think that the first movement is a bit weak in many parts, but the second and the third movements compensate it (especially the second).


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

This is the concertante work by Tchaikovsky that I enjoy the least. I think it's subpar compared to other orchestral works by the russian, being too long for it's material in my view. It's still "good" though, I think. In my ranking system it's a 6.5 out of 10.

P.S.: I decided to change my system of votes, giving "excellent" only to works that I rate as 8.0 or higher, and changed my votes in previous polls accordingly.


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## Scherzi Cat (8 mo ago)

HansZimmer said:


> I think that the first movement is a bit weak in many parts, but the second and the third movements compensate it (especially the second).


You may be right. Since it's the first movement that I naturally look at to grab my interest, it's expectations are that the rest is similar. I'm giving the concerto another listen now, SKIPPING THE FIRST MOVEMENT!

Postscript: I mostly agree. The middle movement is much better than the first, and the last movement is even better than the second. Although the concerto's best moments still pale in comparison to the composer's first piano concerto and violin concerto.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

This concerto is a funny thing; Tchaikovsky thought it was better than the 1st, yet when published he let the vile, heavily edited and cut edition by Siloti to be used. I think the finale is really, really terrific stuff. The first movement is too long. Having grown up with the Siloti version, my taste on the work is no doubt skewed and even after all these years Gary Graffman with Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra is the one to beat. For the composer's original version, I'll take Hough with Litton on Hyperion.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

I voted good , long time since I spun it, well, maybe today .


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

It is a surprisingly rarely performed/recorded piece for such a well-known composer. This neglect is not justified. But I don't like it all that much either. It's a solid piece but like some others (such as the orchestral suites) it lacks the passionate intensity and mostly also great melodies of the better Tchaikovsky pieces.


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