Powerhouse of Emotions

An endless melody. The clarinet weaves its threads further and further – so far that it is impossible to say exactly where the theme ends. Perhaps one of the longest and most moving adagio themes in symphonic literature. Deep calm, bright beauty: this is the beginning of the slow movement of Sergei Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2 – after the passionate turbulence of its first movement and the fierce whirls of the second, you almost didn’t expect it....