The opulent Second Symphony of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1793- 1943) in the compelling guise of a piano concerto: the only available recording, now available as a single CD. Rachmaninoff achieved a breakthrough, both for himself and in the genre of the Russian symphony, with the completion of the Second in 1908. ● This is music of a positively Brucknerian scale and paragraphing which needs space and breadth to unfold and climax. However, the symphony gained popularity through heavily cut performances and recordings, and it was only in 1973, with the recordings con- ducted by Ormandy and Previn, that the strength of the original, uncut Second revealed itself to new audiences.