Karina Canellakis shares a rare insight on what it’s like to conduct Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony with the London Philharmonic.
Karina Canellakis Describes Rachmaninov Symphony No. 2
shorts
london philharmonic orchestra
Rachmaninov's Second Symphony
music65 min2025G, U
At the Royal Festival Hall, Karina Canellakis conducts the London Philharmonic in Rachmaninov's Second Symphony, a work whose reputation for unapologetic Romanticism conceals the architectural precision required to sustain it. A somber cello-and-bass figure unfurls into expansive string melodies; woodwinds answer before the cor anglais sings over hushed brass. The Scherzo's chattering counterpoint turns suddenly ominous. Then the Adagio arrives: a long clarinet line, unhurried above glistening arpeggios, before the Finale's carnivalesque energy gathers into a majestic violin theme that returns in full. Rachmaninov retreated to Dresden in 1907, writing this symphony in secret, not even telling friends. It carries the weight of a composer with everything to prove. Canellakis lets the London Philharmonic Orchestra glow, holding tension until the strings finally unfurl in full-throated release and the symphony surges into flight.