Favorite Rachmaninoff performances on ice

Vash01 · Sep 25, 2011

Rachmaninoff is one of the most popular composers when it comes to FS, and there have been many great performances skated to his music. I had to limit my list to 12 (I tried limiting it to 10, but it did not work )

Without ranking, here are my favorite FS performances skated to Rachamninoff's music:

1.Gordeeva-Grinkov: Vocalise (95 pro)

2.Berezhnaya-Sikharulidze- Elegy (98 ex)

3.Chen Lu- Rach 2 (96 LP)

4.Michelle Kwan -Rach 3 (98 SP)

5.Mishkutenok-Dmitriev- Rach 2(94 Oly LP)

6.Midori Ito- Rach 1 & 3 (?)- 92 Oly LP

7.Alexander Abt- Rach 2 & 3 (2000 Euro)

8.Totmianina-Marinin: On a theme by Paganini (2004 SP)

9.Jeffrey Buttle- Prelude in C-sharp minor Op 3-2 (2005 worlds)

10.Daisuke Takahashi- Rach 2 LP (2005? SA)

11. Ekaterina Gordeeva- Elegy (96? Pro): one of my favorite singles programs by Katia. Her emotions in it made me cry.

12.Stephane Lambiel- Not sure of the event, year or venue but it is on the You Tube link Rachmaninoff on ice- Part II. It looks great. May be someone can identify this.

Honorable mentions:

Sale & Pelletier - Orchid LP 2002 (when skated well)
Sasha Cohen- 2003(?) LP

You Tube:

Famous skaters -Rachmaninoff on ice: Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttPRC...eature=related

Part II:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8Vd-2DTU1g

evangeline · Sep 25, 2011

I think you mean Stephane Lambiel's show program to one of Rachmaninoff's Preludes: http://youtu.be/2E_e107VkL0

I love it. It's a different style for Stephane, a more restrained and cerebral offering compared to many of his past programs, but I admire how he's continuing to grow artistically as a pro skater.

My absolute favorite Rachmaninoff is undoubtedly still Michelle Kwan's SP (the first half is actually Rachmaninoff's Trio Elegiaque No. 2, and the second half the third movement of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3), though.

Vash01 · Sep 25, 2011

evangeline said:
I think you mean Stephane Lambiel's show program to one of Rachmaninoff's Preludes: http://youtu.be/2E_e107VkL0

I love it. It's a different style for Stephane, a more restrained and cerebral offering compared to many of his past programs, but I admire how he's continuing to grow artistically as a pro skater.

My absolute favorite Rachmaninoff is undoubtedly still Michelle Kwan's SP (the first half is actually Rachmaninoff's Trio Elegiaque No. 2, and the second half the third movement of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3), though.

Same program, but different performance (in the link I posted above- see part II).

That was wonderful. He has developed into such a wonderful artist!

Olympia · Sep 25, 2011

What a great idea for a thread!

I love Michelle's SP, and I'm glad someone else (thanks, Evangeline!) spotted the bit of the Elegiac Trio in it. That ravishing section just demolishes me every time.

All the ones you mentioned, Vash01, are lovely, and I can't wait to view them.

The neat thing is that there's so much untapped Rachmaninoff that people could still skate to without repeating any of the stuff that's been used. He's ideal for skating, because he's so emotionally lavish and has a variety of rhythms and textures through his pieces. I especially recommend his symphonies, particularly the Second, and his cello sonata.

But please, heaven, no more attempts at the Prelude in C Sharp minor for awhile! Even Rachmaninoff himself got a bit tired of that piece; when he toured as a pianist, people always requested it.

evangeline · Sep 25, 2011

Glad to see another Rachmaninoff fan in the house, Olympia

I agree that Rachmaninoff is indeed a superb composer to skate to--one of my ultimate wishes is for a supremely talented pairs team to skate to certain selections from his Trio Elegiaque No. 1.

And when I am Queen of the Universe, my first edict would be to ban Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini from competitive figure skating.

reynycpr · Sep 25, 2011

I *love* Chen Lu's interpretation the most

Vash01 · Sep 25, 2011

reynycpr said:
I *love* Chen Lu's interpretation the most

Here is the link: it's mesmerizing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCRaoNfU0r8

I can't believe so many judges gave her only 5.8 for presentation marks! She did get two 6.0's.

LuCN · Sep 25, 2011

love all the programs above

and I think Denis Ten's 2009 Worlds LP is good too,although he's very young then ~

Vash01 · Sep 25, 2011

Pang & Tong had a pretty good skate to Rach 2 at the 2002 Olympics, but I did not feel it belonged in my 'most favorite' list.

skatinginbc · Sep 26, 2011

I love Jeffrey Buttle's choreography the most, so poetic, almost a dream. Michelle Kwan's presentation (including facial expression) was outstanding. Stephane Lambiel's dance-like skating and bodies lines were divine. They were my top three Rachmaninoff programs. To me, Gordeeva-Grinkov's program was NOT a Rachmaninoff program but a generic lovely-dovely program. One may turn off the music or switch it to something else (like Moonlight Sonata) and still feel the same--appreciative of their skating and romantic connections--as if they had the program created first and then chose a piece of background music that happened to fit.

sunny0760 · Sep 26, 2011

Denis Ten, 2009 Worlds. Gutsy, determined, and surprisinly charismatic for such a young age.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ep-3LecJAU

(I will check out other piano concerto no. 2 stuffs shown in the first post.)

shine · Sep 26, 2011

Vash01 said:
Same program, but different performance (in the link I posted above- see part II).

That was wonderful. He has developed into such a wonderful artist!

It's for skaters like him that shows are meant for. It's a place where they can forget about the pressure of landing jumps and counting the revolutions in spins and just let the music and emotions guide them to another realm.

gkelly · Sep 26, 2011

My personal favorites would be Chen and Mishkutionok/Dmitriev.

I would also put in an honorable mention for Angela Nikodinov's 1999 LP to Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. She wasn't the most expressive skater at the time, but I credit Peter Oppegard for daring to incorporate dissonant parts of that music and not just the sweet parts like most skaters who used it for skating programs.

let`s talk · Sep 26, 2011

That music is too powerful. I don't think that anyone could get close enough to fully express the deepness of this masterpiece. Maybe Dai got a little closer than others. Unfortunately he wasn't very good technically at that moment.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz4FOaHK22Y

emma · Sep 26, 2011

gkelly said:
My personal favorites would be Chen and Mishkutionok/Dmitriev.

I would also put in an honorable mention for Angela Nikodinov's 1999 LP to Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. She wasn't the most expressive skater at the time, but I credit Peter Oppegard for daring to incorporate dissonant parts of that music and not just the sweet parts like most skaters who used it for skating programs.

This is a great thread and I look forward to stealing some time to review the selections posted above. But without re-watching, M/D came to my mind first as my absolute favorite - followed so very closely by Chen and Kwan (the order for these two would vary each time I watch it) that it is actually difficult for me to rank them all. So, I have to agree with this poster and say that I had completely forgotten Nikodinov's 1999 LP and really can't wait to track it down and watch it. And, as much as a Lambiel uber fan that I am - I don't think I've seen his Rach's - wow - so much to view!

christinaskater · Sep 26, 2011

Wow so many fans of Rachmaninoff like me! I love his music so much!

1. Chen Lu/ Jeff Buttle
2. Michelle Kwan
3. G&G
4. D&M

stevlin · Sep 26, 2011

I enjoyed Jeffrey Buttle's skate the most. He is such an awesome skater. Down right beautiful.

skatinginbc · Sep 27, 2011

stevlin said:
I enjoyed Jeffrey Buttle's skate the most. He is such an awesome skater. Down right beautiful.

Same here. I can watch it one thousand times and never get bored.

evangeline · Sep 27, 2011

I just remembered that Robin Cousins had a lovely pro program to the second movement of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21pvHxrINtI

Every move is so beautifully finished and oozes musicality, with nothing rushed (as befits the music). Plus, that edge quality is to die for.

meem · Sep 27, 2011

What a wonderful thread - thanks! My favorite Rachmaninoff performances are Kwan, M&D and Daisuke. All three were so dramatic and I never took my eyes off the skater(s). These folks *know* how to interpret great music!

Favorite Rachmaninoff performances on ice

Vash01

evangeline

Vash01

Olympia

evangeline

reynycpr

Vash01

LuCN

Vash01

skatinginbc

sunny0760

shine

gkelly

let`s talk

Match Penalty

emma

christinaskater

stevlin

skatinginbc

evangeline

meem

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