I don't think this Sunday's entry is particularly rare or obscure. I just happen to like it and it's one of my favorite recordings of this piece. The Rachmaninoff 4th Piano Concerto is pretty well known. Not as well know historically as his 2nd or lately, his 3rd. But as late Romantic Russian piano music goes, it's fine by me and I've liked this recording ever since I was a kid. In fact, the transfer I'm using is one that came from my first set of 45's when my 78's broke (broken records as a kid was pretty traumatic. Thank god for 45's in the early 50's!). This particular recording, featuring Rachmaninoff at the piano with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy and recorded in 1941 has been reissued several times in almost every format imaginable. So I'm sure if you don't like this one, you can head over and pick up a cleaner one from Amazon.com.

In any event, I thought I would start the year off with Rachmaninoff and something reasonably familiar.

Enjoy.