The Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27, is a four-movement composition for orchestra written between 1906 and 1907 by the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov. It is a large-scale work in which Rachmaninov comes to grips with the symphonic form confidently and triumphantly. What one finds is an abundance of exquisitely conceived lushness and brilliant melodies operating within the structural steadiness of orchestral sonority. The piece remains one of the composer’s most popular and best-known compositions.

It’s not difficult to single out the Adagio third movement as containing some of the most beautiful music Rachmaninov ever wrote, with a dreamy song for the clarinet that flows seemingly endlessly like a gorgeous lush river.

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Lorenzo Viotti conducts Rachmaninov’s Symphony No.2 – 3rd movement with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra (clarinet solo: Pedro Franco).