I've studied and recorded Op. 23, No. 5, but the recording, although good, is not up to my standard. I think that if I were to make another pass at the prelude, I could probably make a better recording. On the other hand, I'm in no rush to do it. Why not? Because over the years I've seen on piano forums loads of young pianists who seem to believe that Rachmaninoff wrote only two preludes: Op. 3, No. 2 in C#m and Op. 23, No. 5 in Gm. It really bugs me! (I would bet that they buy, copy or download the single piece of sheet music rather than getting the whole volume.) They have no clue as to richness of the other preludes. As it was, I recorded ten of the preludes from Opp. 23 and 32, but I took the least pleasure in doing the Gm which has become a "conservatory anvil". I always try to find lesser known pieces, so I'd probably learn one of Rachmaninoff's other preludes rather than trying to motivate myself to play the anvil again.

David

When I first started learning it I had not yet heard it and had no idea it was famous. Up to this day I have heard it maybe 3 times and these when I have chosen to do so.