Probably the most revered of Rachmaninoff’s compositions is the Second Piano Concerto, a work whose existence is attributed to the auto-suggestion therapy of a Dr. Nicholas Dahl. Rachmaninoff’s need for the good doctor’s services came about in this manner: in 1897, the composer was in the throes of despair over the failure of his First Symphony at its premiere at St. Petersburg. Nothing, not even subsequent success in London in his unusual triple role of pianist, conductor, and composer, could dispel the agony of the defeat. Depressed an ....