The Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, op. 83 by Johannes Brahms, is separated by a gap of 22 years from his Piano Concerto No. 1. Brahms began work on it in 1878 and completed the piece in 1881 while in Pressbaum near Vienna. It is considered by many pianists and teachers alike to be one of the most difficult of all works for the piano.
Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18, is considered one of the greatest piano concertos ever composed and a definitive work of the late Romantic Era. The second and third movements were first performed with the composer as soloist in December 1900. The complete work was premiered, again with the composer as soloist, on October 27, 1901.
The Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 by Camille Saint-Saëns, was composed in 1868 and is probably Saint-Saëns' most popular piano concerto. It was dedicated to Madame A. de Villers née de Haber. The piece follows the traditional form of three movements, but allows for more freedom in tempo markings.
Frédéric Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, was composed in 1830, before he had finished his formal education. It was first performed on March 17, 1830, in Warsaw, with the composer as soloist. It was the second of his piano concertos to be published (after the Piano Concerto No. 1), as so was designated as "No. 2" even though it was written first.
Sergei Prokofiev set to work on his Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op 16 in 1912 and completed it in 1913. He himself performing as solo pianist, it was premiered on 23rd August the same year at Pavlovsk. Most of the audience reacted intensely.
The Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 19, by Ludwig van Beethoven was composed primarily between 1787 and 1789, although it did not attain final form till 1798. It was used by the composer as a vehicle for his own performances as a young virtuoso, initially intended with the Bonn Hofkapelle. It was published in 1801, by which time he had also published the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, although it had been composed after this work.
Franz Liszt wrote drafts for his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in A Major, no. 125 in Humphrey Searle's catalog of Liszt's works, during his virtuoso period, in 1839 to 1840. He revised it in several stages, ending in 1861. This concerto typically lasts about 20 minutes.
Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major (Op. 102) was composed in 1957. He composed it for his son Maxim's nineteenth birthday, and Maxim premiered the piece during his graduation at the Moscow Conservatory.
Béla Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, Sz. 95, BB 101 (1930-1931), is one of the composer's more accessible compositions for audiences alike, but remains one of the most challenging piano concerti in the repertoire. His previous effort in the genre, the Piano Concerto No. 1 (1926), is somewhat thornier in its idiom. It had not been very popular at the time.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, op. 44, was written in 1879-1880 and dedicated to Nikolai Rubinstein. Nikolai Rubinstein died in March 1881, however and so its premiere performance, which took place in Moscow on May 22, 1882, was conducted by Anton Rubinstein and featured Tchaikovsky's pupil, Sergei Taneyev, at the piano.
The Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 23 by Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (1904-1987), was composed in 1935, and revised in 1973. Its first performance was given in Moscow on May 12, 1936.