第二钢琴协奏曲的创作开始于1899年，这一年刚好是拉赫玛尼诺夫从英国回国之后，在英国期间，他被邀请演奏了自己的作品并亲自指挥演奏了他的管弦乐幻想曲《悬崖》，在此之后的一段时间里，拉氏开始构思并创作《第二钢琴协奏曲》，并在1899年到1901年这三年时间里完成了这部鸿篇巨著的写作。

里赫特在各家唱片公司都留下了相当多的录音。本套专辑来自EMI Classic 2008年推出的14CD的大合集，囊括里赫特在EMI的所有录音，录音时间大约在上世纪六、七十年代。

Sviatoslav Richter (piano)
Live recordings: June 2 1965 [No. 27]; May 18 1986 [No. 28]; June 1975 [Hammerklavier]

为纪念钢琴巨擘李赫特(Sviatoslav Richter, 1915 - 1997) 100周年诞辰，俄罗斯古典品牌旋律唱片(Melodiya)推出年度钜 献 - 《李赫特 - 百岁纪念套装》(50CD)，珍贵辑录大师1949~1979年间 :电台广播、独奏会、 家庭彩排、莫斯科音乐会…
For the 100th anniversary of Sviatoslav Richter, Firma Melodiya presents its arguably biggest project in its semicentennial history. The name of Sviatoslav Richter is inscribed in gold in the history of music. He was not just “more than a pianist,” he was even more than a musician. An owner of composing, conducting, artistic, directing and acting gifts, a connoisseur of literature, arts and philosophy, with a will of iron he made all his gifts serve the art of pianism. An “artist of planetary scale,” as of the critics put it, Richter was like that in everything – in his unbounded repertoire that he never stopped replenishing until his last years, in his priestly frenzy of hours-long rehearsals, in the geography and number of performances, – over 3 500 concerts in 770 places of the world for 55 years of his musical career! (“He was somewhat fathomless, Richter,” said one of his famous colleagues). However, after he conquered the world (almost literally), he remained indifferent to ovation and eulogies of the press, painfully experienced each of the “defects” he noticed in his performance, and at the end of his way confessed before the journalist Bruno Monsaingeon: “I don’t like myself.”