Serge Rachmaninoff
Sergey Rachmaninov was the last, great representative of the Russian Romantic tradition as a composer, but was also a widely and highly celebrated pianist of his time. His piano concertos, the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and his preludes famously test pianists' skills. His Symphony No. 2, the tone poem Isle of the Dead, and his Cello Sonata are also notable. The passionate melodies and rich harmonies of his music have been called the perfect accompaniment for love scenes, but in a greater sense they explore a range of emotions with intense and compelling expression.
Sergey Vasilyevich Rachmaninov, born in Semyonovo, Russia, on April 1, 1873, came from a music-loving, land-owning family; young Sergey's mother fostered the boy's innate talent by giving him his first piano lessons. After a decline in the family fortunes, the Rachmaninovs moved to St. Petersburg, where Sergey studied with Vladimir Delyansky at the Conservatory. As his star continued to rise, Sergey went to the Moscow Conservatory, where he received a sound musical training: piano lessons from the strict disciplinarian Nikolay Zverev and Alexander Siloti (Rachmaninov's cousin), counterpoint with Taneyev, and harmony with Arensky. During his time at the Conservatory, Rachmaninov boarded with Zverev, whose weekly musical Sundays provided the young musician the valuable opportunity to make important contacts and to hear a wide variety of music.
As Rachmaninov's conservatory studies continued, his burgeoning talent came into full flower; he received the personal encouragement of Tchaikovsky, and, a year after earning a degree in piano, took the Conservatory's gold medal in composition for his opera Aleko (1892). Early setbacks in his compositional career -- particularly, the dismal reception of his Symphony No. 1 (1895) -- led to an extended period of depression and self-doubt, which he overcame with the aid of hypnosis. With the resounding success of his Piano Concerto No. 2 (1900-1901), however, his lasting fame as a composer was assured. The first decade of the 20th century proved a productive and happy one for Rachmaninov, who during that time produced such masterpieces as the Symphony No. 2 (1907), the tone poem Isle of the Dead (1907), and the Piano Concerto No. 3 (1909). On May 12, 1902, the composer married his cousin, Natalya Satina.
By the end of the decade, Rachmaninov had embarked on his first American tour, which cemented his fame and popularity in the United States. He continued to make his home in Russia but left permanently following the Revolution in 1917; he thereafter lived in Switzerland and the United States between extensive European and American tours. While his tours included conducting engagements (he was twice offered, and twice refused, leadership of the Boston Symphony Orchestra), it was his astounding pianistic abilities which won him his greatest glory. Rachmaninov was possessed of a keyboard technique marked by precision, clarity, and a singular legato sense. Indeed, the pianist's hands became the stuff of legend. He had an enormous span -- he could, with his left hand, play the chord C-E flat-G-C-G -- and his playing had a characteristic power, which pianists have described as "cosmic" and "overwhelming." He is, for example, credited with the uncanny ability to discern, and articulate profound, mysterious movements in a musical composition which usually remain undetected by the superficial perception of rhythmic structures.
Fortunately for posterity, Rachmaninov recorded much of his own music, including the four piano concerti and what is perhaps his most beloved work, the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (1934). He became an American citizen a few weeks before his death in Beverly Hills, CA, on March 28, 1943.
© Michael Rodman, Patsy Morita /TiVo
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Rachmaninoff
Classical - Released by Cobra Entertainment LLC on 10 Dec 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sinfonia N° 2 (2° Movimento)
Serge Rachmaninoff, Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, Yalchin Adigezalov
Symphonic Music - Released by Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira on 19 Jul 2023
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Echos. Piano Works by Beethoven & Rachmaninoff
Irene Cantos, Ludwig van Beethoven, Serge Rachmaninoff, Béla Bartók
Classical - Released by Novus Promusica on 12 Mar 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Los Grandes de la Musica Clasica - Sergei Rachmaninov Vol. 2
Slovak RSO, Michael Ponti, Josef Bulva
Classical - Released by ClassicalPirosDigital on 4 Jun 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paganini & Rachmaninoff & Bach
Classical - Released by Stave on 2 Jan 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff Plays...
Classical - Released by Past Classics on 1 Dec 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Eugene Ormandy, The Philadelphia Orchestra
Classical - Released by Digimusic on 12 Oct 1997
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Sergei Rachmaninoff & Leopold Stokowski
Sergei Rachmaninoff, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski
Classical - Released by Symphonia on 2 May 2012
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Rachmaninov: All-Night Vigil, Op. 37
Joyful Company of Singers, Lorna Perry, Andrew Shepstone
Classical - Released by Nimbus Alliance on 1 Nov 2013
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Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1 In F Sharp Minor, Op. 1 - Piano Concerto No. 2 In C Minor, Op. 18
Symphonic Music - Released by RHI on 7 May 2015
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Rachmaninoff, Rosenberg, Huber, Benary, Mäder, Eichenwald, Ammann & Brennan: Musik in Luzern
Patrizio Mazzola, Grazia Wending
Classical - Released by VDE-GALLO on 16 Dec 2013
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From Bangkok to Bangor
Serge Rachmaninoff, Lucy Cumming, Duncan Cumming
Classical - Released by Centaur Records, Inc. on 4 Jun 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Classical Romance with Sergei Rachmaninoff
Serge Rachmaninoff, Cristina Ortiz, Iván Fischer, Philharmonia Orchestra
Lounge - Released by PMI Collins Classics on 1 Feb 2019
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Rachmaninoff: Concertos For Piano and Orchestra Nos. 1 and 2, Four Etudes
Grand Symphony Orchestra of State Radio
Classical - Released by Pipeline Music on 1 Dec 2006
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Sergey Vasilevich Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27
Classical - Released by RMS Records on 1 Jan 2007
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Rachmaninoff: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 (Digitally Remastered)
Moscow RTV Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Yekaterina Sarantseva
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 28 Oct 2014
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Sergey Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 44, Capriccio Bohemien, Op. 12
Classical - Released by RMS Records on 21 Nov 2012
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Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27 (Digitally Remastered)
National Symphony Orchestra Olsztyn, Igor Golovschin
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 28 Oct 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27 (Digitally Remastered)
Moscow RTV Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Fedoseyev
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 28 Oct 2014
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Symphonic Poem Op. 7 'The Rock', Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44
Classical - Released by Pipeline Music on 7 Jun 2006
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Classics In The Pop Of Treatments. Rachmaninov - The Best
Classical - Released by Russian Compact Disc on 10 Jul 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo