Solo Pianist - Diary entries

Many of the initial performance details listed here were compiled from Zarui Apetian’s important research, published in Literaturnoye Nasledie [Collected Literature] (Sovietskii Kompozitor: Moscow, 1980, vol. 3, pp. 439-467). These details have been subsequently cross-referenced and checked with the many itineraries and other corroborating materials, especially substantial research that identified precise program details, collected by Rachmaninoff’s sister-in-law, Sophia Satina, housed in the Rachmaninoff Archive of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C (LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R22, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89). Further information has been gathered from Barrie Martyn’s book Rachmaninoff: Composer, Pianist, Conductor (Scolar Press: London, 1990), A Catalogue of the Compositions of S. Rachmaninoff by Robert Threlfall and Geoffrey Norris (Scolar Press: London, 1982), and research undertaken at the Glinka Museum of Musical Culture, Moscow.

November 10 1919

Detroit, MI, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: Satina notes that Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, was added to the program. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

November 12 1919

Saginaw, MI, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: Satina does not record which etudes by Chopin or Rachmaninoff were played in this interesting program, and has speculated that the work by Scriabin was probably op. 8, no. 12, in D sharp minor. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

November 14 1919

Lansing, MI, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: Satina does not record which etudes by Chopin, Rachmaninoff or Rubinstein were played in this interesting program, and has speculated that the work by Scriabin was probably op. 8, no. 12, in D sharp minor. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

November 16 1919

Chicago, IL, USA
Auditorium Theater

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: Satina notes that Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, was added to the program. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

November 17 1919

Cleveland, OH, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: Satina notes that Mendelssohn’s Spinning Song, op. 67, no. 4, and Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, were added to the program, however she does not indicate their placement within it. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

November 18 1919

Buffalo, NY, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: Satina does not record which etudes by Chopin, Rachmaninoff or Rubinstein were played in this program, and has speculated that the work by Scriabin was probably op. 8, no. 12, in D sharp minor. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

November 25 1919

Washington, DC, USA
Poli’s Theater

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: Satina notes that Mendelssohn’s Spinning Song, op. 67, no. 4, was added to the program, while also noting the absence of the Gounod-Liszt Waltz that was typically played to close it. The review from the Washington Times, however, notes the Gounod-Liszt, and also mentions Mendelssohn's Rondo Capriccioso. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

December 11 1919

Troy, NY, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: Satina does not identify which etudes by Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Rubinstein and Scriabin are played, however she has identified certain works with slightly more precision than the first concerts of this etude-themed program, first given in Saginaw on November 12. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

December 14 1919

Boston, MA, USA
Symphony Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89. Review 1: Boston Herald 1919.12.15 p. 20.

December 16 1919

Worchester, MA, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: Satina notes that the Paganini-Schumann was not listed in a review, and that he possibly did not play this work. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

December 17 1919

Springfield, MA, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: Satina notes that, as with the concert the previous day, the Paganini-Schumann was not listed in reviews, and that he possibly did not play this work. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

December 21 1919

New York, NY, USA
Carnegie Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

December 27 1919

Newark, NJ, USA
Newark Armory

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: Satina’s papers indicates that she was perplexed about this concert. In her listing of concerts for the season she over-typed her question about whether it was held in New York, writing that ‘according to Rachmaninoff’s notebook, he gave a recital near New York on December 27’. This seemed logical, given that Rachmaninoff played with orchestra in New York on December 26 and 28, yet she could not find verification from the office of Mr A Scott in ‘Carnegie Programs’. I was contacted separately by someone wondering whether a concert was given at the Baldwin School in Philadelphia around this time, as Rachmaninoff’s daughter, Irina, was a student there. However, further correspondence from a colleague in the US confirmed the details of the works and location, verified by a photo of the program. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

January 3 1920

Philadelphia, PA, USA
Academy of Music

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: Satina notes that Mendelssohn’s Spinning Song, op. 67, no. 4, was added to the program, while also appearing to suggest the Gounod-Liszt Waltz - a typical concert-closer of the time - was perhaps not played. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

January 4 1920

Lawrence, MA, USA
Colonial Theater

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

January 5 1920

Brooklyn, NY, USA
The Academy of Music

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo PIanist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

January 8 1920

Cincinnati, OH, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

January 11 1920

Indianapolis, IN, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

January 12 1920

Louisville, KY, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: Satina indicates that a review of this concert was incomplete, but that it was probable that Rachmaninoff played the entire program. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

January 13 1920

St Louis, MO, USA
Odeon

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

January 20 1920

Duluth, MN, USA
Amory

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

January 22 1920

Milwaukee, WI, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

February 1 1920

Providence, RI, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

February 18 1920

Atlanta, GA, USA
Auditorium-Amory

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

February 21 1920

Philadelphia, PA, USA
Academy of Music

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

February 23 1920

Bridgeport, CT, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

February 24 1920

New Haven, CT, USA
Woolsey Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

February 29 1920

Montreal, QC, Canada
His Majesty’s Theatre

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

March 11 1920

Denver, CO, USA

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

March 17 1920

Hutchinson, KS, USA
Convention Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist

Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.