Concerto Soloist - Diary entries

Many of the performance details listed here have been 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 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), and A Catalogue of the Compositions of S. Rachmaninoff by Robert Threlfall and Geoffrey Norris (Scolar Press: London, 1982).

April 18 1925

Boston, MA, USA
Symphony Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

March 18 1927

Philadelphia, PA, USA
Academy of Music

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

Notes: Satina notes that this was the first performance of op. 40 and op. 41. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

March 19 1927

Philadelphia, PA, USA
Academy of Music

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

March 22 1927

New York, NY, USA
Carnegie Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

Notes: Satina indicates that, in New York, Kurt Schindler trained the contraltos and basses of the choir. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

March 29 1927

Washington, DC, USA
The Auditorium

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

March 30 1927

Baltimore, MD, USA
Lyric Opera House

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

April 4 1927

Philadelphia, PA, USA
Academy of Music

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

Notes: Satina indicates that in this concert the chorus was from the Mendelssohn Club, and that Bruce A Carrey was their conductor. The attached review indicates that the conductor of the Tchaikovsky was Arthur Rodzinski. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

November 11 1928

Berlin, Germany

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

November 12 1928

Berlin, Germany

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

October 19 1929

The Hague, Netherlands

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

October 24 1929

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

November 18 1929

London, England
Queen's Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

Notes: This was the first performance of the 1928 version of Rachmaninoff's Fourth Piano Concerto. The precise details of the Haydn symphony are unknown. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

December 15 1929

Berlin, Germany

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

December 16 1929

Berlin, Germany

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

November 1 1930

The Hague, Netherlands

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

November 2 1930

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

November 27 1930

Paris, France
Salle Pleyel

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

December 7 1930

Berlin, Germany

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

December 8 1930

Berlin, Germany

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

January 1 1932

Cleveland, OH, USA
Severance Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

January 2 1932

Cleveland, OH, USA
Severance Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

January 8 1932

Minneapolis, MN, USA
Northrop Memorial Auditorium

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

January 12 1932

Chicago, IL, USA
Orchestra Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

Notes: Satina indicates that the concert began at 2.15pm, and that this was the first performance of the orchestral version of Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise. The attached review similarly indicates that it was the first Chicago performance of Respighi's orchestration of Rachmaninoff's Etudes-Tableaux. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

January 14 1932

Chicago, IL, USA
Orchestra Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

January 15 1932

Chicago, IL, USA
Orchestra Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

March 10 1932

London, England
Queen’s Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

Notes: Satina indicates that this concert began at 8.15pm, and also notes that Rachmaninoff received the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Gold Medal at this concert, which was presented to him by the Duchess of Atholl. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.

December 12 1932

Philadelphia, PA, USA
Academy of Music

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

December 22 1932

New York, NY, USA
Carnegie Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

December 23 1932

New York, NY, USA
Carnegie Hall

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

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

March 10 1933

St Louis, MO, USA
Odeon Theater

Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist

Notes: As the attached reviews note, Rachmaninoff played Tchaikovsky's Troika and his transcription of Mussorgsky's Hopak as encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.