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.
February 20 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: A Chopin Waltz in A flat major is noted as an encore after the Chopin group in the attached reviews, which also indicate a Chopin Mazurka in A flat major, Dohnányi's Etude and Tchaikovsky's Humoresque were played at the end of the recital. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 21 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina noted that the program she was sent for this concert was incomplete. The waltz by Strauss-Tausig could have been either ‘Man lebt nur einmal’ or ‘Wahlstimmen’, both of which featured in Rachmaninoff’s earlier programs. The attached review and press clipping add a couple of works Satina was not aware of. The reference to 'nine' preludes of Scriabin is likely a conflation of the eight preludes and etude played in New York subsequently, and which had featured at the concert in Lincoln on February 13. Liszt's Liebestraum no. 3 and Chopin's Waltz in D flat major (likely op. 64, no. 1) are noted as encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 23 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that the Scriabin Etude was probably D sharp minor, op. 8, no. 12. In various concerts in 1918 and 1919, Rachmaninoff played collections of preludes from Scriabin’s op. 11 set, and their more precise listing in those programs likely gives an indication as to which could have been played in this concert. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
March 10 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that this concert was ‘by invitation’, and that the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody included Rachmaninoff’s cadenza. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
October 2 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina was aware of only one Etude-Tableau on the program, however the attached review indicates there were three. The order of Rachmaninoff's works is based on the review, however this might not be accurate. The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, is noted among the encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
October 4 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the fourth attached press clipping notes only one Chopin waltz on the program, the first attached review states two were played. The reviews indicate that the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, was played as an encore, while the press clippings offer detailed comment on Rachmaninoff's disposition toward this piece at the time. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
October 6 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, is noted as an encore in the attached review. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
October 9 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
October 14 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: A review in the Yorkshire Evening Post indicates that three preludes by Rachmaninoff were played, including the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, although this was not known by Satina. A waltz by Chopin in D flat major is noted as the encore. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
October 16 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 12 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina noted that as an encore Rachmaninoff played Melodie by Gluck-Sgambatti, although the second attached review indicates it was played directly after the Liszt Sonata. In the first attached review, two waltzes by Chopin are noted as encores at the close of the concert, those in C sharp minor, op. 64, no. 2, and, likely, D flat major - referred to as 'D sharp' - op. 64, no. 1, which was also played as an encore a few nights later. Satina listed the second Chopin work in the program as the Etude in E major, op. 10, no. 3, however the first attached review and a slightly garbled press clipping appear to indicate that it was replaced by a Mazurka in C sharp minor. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 14 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicates that in a review of the concert there was no mention of music by Bach, and that only one Etude by Chopin and one Prelude by Rachmaninoff were given. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 16 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicated that in a review of the concert she had been sent there was no mention of the Ballade by Chopin or the Etude-tableau by Rachmaninoff, however the attached reviews include mention of both. It appears that two Chopin waltzes were played as encores directly after the Chopin group, these including the 'Minute' Waltz, op. 64, no. 1. The details of the encores played at the end of the recital are not provided. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 17 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 18 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The attached review notes encores as being a Chopin waltz and mazurka, the Gluck-Sgambatti Melodie, and a work the reviewer could not identify. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 20 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 21 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The attached review does not mention Chopin's Scherzo, however it is noted in the attached press clipping. An encore is noted after the Liszt Sonata, however no details are given. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 23 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 25 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina believed that two Chopin waltzes (C sharp minor, op. 64, no. 2, and A flat major) were included in the program, but the second attached review perhaps indicates they were encores. It is not known if they were played after the other Chopin pieces, as Satina imagined, or at the end of the recital. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 26 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina wondered if Chopin's Scherzo no. 4 in E major was played at this recital, however the attached reviews indicate that it was not. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 30 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 1 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 2 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 4 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89
December 5 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 7 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 8 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89
December 9 1924
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 14 1925
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The attached reviews indicate that Rachmaninoff played the Gluck-Sgambatti Melodie as an encore after the Schumann Sonata, and Chopin's Waltz in C sharp minor, op. 64, no. 2, and the transcription of Mussorgsky's Hopak at the end of the recital. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 16 1925
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that this Friday concert was ‘by invitation’, and that she believed the Chopin Ballade was likely in A flat major, op. 47. The program had been sent to Satina by the Chief Usher of the White House, H. G. Grim, but is also confirmed in the first attached press clipping. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.