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.
January 24 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that Rachmaninoff’s Prelude was in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 30 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 3 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: A Chopin waltz and the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, are noted as encores in the attached reviews. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 6 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 7 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, and Rubinstein's transcription of the Turkish March from Beethoven's Ruins of Athens are noted among four encores in the attached review. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 9 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina believed that the ‘Rachmaninoff Prelude was not the C sharp minor one’ in the program at this concert, which appears to be verified by the attached reviews. No encores are noted. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 10 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina presumed the details of the Chopin Nocturne and Waltz to be the same as played in other concerts on this tour. The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, a Chopin waltz, and Rachmaninoff's transcription of Schubert's The Brooklet ('Wohin?) are noted as the encores in the second attached review. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 13 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina questioned the inclusion of the Liszt as it was not mentioned in the review she had been sent, although it is noted in the three that are attached. Two of the reviews indicate that there appeared to be no intermission at this concert; rather, Rachmaninoff is noted as leaving the stage - apparently briefly - after the first and second items. A Chopin waltz, Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, his transcription of Mussorgsky's Hopak, and Rubinstein's transcription of the Turkish March from Beethoven's Ruins of Athens are noted as the encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 14 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 19 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina writes that the Rachmaninoff Prelude was in G major, op. 32, no. 5, which is confirmed in the attached review from Olin Downes at the New York Times. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 21 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The third of the attached reviews indicates that there was no intermission in this concert. Chopin's Waltz in E minor, op. posth., which Satina believed was played within the program, is noted in two of the attached reviews as an encore. The other encores were Rachmaninoff's transcription of Mussorgsky's Hopak, and the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 22 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, is noted as the last of several encores in the attached review. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 23 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina writes that the Rachmaninoff’s Prelude was in G major, op. 32, no. 5, which is confirmed in the attached review. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
March 3 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
March 4 1927
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.
March 6 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina believed that works by Beethoven and Schumann replaced the Wanderer Fantasy, yet the attached reviews indicate the Schubert-Liszt indeed was performed. The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, is noted as an encore in the first attached review. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
March 9 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicated that Rachmaninoff also played one of his Preludes in this concert, which is confirmed by the attached press clipping and reviews. No keys were given for the Etudes-Tableaux on the program, but she has presumed them to have been the same as for other locations where Rachmaninoff performed this program. She believed that two Strauss-Tausig pieces closed the program, however it appears that Wahlstimmen was not played. Rubinstein's transcription of Beethoven's Turkish March from The Ruins of Athens is noted as the last of four encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
March 10 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicated that Rachmaninoff also played one of his Preludes in this concert, which is confirmed by the attached press clipping. No keys were given for the Etudes-Tableaux on the program, but she presumed them to have been the same as for other locations where Rachmaninoff performed this program. She believed that two Strauss-Tausig transcriptions closed the concert, yet is presumed that Wahlstimmen was not played. Chopin's Waltz in C sharp minor, op. 64, no. 2, and Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, are noted among the encores in the second attached review. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
March 11 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina believed that there were two Strauss-Tausig works at the end of the concert, however the reviews note only one. It is likely that the other - Wahlstimmen - was not performed. A Chopin waltz and Rachmaninoff's transcription of the Minuet from Bizet's L'Arlesienne are noted as the encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
March 15 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While Satina was unable to ascertain any details about this recital, it can be reconstructed from the attached review. The program appears almost identical to that given a few days earlier in Vancouver and in other places at the time. It might be presumed that the Etudes-Tableaux were the same, and that, if so, the unidentified 'A minor' from op. 39 in other programs was no. 6 ('... a feminine treble and a threatening and brutal bass...') and not no. 2. The attached press clipping appears to be unreliable in regard to program (the review specifically states that Rachmaninoff did not play his Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2), and in regard to the direction of his tour (he was heading back east). LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
March 24 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
March 27 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicates that no keys were given for the Etudes-Tableaux on the program, but she has presumed them to have been the same as for other locations where Rachmaninoff performed this program. Two of the attached reviews indicate that two works by Medtner were performed. The encores are noted as a Chopin waltz, 'an arrangement of a Schubert song', the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, and Rachmaninoff's transcription of Mussorgsky's Hopak. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
March 30 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that this concert was ‘by invitation’. She believes that the Waltz by Strauss-Tausig was ‘Man lebt nur einmal’, but it may have been ‘Wahlstimmen’ as this was also in Rachmaninoff’s repertory at the time. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
April 2 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The attached review mentions only a single Strauss-Tausig waltz, although it indicates there were 'many encores'. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
April 3 1927
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The attached review only mentions one waltz by Strauss-Tausig. In describing the encores, the review highlights 'familiar nocturnes, waltzes and ballades by Chopin'. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 18 1928
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Three encores are noted in the attached review, but their details are not given. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 23 1928
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The attached review indicates that a further Nocturne by Chopin was played as an encore at the end of the bracket. The final encores are noted as the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, and a polka (presumably the Polka de W.R.) LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 27 1928
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 29 1928
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 2 1928
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: From the comment in the attached review, it is conceivable that the Prelude in G major, op. 32, no. 5, which Rachmaninoff played in other iterations of the same program, was played. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.