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.
October 30 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that the Humoresque and Moment musical were performed in their revised versions. Satina also indicates that Rachmaninoff may have also played the Etude-Tableau in C major, op. 33. The attached review notes a work by Rimsky-Korsakov, which could have been a performance of the transcription of The Bumble Bee as an encore. The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, is also mentioned, again presumably given as an encore. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 7 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that the Humoresque and Moment musical were performed in their revised versions. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 9 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that the Humoresque and Moment musical were performed in their revised versions. Olin Downes, in his review for the New York Times, notes Wagner-Brassin's Fire Music, and Rachmaninoff's transcription of 'Daisies', Schubert's 'Wohin' (likely not the arrangement by Liszt, as Downes presumed), and Rimsky-Korsakov's Bumble Bee as encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 12 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, is noted as the first of several encores in the first of the attached review. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 17 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, and the transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's Bumble Bee are noted as encores in the attached review. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 19 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. 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.
November 21 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. A Chopin waltz and the transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's Bumble Bee are noted as encores in the attached reviews. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 22 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that the Humoresque and Moment musical were performed in their revised versions. A work, or works, by Chopin, and the transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's Bumble Bee are noted in the attached review as encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 29 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that the Humoresque and Moment musical were performed in their revised versions. A 'waltz' and the transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's Bumble Bee are noted as encores in the attached review. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 1 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that the Humoresque and Moment musical were performed in their revised versions. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 3 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina noted that the Humoresque and Moment musical were performed in their revised versions. The attached review from the Times Herald indicates that the Prelude in G major, op. 32, no. 5, might have been played in place of the Moment musical, however the review from the Evening Star states the Moment musical was played. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 5 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 6 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, and the transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's Bumble Bee are noted in the attached review as encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 12 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 16 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 21 1940
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Rachmaninoff is presumed to have been recorded without his knowledge as he played through his newly written Symphonic Dances, op. 45, for the conductor, and the dedicatee of the work, Eugene Ormandy. Its existence long rumoured, the recording was published by Marston Records in 2018. A fine booklet note by Richard Taruskin provides excellent background information.
January 17 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. Satina notes that ‘no reviews or programs were found' for this concert, and indicates the works were identified from an archival letter from Rachmaninoff’s secretary. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 19 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The review from the Chicago Tribune notes Rachmaninoff's transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, a popular encore which, nevertheless, was never identified by name in a program. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 21 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The attached reviews indicate that Rachmaninoff played three encores, the last of which was the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2. While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 24 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina noted that ‘no reviews or programs were found' for this concert, and she relied on an archival letter from Rachmaninoff's secretary regarding the works performed. However, her program (which included Beethoven's Sonata op. 10, no. 3) differed greatly from that outlined in the attached review. When this program was given in concerts the previous December, Mendelssohn's Rondo Capriccioso was played: while it is noted in the attached press clipping, it is, however, not mentioned in the review. The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, is noted as the encore. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 2 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 4 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, is noted in the second attached review as the encore. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 10 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. The attached review notes Liszt's Liebestraum and Rimsky-Korsakov's Bumble Bee as encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 12 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. The attached review notes the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, along with Rachmaninoff's arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's Bumble Bee as among a number of encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 17 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: In the attached review from the Oregon Daily Journal, the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, is noted as the last of several encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 18 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 20 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The attached review notes the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, and Rachmaninoff's transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's Bumble Bee as encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
March 6 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While the key of the Schubert Impromptu was consistently listed as A flat minor, Martyn (p. 434) confirms it was D. 899, no. 4. Satina notes specifically that his Etude-Tableau was op. 39, no. 2. The attached review notes the encores as Liszt's Liebestraum, and his transcriptions of Schubert's 'Wohin?' and Mussorgsky's Hopak. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
October 14 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Threlfall and Norris note the performance of Rachmaninoff's transcription of Tchaikovsky's 'Lullaby' at this concert. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
October 15 1941
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The attached review notes 'Prelude in G' (although perhaps a mistaken reference to the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2) and Rachmaninoff's transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Flight of the Bumble Bee' as encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.