Diary entries
April 7 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes the word ‘manuscript’ for the piece by Medtner, likely indicating that it was unpublished at the time. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
April 10 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Gramophone Recording
Notes: This session occurred on the same day as the recording of the 1st and 2nd movements of the Second Piano Concerto in Philadelphia, PA, although it is not known which took place first.
April 10 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Gramophone Recording
Notes: Recorded at the Academy of Music.
April 13 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Gramophone Recording
Notes: Recorded at the Academy of Music.
October 19 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist
Notes: Satina was unaware of the orchestral work on the program, the details for which are taken from a review published in the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant on October 20. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
October 22 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While Satina gave the key of the Chopin mazurka as B minor, a review in De Maasbode on October 23 indicates the correct key (this error might pertain to similar program details she provided around this time). The review further notes that Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, was one of three encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
October 24 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
October 28 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While Satina indicated the key of the Chopin mazurka as B minor, that might be in error for B flat minor (see concert in Rotterdam on October 22). A review in Het Volk on October 30 noted four encores were played: a Chopin waltz, Rubinstein's transcription of the Turkish March from Beethoven's Ruins of Athens, Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, and his transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's Bumble Bee. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
October 29 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: While Satina noted the key of the Chopin mazurka as B minor, that might have been in error for B flat minor (see concert in Rotterdam on October 22). LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 3 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: A Chopin waltz and the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, are noted in the attached review as two of three encores given at this concert. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 5 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The program that Satina believed was played here was different to that outlined in The Scotsman in its review on November 6. Regarding Rachmaninoff's works, she understood that the Melody, op. 3, no. 3, Barcarolle, op. 10, no. 3, and a Moment musical were played, and that Liszt's Etude in D flat major appeared where the 'third' Sonetto del Petrarca was played. The review notes a Chopin Waltz in A flat major 'which is not often played in public', and the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, were played as encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 6 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina's notes included slightly different works by Chopin and Rachmaninoff for this concert, however they have been corrected in accordance with the program that appears in the second attached press clipping. No review of this concert has yet been located. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 7 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina noted that this concert was part of an ‘International Celebrity Series’. 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 13 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina believed that different works by Rachmaninoff were played (the Serenade, op. 3, no. 5, and one of the A minor Etudes-Tableaux), however the attached review refers to the works noted here. Satina also believed that two Wagner transcriptions closed the concert, however they are not mentioned in the review. It may be presumed the Moment musical was op. 16, no. 2. The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, Chopin's E minor Waltz, and Rachmaninoff's transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's Bumble Bee are noted as the encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 14 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina was unaware of the work by Medtner on the program, and mistakenly included transcriptions of Liszt at the close. Reviews in the Dundee Courier and Evening Telegraph outline the program in detail, with one noting that a work by Chopin and the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, were played as encores. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89. The images of the Dundee Evening Telegraph and Dundee Courier used with kind permission of DC Thomson & Co Ltd.
November 15 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 18 1929
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.
November 19 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicated that this concert was part of the ‘International Celebrity Series’. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 20 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicated that this concert was part of the ‘International Celebrity Series’. The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, is noted as the encore in the attached review. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 21 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina believed that the program given here included Schubert and Wagner transcriptions, as played elsewhere on this tour, however the attached reviews indicate the inclusion of Chopin, etc. The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, is noted as an encore. The interview that follows the first attached review reads rather fancifully, but would be of great interest if it could be confirmed. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 23 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicated that the reviews she had been sent for this concert, which was part of the ‘International Celebrity Series’, did not mention the Rachmaninoff works, ‘probably by mistake’. An insightful review by Neville Cardus in the Manchester Guardian is attached. The Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, is noted as an encore. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 24 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicated that this concert was part of the ‘International Celebrity Series’. Sources indicate that Rachmaninoff was in pain during the concert (see Bertensson and Leyda, p. 261, and the second attached review), and that the following concerts advertised for Hanley on November 25 and Cambridge on November 27 were cancelled. Satina had raised doubts about these two later concerts, noting that they were not included by Rachmaninoff in his 'red notebook'. A review of the concert in Leicester on November 21 notes that Rachmaninoff was suffering from lumbago. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 1 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that the Chopin Waltz in A flat major could be either op. 42, or op. 64, no. 3, or op. 69, no. 1. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 3 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: I am grateful to J. Falleyn for providing program information from the Essener Volks-Zeitung on December 2. In regard to Rachmaninoff's own works, the publication provides a correction to what Satina believed had been played (an etude-tableau along with the Prelude in G major, op. 32, no. 5), which is further confirmed by the attached press clipping from the Essener Anzeiger. Reviews following the concert in both the Essener Allgemeine Zeitung (December 4) and Essener Volks-Zeitung (December 5) did not provide details regarding Rachmaninoff's works, however the attached review from the Essener Anzeiger provides an overall account of the concert, also noting that the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, appears to have been given as an encore. Satina noted that the Chopin Waltz in A flat major could have been either op. 42, or op. 64, no. 3, or op. 69, no. 1. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 4 1929
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina noted that the Chopin Waltz in A flat major could be either op. 42, or op. 64, no. 3, or op. 69, no. 1, and that she believed the Rachmaninoff Etude-Tableau was op. 39, no. 6. The attached press clipping confirms the location of the concert. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.