Let us summarise what we have learnt so far about the Russian School:
It all started with:
“Just curious, what do you guys think about the " Russian piano school" and if there is such a thing? (ag)”
“Russian piano school is a phenomenon . They are well-disciplined about music and they have strong technique (Guven)”
“I've studied a bit of Russian technique, and what I like the most is the relaxation of the wrists and arms. (Greg_Fodrea)”
“(…)you have to distinguish between the Russian School of Anton Rubenstein and Joseph Levine, Richter and Gilels, and the old Soviet School, which was a machine that manufactured scores pianists where the emphasis was on technical excellence and not musical sensitivity, and where the objective was winning competitions. (Hmoll)”
“the "Russian School" is an approach of emphasizing well-rounded musical education first of all. The students started their education at 5 and were surrounded by an atmosphere where they had to practice 5-8 hours a day, and received their 2 hour lessons twice a week. On top of that there was theory, choire, music appreciation, etc. (…) the Russian school never concentrated on a purely technical side of playing the piano. (ag)”
“The Russian school(…) places emphasis on the arms. Usage of the fingers is minimal; it is the arm pulling the fingers, dragging the hands up and down the keyboard. In this way, the fingers are never overstrained, and kept working at their most efficient. Excessive finger movement is unheard of. (e60m5)”
“It's well-rounded musical education that goes on for almost 20 years. (ag)”
Apart from Rachmaninov’s account, all these descriptions of the so called “Russian School” are too vague to be of any real use. More to the point, I see nothing specifically Russian about any of what I have read. I would describe it as the regimen adopted by Schools in Russia, rather than the Russian School regimen.
As for Rachmaninov’s account (which he seems to agree with) at least I could go on and practise Hanon in all keys for five years, and see if it helped me in any way. In other words, it is possible to test his statements.
But how can I test (on a personal level) your description of the Russian School? I would have to be five again, surround myself with a musical atmosphere, where I had to practise 5 – 8 hours a day, and receive 2 hour lessons twice a week. On top of that I should get theory, music appreciation. Etc.

Hey! wait a second! Maybe I have been educated by the Russian School after all! This was exactly my regimen from 5 – 16. Except that instead of two hour lessons twice a week, I had one hour lessons everyday. And it did not go on for 20 years, just 11 years. Would that qualify as first hand experience with the Russian School? By the way none of my teachers was Russian, and none claimed to have been trained by a Russian, or in Russia. So maybe I do not qualify as a product of the Russian School (I don’t think I do, anyway)

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So what is the difference? Surely there must be something more specific about the Russian school than using arm weight, practising 5-8 hours a day and receiving a well-rounded musical education.
Best wishes,
Bernhard.