rachmaninoff

[Helen]

anyone know anything about him?  interesting facts, maybe?

[amee]

Rachmaninoff's goal as a pianist was to make the musical architecture convincing.  He believed that in every piece (his own works included) there was a culminating musical and emotional moment called, "the point".  It might come at the end of a piece or in the middle, but whereever it came, the performer's job was to arrive at it in the same compelling way that a runner breaks the finish-line tape at the end of a race.

[amee]

Rachmaninoff's large hands were also invariably cool, so during recordings he would keep them warm in a specially-designed electric muff until the moment he was to play.  Then out they would come in a flash, and as soon as the passage was over, back in they went.

[rachfan]

One time George Gershwin visited Rachmaninoff at his home to see how he might advance his career, although he was already successful by then.  During the conversation, R said, "Not to be indelicate, but how much money do you make?"  G told him.  R became very thoughtful looking down at the floor for awhile.  Then he slapped his knees, abruptly stood up and said, "Well, I doubt that I can be of much more help to you", and showed Gershwin out.

[frederic]

Since Rachmaninoff played mostly the romantics he was not too good in the classics. Once at one of his rare performances of Beethoven's first concerto, he turned to the orchestra and said, "Alright gentlemen, since i am no Beethoven expert, lets play this in tempo!"

[rachfan]

Another time Rachmaninoff was asked who the greatest pianists of the era were.  He said, "Well, there's me... (and after a long pause) and there's Hofmann."

[MzrtMusic]

I believe that the man Gershwin went to see was Stravinsky... Anyway... Rachmaninoff's hands were huge! He could span 13 keys... He also became a US citizen seven days before his death... that's about it!

Love,

sarah

[frederic]

So he was no modest man....

[amp]

Rachfan, that's funny, I didn't know that. Also, he was very tall, and he never smiled when on stage. I read someplace, that his friend, Stravinsky, called him "A 6 and a half foot scowl"

[rachfan]

Hi Amp,

Yes, the scowl.  I once knew someone who saw him play in NYC, and that's exactly how he described R's demeanor also.

[ned]

It's great to see how much people know about Rachmaninoff these days and the legendary status he enjoys. The critics in America were not good to him and although popular with audiences his reputation as a composer was belittled.  He is untouchable now - one of history's true giants.
In fact my grandfather was the Steinway dealer in Washington from the late 1800's until 1944 and of course he had many dealings with the great pianists. He took my older sister backstage once during the intermission of a Rachmaninoff recital. Rachmaninoff let my sister, who was about 13, put her hands into the famous electric muff with his. He SMILED and was very kind to her. She still gets excited telling about that experience. But of course she doesn't remember what he played!
Ned

[rachfan]

Here's another one, although I'll have to paraphrase it as I don't recall the exact wording.  One time someone asked Rachmaninoff about his 5th Concerto.  R looked at him and said something to this effect: "There is no 5th Concerto.  The economic recession has affected composing too!"  One of R's legendary traits was his extraordinarily dry sense of humor, especially when he was wearing that famous dour look.  I would bet that when he was thinking in and speaking Russian, it was ever better yet!

[amee]

Even though Rachmaninoff was always in demand wherever he performed, he sometimes doubted himself.  He has apparently said in reference to himself,

"I have chased three hares.  Can I be certain that I have captured one?"

The three hares are the piano, composition, and conducting.

[rachfan]

Yes, Rachmaninoff was most renowned as a pianist and composer.  In his younger years he conducted quite capably, but was not a smashing success at it.   Leonard Bernstein was best at conducting and his compositions have endured. But he could never find enough time to practice piano, although he probably could have been great in that department too.  Like R, he often pondered this question of how to balance his talents and to maximize each.  But the candle can only be burned at two ends, as R discovered too.

[amp]

Also, as a teenager he hated playing the piano, was more interested in composing. He decided to become a concert pianist at age 40, because he needed a job, that paid. Imagine that, just deciding to become a concert pianist to put food on the table....

[amee]

After Horowitz's famous Carnegie Hall debut where he played Tchaikovsky's 1st Concerto, Rachmaninoff said to him - "Your octaves are the fastest and loudest, but I must tell you, it was not musical.  It was not necessary."

Also apparently Rachmaninoff was crazy about the ending of Liszt's Dante Symphony.  He would be in tears when the chorus comes in at the end!

[Franz_Liszt]

   Rachmaninoff is in the guiness world records book for the largest span of a pianist. He could stretch C-Eb-G-C-G in the left hand.

[eddie92099]

His party trick was to play c-e-g-c with fingers 2-3-4-5, and then play the top e with his thumb! His favourite piece was the B minor prelude and his favourite pianist was Art Tatum. He once missed the 'point' which is talked about above and was devastated,
Ed

[lone_dawg943]

Yeah, i guess that what y'all wrote is true, but IMHO this still isn't the story of his life: let's not forget that he had to flee from Russia in 1917 (after the revolution) and he never came back, although it was his greatest wish. Also, his new life in USA left quite a lot to be desired; he basicly had to give up writing music just to keep up with his career as a concert pianist (and his conducting was long gone by then), but the thing is (the way i understood it, of course someone could have a different theory and be just as right) he never found any meaning in that life, only chaos, he actually hated it and everything that came with it (including money), which could explain the Gerschwin incident.   Again, IMHO, his last works for piano (Corelli Variations and The Paganini Rhapsody) reflect exactly that. Oh well, artists are a funny kind... We should know.  

[lone_dawg943]

Since Rachmaninoff played mostly the romantics he was not too good in the classics. Once at one of his rare performances of Beethoven's first concerto, he turned to the orchestra and said, "Alright gentlemen, since i am no Beethoven expert, lets play this in tempo!"

Oh, and another thing: I don't really think that's got anything to do with his ability to play classical works, it rather reflects something else: in early 20th century Europe, especially Germany, there was a tendency to play classical works (especially Beethoven) amost totally ad libitum, all for the sake of "interpretation" and "artistic freedom"; there were quite a lot of "Beethoven experts" out there, so i believe that he was mocking them. I say this because i have some of his Bach and classical recordings (Couperin, Beethoven, etc.) which are really anything but amateur, if ya know what i'm sayin...  

[eddie92099]

he never found any meaning in that life, only chaos, he actually hated it and everything that came with it (including money), which could explain the Gerschwin incident.

I would like to share the following extract from Athur Rubinstein's "My Many Years":

"...Rachmaninoff called...'We would like you and your wife to come for dinner tomorrow night. There will only be the Stravinskys'. 'What? The Stravinskys?' I couldn't believe it. ...the two men had spoken with such disgust about each other's works that is was inconceivable to imagine them dining together.

...swallowing a morsel of pressed caviar, Rachmaninoff addressed Stravinsky with a sardonic laugh. 'Ha-ha-ha, your Petrushka, your Firebird, ha-ha, never gave you a cent of royalties - eh?' Stravinsky's face was flushed, and siddenly turned grey with anger. 'What about your C sharp Prelude and all those concertos of yours, all you published in Russia, eh? You had to play concerts to make a living, uh?'
The ladies and I were terrified that it might lead to a nasty scene between the two composers but, lo and behold, quite the contrary happened. Both great masters began to count out the sums they could have earned and became so involved in this important matter that when we got up they retired to a small table and continued happily daydreaming of the immense fortunes they might have earned. When we were leaving, they exchanged a hearty handshake at the door and promised each other to find more sums to think of."

Ed

[amee]

The last thing Rachmaninoff ever said to Horowitz was,

"Please play my First Concerto, my favourite, and nobody plays it."

But Horowitz never played it.  He worked on it and thought about it but never actually did it.

[rachfan]

Yes, the 1st concerto is heard less than the 4th even.  Still it's a wonderful untra-romantic concerto--a bit overblown in a few spots--but great nonetheless.  I myself listen to it on CDs as much as the others.  Once in awhile I take the score out and play through parts of it, especially the lyrical second movement which I love most.  I can well understand why Rachmaninoff was so disappointed that it was not performed more frequently during his lifetime, which is still the case today.  Over the last 20 years or so, pianists like Michelangeli have championed the 4th, but the 1st still awaits its renaisance.  It seems to me that this would have been a perfect piece for Claudio Arrau, given his flair for the romantic concerto genre, but I don't ever recall him playing it.

[TwinkleFingers]

could I get the rach piano concerto 1 and 4 from somebody thanks

[eddie92099]

I would also like Rachmaninov's First and Third. There are people that play the first - in London Nikolai Demindenko and Leif Ove Andsnes played it recently and Mikhail Pletnev is about to play all 4 with the Philharmonia,
Ed

[eddie92099]

Fourth not third,
Ed