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.
November 27 1885 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Keldysh notes (p. 34) that 'already in his first year of study at the conservatory, on November 27, 1885, he played at a student evening'. It is not indicated from which book of the Well-Tempered Klavier the prelude was taken. Without supplying a precise date, he further notes that in 1886 Rachmaninoff performed Henselt's D major Etude. Potentially also attributable to 1886, Keldysh (p. 28) notes a performance by Rachmaninoff of Bach's English Suite in A minor at the Conservatory in the presence of A. Rubinstein, highlighting an apparent inaccuracy of date in Bertensson and Leyda.
November 19 1886 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Russian National Museum of Music (formerly known as the Glinka Museum) has details of this concert. Whether the Prelude and Fugue is from Book I or II of the Well-Tempered Klavier is not stated.
November 2 1887 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Keldysh indicates (p. 34) that the first movement of the Beethoven sonata was played by Leonid Maximov.
December 4 1887 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Keldysh (p. 34) notes that works by Schulhoff and Moszkowski were played at this student concert. He further indicates (pp. 35-36) that in 1888 Rachmaninoff played a Prelude and Fugue in C sharp major of Bach and Rubinstein's Etude in F minor, and at the end of the year the first movement of Beethoven's Sonata in D major, op. 28, and Liszt's Ballade in B minor, but does not provide dates.
May 1888 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Threlfall and Norris list this performance (II/11). The work is mentioned in 'Rachmaninoff's Recollections' by Oskar von Riesemann, a facsimile of which the composer copied from memory for the book in 1931.
September 26 1892 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Concerto Soloist and Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicates that this was the first performance of the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2. The concert was the ‘18th Symphony Concert' at the Electrical Exhibit in Moscow. Satina notes the exact order of the program remains unknown, and that the details of works were copied from a review published in the journal ‘Artist’. In her 'reminiscence' of Rachmaninoff ('Vospominania'), Natalia - his wife - indicates that it was at this concert that she first heard him perform on the piano. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 28 1892 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist and Chamber Musician
Notes: Satina references a photo of the program in Apetian, p. 89. The following short paragraph is included in Satina’s notes: “В письме к М.А. Слонову от 14 декабря 1892г. Рахманинов посылает ему программу концерта в Харькове, 28 декабря 1892г. В письме перечислены вещи, которые будут испольняться Рахманиновым. Не зная, повидимому, что будет петь Слонов, Рахманинов под номером 2 пишет в шутку: "Мишка Слонов доказывает земли вращение". Под номером 5: "Мишка Слонов доказывает всю несостоятельность доводов Деруледа в Панамской пертурбации." [“In a letter to M.A. Slonov from 14 December 1892 Rachmaninoff sends him the programme for the concert in Kharkiv, 28 December 1892. The letter lists all the works to be performed by Rachmaninoff. Not knowing, apparently, what Slonov was going to sing, Rachmaninoff writes under piece number 2 as a joke: "Mishka Slonov demonstrates the Earth's rotation". Under piece number 5: "Mishka Slonov proves all the inconsistencies in Deroulède's arguments relating to the Panama perturbation."] Threlfall and Norris identified this performance, along with details of the venue. Details regarding key and opus number for certain works are according to Martyn, although they were not known to Satina. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 27 1893 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist and Chamber Musician
Notes: Satina indicates that Rachmaninoff’s Morceaux de fantaisie, op. 3, were repeated at the audiences request. Satina also notes that the details of this concert were copied from Apetian, p. 83-84. Further details regarding keys and opus numbers are according to Martyn, although Satina was unaware of these. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 29 1893 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Russian National Museum of Music (formerly known as the Glinka Museum) has details of a ‘Music and Literary Evening’ on this date, noting also two works for cello and piano by Glazunov. Keldysh (p. 81) notes that the concert was a musical and literary evening in favour of the fund for sanitary canteens at the Moscow Assembly of Doctors.
March 30 1893 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Russian National Museum of Music (formerly known as the Glinka Museum) has details of an ‘Evening Program’ on this date. Keldysh (p. 81) notes that the concert was a spring costume evening at the Bolshoi Theatre in support of the Society for Assistance to Needy Stage Artists.
April 3 1893 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Russian National Museum of Music (formerly known as the Glinka Museum) has details of a ‘Literature and Musical Evening, Beneficiary Concert’ on this date.
April 17 1893 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Russian National Museum of Music (formerly known as the Glinka Museum) has details of a ‘concert with reading’ on this date.
January 31 1894 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Chamber Musician and Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicates that this was the first performance of Rachmaninoff’s op. 9, and the first performance of pieces from op. 10. Regarding Rachmaninoff’s piano works, Satina has added that the Elegy and Prelude from op. 3, and the Melody, Humorseque and Romance from op. 10 were performed, citing Apetian, p. 107. The concert would appear to be the first all-Rachmaninoff concert for the composer. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 7 1894 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Russian National Museum of Music (formerly known as the Glinka Museum) has details of a ‘mixed concert’ on this date.
February 21 1894 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicates that this incomplete program was from a concert in which Rachmaninoff also accompanied a singer. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
March 29 1894 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist and Chamber Musician
Notes: The Russian National Museum of Music (formerly known as the Glinka Museum) has details of a ‘Music and Literary Evening’ on this date. The performance was not listed by Satina, however Keldysh (p. 91) confirms that it was the first performance of Rachmaninoff's op. 6.
November 7 1895 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist and Chamber Musician
Notes: This concert was the first part of a tour with the violinist, Teresina Tua. Satina cites Apetian, p. 126, for the details of cities played on this tour. According to Satina and later sources who relied on her information, Rachmaninoff left the tour in Smolensk on 24 November, however various Russian sources quote reviews and other materials to indicate that Rachmaninoff stayed with the tour until the second concert in Riga on December 5 (the Diary entry for that concert lists the further cities that were originally scheduled). The works performed with Tua have not been noted by Satina, although Martyn indicates that Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata, and pieces by Vieuxtemps and Sarasate were played (p. 373). Martyn notes further solo piano pieces, as does Keldysh (p. 95), which at various concerts were: Chopin's Berceuse, op. 57, Nocturne in C minor, op. 48, no. 1, a Waltz, Liszt's Waldesrauschen and Valse-Impromptu, Rubinstein's Barcarolle, Arensky's Barcarolle, the Tchaikovsky-Pabst Concert Paraphrase on 'Eugene Onegin', op. 81, the Liszt-Gounod Waltz from 'Faust', and Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, Melody, op. 3, no. 3, Polichinelle, op. 3, no. 4, and Serenade, op. 3, no. 5. Also noted in a review was Balakirev's transcription of Glinka's 'The Lark'. The order of the programs (both solo and chamber works) is not known. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 9 1895 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist and Chamber Musician
Notes: Satina indicates that this concert was part of a tour with the violinist, Teresina Tua. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 10 1895 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist and Chamber Musician
Notes: Satina indicates that this concert was part of a tour with the violinist, Teresina Tua. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 12 1895 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist and Chamber Musician
Notes: Satina indicates that this concert was part of a tour with the violinist, Teresina Tua. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 13 1895 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist and Chamber Musician
Notes: Satina indicates that this concert was part of a tour with the violinist, Teresina Tua. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 15 1895 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist and Chamber Musician
Notes: Satina indicates that this concert was part of a tour with the violinist, Teresina Tua. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 17 1895 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist and Chamber Musician
Notes: Satina indicates that this concert was part of a tour with the violinist, Teresina Tua. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 18 1895 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist and Chamber Musician
Notes: Satina indicates that this concert was part of a tour with the violinist, Teresina Tua. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 24 1895 (Julian calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist and Chamber Musician
Notes: Satina believed that Rachmaninoff left the tour with the violinist, Teresina Tua, after this concert, an error that was repeated by Bertensson and Leyda (p. 67) and Harrison (p. 67). Various Russian sources confirm that Rachmaninoff continued on the tour as far as the second concert in Riga on December 5. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 26 1895 (Julian Calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Chamber Musician and Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina believed that Rachmaninoff had left the concert tour with Teresina Tua by this time. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 28 1895 (Julian Calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Chamber Musician and Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina believed that Rachmaninoff had left the concert tour with Teresina Tua by this time. A review of the concert by A. Jacobs appeared in Rizhsky Vestnik on November 29, 185, no. 264, noting that Rachmaninoff played Rubinstein's Barcarolle, Chopin's Berceuse, Liszt's Waldesrauschen, the Tchaikovsky-Pabst Concert Paraphrase on Onegin, as well as Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, and Polichinelle, op. 3, no. 4. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
November 30 1895 (Julian Calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Chamber Musician and Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina believed that Rachmaninoff had left the concert tour with Teresina Tua by this time. Liepāja was known as Libava in 1895. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 2 1895 (Julian Calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Chamber Musician and Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina believed that Rachmaninoff had left the concert tour with Teresina Tua by this time. Vilnius was known as Vilno at the time of the concert. A review in Vilensky Vestnik on December 9, no. 266, notes Rachmaninoff playing Glinka's 'The Lark' in Balakirev's arrangement, Liszt's Waldesrauschen, the Gounod-Liszt Waltz from 'Faust', and Liszt's Valse-Impromptu, the last of which was repeated as an encore. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 3 1895 (Julian Calendar)
Rachmaninoff's role: Chamber Musician and Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina believed that Rachmaninoff had left the concert tour with Teresina Tua by this time. Daugavpils was known as Dvinsk at the time of the concert. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.