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.
December 7 1921
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that the Chopin Waltz could be either op. 70, no. 3 or op. 64, no. 1, and that the two Rachmaninoff etudes could be respectively nos. 1 or 7, and nos. 2 or 6. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 9 1921
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that the Chopin Waltz could be either op. 70, no. 3 or op. 64, no. 1, and that the two Rachmaninoff etudes could be respectively nos. 1 or 7, and nos. 2 or 6. Satina also notes that a review of the Portland concert did not mention the etude by Dohnányi. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 19 1921
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that the Chopin Waltz could be either op. 70, no. 3 or op. 64, no. 1, and that the two Rachmaninoff etudes could be respectively nos. 1 or 7, and nos. 2 or 6. Satina also indicates that a review of the concert appeared to be incomplete, with neither of the first two ballades being mentioned. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
December 30 1921
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicates that the Chopin Waltz could be either op. 70, no. 3 or op. 64, no. 1. About this concert, Satina writes: ‘An incomplete program sent to us from Akron, OH, December 30, 1921, seems to indicate that the program was about the same as listed above. The works of Liszt, Grieg, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Dohnányi were played.’ This appears sufficient to include the entire program here for now, in the absence of a further copy of the program. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 3 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Both Satina and Apetian recognise this date but there are few details. Fiona Maddocks notes a review appearing the following day in the New York Times, which indicated the concert was a fund-raiser for the Babies' Dairy Association. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 4 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 9 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 11 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 12 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 14 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 16 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 17 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 19 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that this was the first concert where Rachmaninoff played his transcription of Bizet’s Minuet. The Handel Aria with variations was presumably from Suite no. 5. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 20 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 23 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Handel Aria with variations was presumably from Suite no. 5. Satina indicates that from a review it appears that the Ballade was no. 3 in A flat major, the Nocturne was in D flat major, and the Polonaise was in A flat major, op. 53. No Waltz, Mazurka, or Minuet by Bizet, were mentioned in the review. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 24 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina indicates that the Chopin Waltz could be either op. 70, no. 3 or op. 64, no. 1. Satina also notes that in Lincoln, NE, Rachmaninoff received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 25 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Handel Aria with variations was presumably from Suite no. 5. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 27 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 29 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Handel Aria with variations was presumably from Suite no. 5, while the Scherzo in C sharp minor was frequently played in previous concerts with this Chopin bracket. The first performance of Rachmaninoff's transcription of his song, 'Daisies', appears to have been at this concert. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
January 31 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Handel Aria with variations was presumably from Suite no. 5. Satina notes that the keys of the Chopin Ballade and Nocturne were given in a review of this program from Indianapolis – she presumed that they were the same here. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 1 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 2 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: The Handel Aria with variations was presumably from Suite no. 5. Satina mentions that the Etude-Tableau was not noted in a review. The Polonaise could have been in C sharp minor, op. 26, no. 1, as Rachmaninoff played this 4 days later in Grand Rapids. Similarly, the Polonaise in A flat major, op. 53, was played in a concert on January 23. In many other instances, the 'polonaise' is not identified. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 5 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 6 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that a review did not mention the Handel Aria with variations, nor the Rachmaninoff pieces listed in this program; rather, the Prelude in C sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2, and the Kreisler-Rachmaninoff Liebesleid were noted. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 7 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that the Chopin Waltz could be either op. 70, no. 3 or op. 64, no. 1, and that the two Rachmaninoff etudes could be respectively nos. 1 or 7, and nos. 2 or 6. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 8 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Satina notes that a review did not mention Handel’s Aria with variations, and that the Bizet-Rachmaninoff Minuet was added to the program. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 10 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 14 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: Noteworthy is the mention in the review that Prokofiev was also giving a recital in New York that evening. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 16 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.
February 18 1922
Rachmaninoff's role: Solo Pianist
Notes: LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.