Rachmaninoff plays Rachmaninoff: Newly Discovered Recording

www.marstonrecords.com/collec...
Rachmaninoff Plays Symphonic Dances: Newly Discovered 1940 Recording is a three-CD set which highlights Sergei Rachmaninoff at the piano playing his Symphonic Dances Op.45.
At a private gathering with conductor Eugene Ormandy, Rachmaninoff demonstrated just how he wanted his new orchestral work Symphonic Dances to be performed, playing a single-piano reduction of the score for a single piano while singing and given spoken commentary to Ormandy, to whom the work was dedicated and who would premiere it two weeks later.
The recently discovered recording of Rachmaninoff at the keyboard is presented twice in this set: first edited to conform to the score, and again just as the occasion unfolded, with Rachmaninoff jumping from place to place as he demonstrates, comments, and sings. The playing throughout is absolutely phenomenal - some of the greatest, if not the greatest, that exists of Rachmaninoff on record.
Additional performances of Rachmaninoff’s works are also included, and the voluminous booklet includes an insightful essay by Richard Taruskin, author of the Oxford History of Western Music. Further essays include A Musician's Reaction, in which Jorge Bolet's pupil Ira Levin discusses this performance in the context of live vs. studio recordings, and a lengthy Note From the Producers about the recordings in this volume.
Other performers whom Rachmaninoff admired are included in this set: pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch in his stupendous 1946 BBC broadcast of the Paganini Rhapsody (from newly obtained source material in superb sound), mezzo soprano Nadezhda Plevitskaya, and conductors Adrian Boult, Dmitri Mitropoulos, Eugene Ormandy, and Leopold Stokowski.
Every known non-commercial recording of Rachmaninoff, including the important Bell Laboratories recording (a six-minute excerpt) of Rachmaninoff playing during a 1931 recital, is also featured - the 1931 performance featuring excerpts of Ballades by Brahms and Liszt that are absolutely mesmerizing.
“It is with tremendous pride that I release Rachmaninoff Plays Symphonic Dances. I feel this is one of the most important achievements of my career.”
- Ward Marston
Producers: Gregor Benko, Francis Crociata, Scott Kessler, and Ward Marston.
Recording discovered in the Eugene Ormandy Collection by Jay Reise.
This video edited and produced by Mark Ainley of The Piano Files.

[@pianomaly9859]

When I first received this recording and put it on, it was Rach alright from the first notes.........the unique rhythmic thrusts and command. The entire corpus of his recordings is one of the most unique amalgams of simultaneous discipline and freedom in all of recorded music.

[@johnschlesinger2009]

Rachmaninoff's sound is unique and unmistakeable. And what an enormous dynamic range.

[@AndSendMe]

It would be useful to know the dynamic propensities of the recording equipment. I wouldn't be surprised if the dynamics were over-represented in this instance.

[@RS3DArchive]

In my restorations of his commercial recordings of the 4 concertos and the Rhapsody, I also noticed that Rachmaninoff would also hum as he played, even in the studio. It is especially noticeable in his recording of the second and third concertos. There are also side ends of the Rhapsody, where we can hear him call the approved takes at the roll out. Not all the calls are Rachmaninoff, but a believe a few of them are. In restorations, I was never sure who was humming in the recordings until Marston issued this. Once you know what to listen for it turns out that Rachmaninoff left us voice recordings, mostly humming, during some of his performances.

[@JJTownley_Classical-Composer]

Serkin had this habit of humming during recording and it would drive the studio techs crazy.

[@publiovirgilio2238]

1:26 his voice is so scary and mysterious, just as lot of his music. I love it.

[@Someonece]

Oh god wow... We get to hear more of his voice outside of that clip of him talking to his friends for 2 seconds. And he's singing along with his playing like Gould! This is surreal.

[@chrisczajasager]

singing in tune and musically though!!

[@daniellu8282]

Rachmaninoff had big lungs!

[@Highinsight7]

My favorite musician of them all...

[@elonamasson7569]

@@daniellu8282 He was a large man. ;-)

[@Seaman1010]

could you post a link to that short clip? I have never been able to find any recordings of his voice

[@palmerplantagenet]

A talented contralto friend of mine many years ago had come to California and was looking for a teacher, so I inquired of my, then, piano teacher - Ignaz Hilsberg. He gave me the names of two friends semi-retired though teaching, to choose from: Mme. Emma Mirovitch, Russian Contralto, and Mme. Nina Koschetz, famous soprano. I chose Mme. Mirovitch, especially because of her brother's connection with managing Horowitz in his early career. Madame Mirovitch told me her two pianos had been played upon by none other than Rachmaninoff and Horowitz in performances of Rachmaninoff's 2-piano works. She asked me to play on her one remaining Steinway the Masters had used, but I felt too humbled.

[@pianomaly9859]

You've had some amazing connections to a fabled past. Years ago I found Hilsberg's 78 rpm recording of von Sauer's Musical Clock and Kreisler's Liebesfreud (not Rachmaninov's, but perhaps his own (?) arrangement).

[@EliasAxelPettersson]

Thanks Mark! Great to see more incredible work from Ward Marston...and of course, Rachmaninoff, one of the greatest musicians and pianists of the last 200 years.

[@pianopera]

In the online information about the Eugene Ormandy collection of test pressings and private recordings, donated to the University of Pennsylvania, you can read that "Service copies with noise reduction...were created in 2010 and are available for use by researchers." One wonders why it took eight years to publish this treasure. Also, I can't help wondering how many treasures are still out there in university libraries with only restricted access for the general public. It would be a good idea if somebody could do an extensive, serious investigation into the private collections of great 20th Century musicians that were donated to universities.

[@ThePianoFiles]

Marston emailed their customers the other day with this statement: "For over ten years we have been working on a very significant piano discovery: a private recording of Rachmaninoff at the piano demonstrating just how he wanted his new orchestral work, Symphonic Dances, to be performed. While this project was of great importance, progress was painfully slow and its release even seemed questionable. Certain circumstances changed a year or so ago, making this project a possibility, but recently we were thrown a major curveball. A copy of the recording was leaked and was out in the public. We feared this recording would be all over the Internet in inferior form and out of our hands. While we had many pieces in place, we had to drop everything and finish this project in relative silence, as logic dictated." Once something has been donated somewhere, the bureaucracy can be pretty prohibitive, so I imagine with this there was quite a lot they have to circumvent... And yes, one wonders what other treasures are languishing in official and private archives. Thank goodness this is now becoming available - it is really quite beyond description...

[@OwlyEagles]

It could have easily been shared online 8 years ago if it was for research purposes. No bureaucracy could prohibit that. THe only thing standing in the way was the idea of trying to profit off of it.

[@warrencohen8246]

@@ThePianoFiles I wonder how much the death of his grandson Alexandre Conus (who called himself Alexandre Rachmaninoff) had to do with it. Alexandre was fairly notorious for his overzealous protection of the Rachmaninoff legacy, and the feeling from some people was that with him gone some new material might be made public.

[@ThePianoFiles]

@@warrencohen8246 couldn't say for sure about this in this case, but I've certainly had similar things happen in other cases... am glad this is finally out, that's for sure!

[@aviatrix1947.8]

Oh, this is a must-have. I have several recordings of Rachmaninoff playing his own works that were recorded on a piano that imprinted piano rolls.

[@jwilliams8210]

You can just hear how deep his mind goes musically....He was just scary, scary brilliant...

[@doGreatartistsgrowontrees]

Excellent news. Simply put, the most exciting and invaluable piano release since I can't remember.

[@ThePianoFiles]

I was over-the-top excited by all of my Lipatti discoveries but this is REALLY something... so beyond invaluable given his status as a composer... and the pianism is to my ears above and beyond his already-incredible studio recordings. Makes the gap between artists like him and our current crop of stars even greater...

[@nickboldewskul2136]

Thank you Piano Files for revealing this exciting moment. I've placed my order along with the complete set of Chaliapin recordings which includes previously unreleased material. Kudos to Marston Records for their efforts in completing this project.

[@jjalifano1]

What a treasure Sergei has left for us! ♡

[@FireliqhtzItsBecauseITry]

I'm pretty sure this is the first time that the voice of Rachmaninoff has ever been recorded! Oh my God!

[@kasyapa]

I have an earlier recording on my channel - a "party record" from the 1930s with SVR playing and talking, all very briefly, with friends. It will be on the Marston release (not from my channel-source).

[@captaincanuck8907]

OMG

[@fredfeinberg3995]

Who is SVR? SviatoslaV Richter? [Don't answer; I'm just being silly.]

[@piamorex]

@@fredfeinberg3995 Richter was a stalinist dear Fred 😅

[@fredfeinberg3995]

@@piamorex Well, that clears it all up! ;)

[@irvingsteinberg]

Fantastic. Thank you. My ultimate wish would have been Rachmoniof conducting philly recording his symphonic dances. Why Ormandy waited years to make recording of this great work that was written for them is an absolute mystery.

[@elonamasson7569]

Rachmaninoff forbad live recordings or movies, hence this was very probably a recording without Rachmaninoff's consent, and therefore illegal, but certainly many music lovers felt it could be a justified move because Rachmaninoff was a one in a lifetime phenomenon.

[@sergio6357]

Thank you for posting!!

[@BWV846]

Wow......legendary!!! This is a revolution.

[@raphaellwsh]

Incredible!

[@03data]

Amazing historical recording of my favorite composer! Thanks for uploading!

[@EliasAxelPettersson]

Thank you Mark for sharing this wonderful recording of one of the greatest masters of all time!

[@MichaelKaykov]

Another marvelous release by Marston!

[@michaelschefold3299]

Thanks a lot!!!

[@horatiodreamt]

What beautiful clarity to his pianism! Powerful yet articulate...

[@bvbwv3]

Ge-eeeezus! Many, many thanks! That rhythm!

[@christiankircher369]

WONDERFUL will give a closer look to this work and rachmaninoffs piano play in general.

[@chrisczajasager]

especially his pedalling art and accentuation. SR authentique,,,n o t sentimental and unrhythmic as too often in the last 70 years....

[@duartevader2709]

I NEED THAT RECORDING OF THE BALLADE, THAT BEGGINING WAS SO MAGICAL Nvm found it

[@DavidMannMD]

This is must-have material.

[@cynic150]

Such musicianship is extremely rare, in my experience. His tone and phrase-shaping surpass everyone I have ever heard, live or on recordings. A gem, no doubt. A pity the sound quality is so bad. I am sure R. would have been very angry to know about this because he was such a perfectionist, but still, I enjoyed it, through the scratches. He makes the Symphonic Dances come alive in a way unheard by me before. the recording by Vronsky and Babin for two pianos is very good! But R. does it even better on one!

[@glenn-gould]

thank you ... great great great

[@eugenegoldin8682]

so great!

[@EmptyVee00000]

Wonderful!

[@SCRIABINIST]

Finally, more audios of his voice!

[@yevatatosyan]

Потрясающе ! Спасибо !

[@TheCitybike]

eccezionale! Grande sorpresa!!!! :)

[@nevskixx]

Thank you for this. I have been absolutely thrilled these past few days listening to the 3 CDs. The recordings captures both the music and the personality .Dare I ask: Are there any more of these recordings lying around somewhere?

[@classicalduck]

Well, I've ordered it.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Waiting Impatiently !

[@CLASSICALFAN100]

Is there any other way?...lol

[@benjamMin278]

Fantastic.

[@FilipSandecomposer]

A great discovery!

[@goodmanmusica]

wow

[@yondertz]

Wooooooow!!

[@Bokgat]

this is too amazing! Thankyou tahnkyou thankyou god bless you...nuff said! You are sharing with a divided world...keep doing it:) blessings. I'm drunk on a sunday love it!

[@jostephenz3260]

Amazingly, you can here the American/Jazz influences in this, compared to the early Romantic era Rachmaninoff

[@dang5874]

I think you can also find some influence from Scriabin, specifically in his works composed after 1908, this is Rachmaninoff's opus number 28 or greater.

[@HermanIngram]

Rachmaninoff influenced Jazz. Not the other way around.

[@alanleoneldavid1787]

@@HermanIngram not 100% sure about that. I heared that Rachmaninoff was a admirer of Art tatum

[@EnriqueGiliOrtiz]

A dream come true. Great news!

[@ClassicalPianoRarities]

Interesting!

[@geertcallaert7383]

I'm very curious to hear it entirely :-)

[@dmitriiturchenkov3075]

What?? It is crazy. Genius

[@jungsookchoe9659]

Great to know about the treasure!

[@DAVEDIKIAN]

Rachmaninoff playing Brahms, what a treasure !

[@ThePianoFiles]

Unfortunately only 5 measures of the Brahms - the very end - but still fascinating to hear... his chords, though...

[@DAVEDIKIAN]

Only 5 measures ? ... It's sad, but better than nothing !

[@Highinsight7]

It wasn't Brahms... it was the Liszt Ballade in b minor... a REALLY unusual FABULOUS work by Liszt... and programmatic on the Greek myth or Hero and Leander...

[@ThePianoFiles]

@@Highinsight7 there is Brahms released on the CD for which this is a promotional video

[@Highinsight7]

@@ThePianoFiles I see the Two ballades of Brahms on the program... BUT no samples of it in the video...

[@chrisczajasager]

magical.....especially after 5:00!

[@ThePianoFiles]

YES! And there are many more sections not in here that are simply breathtaking ... the subtlety of nuancing, dynamics, and pedalling (all at once) is superb!

[@HakanAToker]

Very exciting! I hear him singing a little bit, but no commenting on this short clip. Is the speaking part only available upon purchase of the recording?

[@kaleidoscopio5]

INCREDIBLE!!!!! This is history, the Liszt recording was some kind of legend, and here it is!!!!! Wow, just wow, I don't believe my ears. 🤤🤤🤤🤓🤓🤓😲😲😲😀😀😀

[@CLASSICALFAN100]

Mr. Spock said the same thing on a Star Trek episode. Captain Kirk replied, "Spock, I don't believe your ears, *either*!"...(ROFL)

[@RozarSmacco]

Why wouldn’t anyone record arguably the greatest pianist ever on film/video? You’ve got to wonder about past people’s priorities...

[@ThePianoFiles]

Truly...

[@elonamasson7569]

Rachmaninoff himself absolutely refused to be recorded or filmed live.

[@Vlad-lm4zv]

I have heard that there is at least one video recording of Rachmaninoff's performance and it is in someone private collection. When Gilels visited the United States for the first time, he was shown the video of cis-moll by Rachmaninoff. Also,, there are unpublished audio recordings from concerts. among them are a Spanish rhapsody and one of Beethoven's late sonatas

[@elonamasson7569]

@@Vlad-lm4zv If this is true, I would give several months of my life to hear or see these.

[@Vlad-lm4zv]

from Nikolsky memoirs [google translate] I was lucky enough to attend three concerts in the Great Hall of the Noble Assembly: Ferruccio Busoni, Joseph Hoffmann and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Busoni played Liszt, Hoffmann played Chopin, and Rachmaninov played his own compositions. A feature of Busoni's pianism was an extraordinary sense of form, a deep thoughtfulness of every note, every detail. It seemed that there was no passage as such, but it was composed of notes no less significant than those that make up the main idea of ​​the composition. Nothing decorative. A beautiful, silvery touch. Added to this is an extraordinary ability to use registers and control middle voices. In a word, leaving the concert, I thought that it was impossible to play better - this is perfection. Hoffmann gave a concert in the same hall. An elegant man appeared on the stage, light as a feather, with a spicy rather than handsome face, with a turned-up nose, with a dimple in his chin and with disheveled ashy hair. When he started playing, when he flashed his incomparable perlé - then it was no longer possible to think about the balance of sound, about registers, about form - one could only enjoy. It was true poetry. But a few days later Rachmaninov appeared on the same stage. He sat down on a soft black stool with large screws on both sides. With these screws, the seat could be raised or lowered. He sat down and twisted them for a long time to find the most comfortable position. Having found it, he began to rub his large, white, surprisingly beautiful hands, then took a piano b-minor chord in the fifth position, and his left hand took the bass like a long grace note. This chord was "Rachmaninoff". The whole audience was alert ... And Rachmaninov, bending over the keyboard, still did not start playing and rubbed his palms on his knees. Then he squeezed them with his hands, and after sitting in this position for a while, he began to play. This was the first performance of his Second Piano Sonata op. 36. If Busoni captivated me with the perfection of the pianistic finish, if Hoffmann made me enjoy the spontaneity of feelings with the perfection of pianism, then Rachmaninov's playing included all these qualities. What power, what a tremendous temperament, what strength and brightness of the culmination! The richness of colors in his palette defies description. And, as it seems to me, the most important thing is the sound. No one could extract from the keyboard such a sound as Rachmaninov - flexible, beautiful and expressive. It was a "Rachmaninoff" sound that cannot be repeated and cannot be forgotten. Each piece he played can be compared with the construction of the greatest architect, where grandiose walls, slender columns and all the details, right down to stucco ceilings, door handles and parquet design - everything made up a single whole. It has always been composition.

[@piano4tay]

Wonderful news. I wonder what the performance with Pleviskaya is? A re-masteringof 'Powder and Paint'? My favourite Rachmaninoff recording, but even better if it's something else!

[@ThePianoFiles]

Track listing on the Marston website - follow the link in the text below the video !

[@muhchung]

What a treasure!!

[@christopherczajasager9030]

A veritable treasure!

[@grahamcombs4752]

This recording is reviewed in today's -- September 18, 2018 -- Wall Street Journal -- FYI.

[@sirfermainclancharlie1018]

Nothing but love for you Sergei Vasilievich

[@hughsydney2620]

OMG

[@donnytello1544]

The last piece of music he ever wrote 😌 his symphonic dance op 45.

[@olivergrant8642]

Did I hear him sing re mi around 1:52?

[@shermansmart4369]

Rachmaninoff also arranged this piece for 2 pianos and may be reading from the 2 piano score but playing just piano Primo.

[@James_Bowie]

That Bell recording could be greatly improved using today's audio processing software.

[@ThePianoFiles]

The engineer who worked on it is the best in the world and used the best software ... you should hear what the original sounded like!

[@James_Bowie]

@@ThePianoFiles Who is the engineer?

[@ThePianoFiles]

Ward Marston

[@AndSendMe]

@@ThePianoFiles Then I suppose we just have to wait for AI to make it possible to get rid of the obvious recording distortion artifacts.

[@daniloberaldo570]

For me, is very interesting his contribution to United States during XX Century!

[@AlexanderArsov]

Priceless, to say the least. The Symphonic Dances sound sublime, and fantastically well recorded for private stuff from 1940. Too bad the sound quality in Liszt's Ballade is so poor, virtually unlistenable. Shame on RCA! They should have moved the world to get more of Rachmaninoff's repertoire on record. Especially Liszt for whom Rachmaninoff, to judge from the three (3!) pieces on record, had special affinity. Imagine, if you can, the B minor Sonata or Totentanz with Rachmaninoff at the piano...

[@thomaswenas-bobbiefet5805]

1:27 which symphonic dance is this? It sounds like scriabin

[@nss4472]

The Waltz, starting from trumpets band, its middle part

[@klop4228]

Since these recordings of Rachmaninoff were made more than 50 years ago (before anyone asks, they include Rachmaninoff, who died 73 years ago), they're public domain in Europe. Are they being released for free to the public of Europe?

[@ThePianoFiles]

That copyright period means that producers in Europe are able to release recordings over 50 years without paying royalties. It doesn't mean the public can have the recordings that the producers remaster and package without paying for them. That's not quite how the system works. Last time I was in Europe, I saw CDs that people paid for with real money... there's still a recording industry for historical recordings there.

[@klop4228]

@@ThePianoFiles It does mean everyone (companies and public) can have the original recordings and do whatever they want to them. Otherwise, what's the point in the public domain? Copyright hasn't gone that stupid quite yet. Sure, a particular restoration might be under copyright, and people might buy historic recordings on CDs etc., but there they're paying either for the particular restoration, or for the convenience of having it on a CD - *not* for the recording itself. Why do people go to restaurants? To have people make food for them. They could learn to make the food themselves, but it's more convenient to have someone else do it for them. Same goes for restorations of PD recordings. It's not required by law, of course, to release public domain assets to the public, of course, but it's kind of scummy not to, and members of the public, if they get a hold of these recordings (in their original forms - I'll have to find out if splicing them together counts as making it your own version; if edited, you can claim copyright over your own version, I believe) have the right to do anything to it. Anyone who claims otherwise is seeking to have more control than law allows, which - while technically legal - is not very nice.

[@mike-williams]

Will these be available as a download purchase? Marston don't appear to offer this option. I'm not really interested in paying to have CDs shipped around the world just so that I can rip them and throw them away.

[@ADGO]

He doesn't offer digital downloads. If you don't want the CDs, sell them afterwards, because AFAIK this is a limited print.

[@ThePianoFiles]

That would be my suggestion too... and the booklet enclosed is absolutely superb. Also a small price to pay to hear a composer up-close and personal like that ...

[@mike-williams]

Shipping to Australia adds 50% to the cost, and with exchange rates and import duties it mounts up. It's just not a sane way to distribute music internationally.

[@ADGO]

well, it's a classical music business that focuses on historical performances, you have to expect it to be old fashioned :)

[@mike-williams]

ADGO maybe if he was issuing these on wax cylinders from a newspaper ad, rather than selling CDs on the internet

[@CLASSICALFAN100]

Now that you've heard Rach at his finest, why not hear someone that *RACH HIMSELF* admired, the great Josef Hofmann: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pn-QpHygnJqposU

[@agamaz5650]

is there a recording of Rachmaninoff playing Alkan?

[@ThePianoFiles]

Unfortunately not

[@agamaz5650]

@@ThePianoFiles too bad

[@CLASSICALFAN100]

Rach didn't make recordings of most of his OWN compositions...

[@rushana1956]

@@CLASSICALFAN100 rach )))

[@pianomaly9859]

No, but I did read recently that Rachmaninov had at least two Alkan pieces in his repertoire. If I did hear that there was actually a recording of Rach playing Alkan out there, I would have wet my pants upon reading it.

[@jgrab1]

I'd say a lot more than "possibly" without Rachmaninoff's knowledge. :-)

[@rravvia]

Meh, he's great but he's no Rachmaninoff.

[@CLASSICALFAN100]

**TRUE STORY** Albert Einstein, at the height of his fame, was asked all sorts of questions about science, technology, nuclear weapons, you name it!! Late in the game, he would reply to all questions with the words, "Well, I'm no Einstein, but..." (ROFL)

[@Marklar3]

It takes some nerve to charge $54 for bad recordings of a guy who has been dead for 75 years

[@CLASSICALFAN100]

This was no "guy", this was the one & only **RACH** !!! Pay the price...

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Marklar3 It takes no nerve to open the comments section with a troll.

[@vldostr3424]

you're obviously an ignorant moron... go study some history of the arts then come back with a better perspective. (but before that, go make some money so you can afford the 50 bucks...lol)

[@m0ment219]

It takes some nerve to comment something like this...

[@AndSendMe]

It takes some narcissism to imagine that your specific values reflect what is normal and universal.