Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov is a Russian composer and pianist who became famous in his student years, studying at the conservatory.
His most famous works: a concert for piano and orchestra No. 3 (which is one of the most difficult piano works in the world), 5 preludes, a concert for piano No. 2.
The whole world knows the talented great composer, and he is a “Russian genius” who left behind a great cultural heritage.
In this article, you can find out interesting facts about Rachmaninoff in order to better get to know the amazing composer.
10. Passion for music from an early age
Since childhood, a 4-year-old boy showed his interest in music, obviously, this was due to heredity - his father and grandfather were good pianists.
The composer spent his early childhood in Novgorod - his family was noble, and lived in the Oneg estate.
In adolescence, Rachmaninoff became attached to Russian poetic culture, to the images of which he repeatedly returned. In those years, the composer listened to folk songs for a long time and with great pleasure - he carried this love with him through his whole life.
9. Visiting opera performances
In the fall of 1885, Rachmaninov lived in the Moscow boarding school and at the same time entered the Conservatory of Professor Zverev. The boarding house was not the place where idleness was welcomed; on the contrary, very strict discipline reigned in it, and the rules could not be violated.
The students studied very hard - 6 hours a day. A visit to the performances was not discussed - this was a mandatory rule, and the daily routine included playing the piano. It is likely that this is precisely what revealed the talent of Sergei Rachmaninov.
8. Quarrel with the teacher
The students of the pianist Nikolai Zverev lived in his house for free: he fed them, dressed, took them to theaters, in the summer the students and their teacher used to even go to the Crimea.
Rakhmaninov had a conflict with Zverev - a strict and demanding teacher, but kind. Both of them were very worried about what happened, and could only face it after the final exams.
As a sign of reconciliation, Nikolai Zverev gave Rakhmaninov a gift - a gold watch that he always cherishes. Zverev should pay tribute - Rachmaninov entered his house with a 12-year-old prankster, and left him with a 16-year-old young musician.
7. Intolerance to the public
Sergei Rachmaninov was very intolerant of the annoying factors emanating from the audience - for example, he could not stand it when the audience coughed or started talking. He always listened to the audience in the hall, and, interestingly, he carefully watched the cough.
One noteworthy case is known when, during the performance of his new “Variations on the theme of Corelli,” the pianist performed the following manipulations: if the spectator’s cough intensified, Rachmaninov simply missed the variation that followed, and if it was quiet, the game did not change.
6. Five with four pluses
Five with a few pluses - in the history of the conservatory this has never happened before! Usually an excellent mark is supplemented with one plus - this means the highest praise from the teacher.
When Rachmaninoff finished playing for teachers, Arensky told Tchaikovsky that on the eve he was the only student who wrote two-hour songs “in which there are no words” during the exam.
Tchaikovsky listened to Rachmaninov’s play, and after 2 weeks he learned that next to the five the composer gave him several advantages - one of them on top, the other on the bottom, and one more side. Tchaikovsky was delighted with the game of a young genius.
5. Loss of inspiration
The story of the first symphony is tragic - Opus 13, written in 1985 by a 22-year-old genius, failed, after which it was never performed during the life of Rachmaninov.
For the composer, who honed his mastery all his time, what happened was a real blow, and even led him into a depression. From it, Rachmaninov was able to withdraw Dr. Dahl only after 3 years.
This time the composer could not compose anything, having lost inspiration. Rachmaninoff destroyed the notes of the symphony, and it was not performed for more than 50 years.
4. Large finger span
Rachmaninov could grasp with his fingers 12 white keys! With his left hand, the pianist calmly took the chord - to E flat salt to salt.
The hands of the genius were massive, but amazingly beautiful - they did not have the swelling veins that all pianists who give concerts usually have.
Rachmaninov’s hands were of a delicate ivory shade, well-groomed, at the end of his life the fasteners on his boots (which he really liked to wear) the composer was buttoned by his wife, Natalia Satina, to avoid damage to the nails.
3. Modest appearance
When Rachmaninoff arrived in America, he was faced with the surprise of a critic. He asked him why the maestro looked so modest, to which Rachmaninov answered: “Who cares, they don’t know me here anyway.”.
After a while, the composer's habits remained with him, he did not change his appearance. The same critic met him a few years later, and asked the same question why he did not change his style to a more solid one, because Rachmaninoff could afford it because of his improved material condition. To this, Rachmaninoff replied: "What for? They already know me. ”.
2. Beverly Hills House
Sergei Rachmaninov loved to be in California - he and his wife Natalia had many friends there. They were especially close friends with the families of Rubinstein, Horowitz, Stravinsky, Chaliapin.
In 1942, the Rachmaninov family bought a house in Beverly Hills, Natalya and Sergei planned to firmly settle in this place - the composer felt bad and was about to finish his performances to do gardening and writing.
1. Symphonic dances
“Symphonic dances” is the maestro’s latest work, created 3 years before his death (Rachmaninoff died of a transient form of cancer, not living 3 days before his 70th birthday).
The symphony sums up the whole career of Sergei Vasilievich, his creation is complex both in concept and in embodiment. I would like to believe that the last works, especially the symphonic dances that he loved, reconciled the composer with himself and his fate in music.