Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 1 & Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43

Featuring

Christopher Seaman
Sequeira Costa
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Sergei Rachmaninoff

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Composer Biography

Sergei Rachmaninov, the composer featured on this album, was initially dismissed by Thomas Edison, who called him a 'pounder' and cancelled a recording contract.

Performer Biography

Sequeira Costa, the pianist on this recording, is the final student of Franz Liszt's pupil, Vianna da Motta, making him the last link in a musical lineage stretching from Beethoven and Schumann to Rachmaninov.

Compositional Technique

Rachmaninov's 'Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini' is structured as a continuous series of variations on Niccolò Paganini's Caprice No. 24, with the eighteenth variation being a famous inversion of the original theme.

Recording & Production

Despite Edison's initial dismissal, Rachmaninov became a successful recording artist with the Victor Talking Machine Company (later RCA) in 1920, a collaboration that lasted over 20 years until his last recording in 1942.

Composition History

Rachmaninov's First Piano Concerto was initially written during his student years in 1890/1891 but underwent major revisions in 1917, shortly before he immigrated to the United States.

Critical Reception

Rachmaninov's reputation as a composer was once questioned, with Grove's Dictionary of Music in 1954 stating his success was 'not likely to last,' a view strongly opposed by critic Harold Schoenberg.