Rachmaninov: Bells / Rock (The)

Featuring

Alexander Anissimov
Ivan Choupenitch
Helen Field
Oleg Melnikov
National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland
RTÉ Philharmonic Choir

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Did you know?

1/7

Composer Biography

Rachmaninov's early musical education at St Petersburg Conservatory was a result of his family's financial decline, as the expense of educating him for imperial service became too great.

Historical Context

In 1931, Rachmaninov's music was banned in Russia after he signed a letter to The New York Times drawing attention to atrocities committed by the Russian government, though the ban was lifted two years later.

Composer Biography

After failing general subject exams at the Conservatory, Rachmaninov moved to Moscow to study with Zverev, a teacher known for strict discipline, where he developed much of his piano ability.

Composer Biography

Rachmaninov was only able to return to composition after a course of treatment with Dr. Nikolay Dahl, a believer in hypnotism, which immediately led to his popular Second Piano Concerto.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Rachmaninov's music is characterized by a fatalistic sense of melancholy, expressed through broad melodies, and he was the last of the great Russian masters of the late nineteenth century.

Critical Reception

Rachmaninov's First Symphony failed at its 1897 premiere, conducted badly by Glazunov, and was cruelly reviewed by César Cui, who called it a 'student attempt to depict in music the seven plagues of Egypt'.

Composer Biography

Sergey Rachmaninov, born in 1873, chose exile from Russia after the 1917 Revolution, rather than remaining through the subsequent civil turmoil and despotic oppression.