Sergei Rachmaninoff

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Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff was born on April 1, 1873, near Semyonovo, Russia, into a family with a rich musical and military heritage. His early life was marked by a significant family upheaval when his father, a retired army officer, squandered the family fortune and abandoned them. This led to a shift in young Sergei's future from a military career to music, thanks in part to his cousin Aleksandr Siloti, a renowned pianist and conductor, who recognized his musical talent. Rachmaninoff was sent to study under the strict tutelage of Nikolay Zverev in Moscow, which laid the foundation for his future as a virtuoso pianist.

Rachmaninoff graduated from the Moscow Conservatory at the age of 19 with a gold medal for his opera "Aleko." His Prelude in C-sharp Minor, first performed in 1892, and Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, premiered in 1901, established his reputation as both a composer and pianist. However, his career was not without challenges; the poor reception of his Symphony No. 1 in 1897 plunged him into a deep depression, from which he emerged with the help of therapy, leading to the success of his Piano Concerto No. 2.

Rachmaninoff's career included a tenure as conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre and a relocation to Dresden, Germany. He embarked on his first U.S. tour in 1909. The Russian Revolution forced him to leave Russia permanently in 1918, after which he settled in New York. His focus shifted primarily to performing, with a significant decrease in his compositional output. He spent his summers in Switzerland from 1932 and moved to Beverly Hills, California, in 1942 due to declining health. Rachmaninoff passed away from melanoma on March 28, 1943, in Beverly Hills. He remains celebrated as one of the last great figures of Russian Romanticism and a leading piano virtuoso of his time.

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