Rachmaninoff Foundation leads German reappraisal

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(October 2005)

"Following Rachmaninoff festivals in London’s South Bank Centre, New York and Zürich, Germany has become the latest target for conversion". So wrote MusicalAmerica describing the successful campaign by the Rachmaninoff Foundation to change the "prevalent lofty attitudes towards Rachmaninoff in the land of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms".

The Foundation, led by the composer’s grandson Alexandre, has worked closely with Boosey & Hawkes, German presenters and leading Russian performers to create programmes with the aim to "foster an appreciation of his music and bring the whole of his oeuvre, including the less popular works, to public attention."

The German initiative was launched in style in 2003 with a gala concert at the Philharmonie in Berlin. The Staatskapelle was conducted by Valery Gergiev in Symphony No.2 and Piano Concerto No.3 featuring Mikhail Pletnev. A further Berlin concert followed that autumn with the St Petersburg Philharmonic conducted by Yuri Temirkanov. Both Berlin concerts were sold out and attracted standing ovations. 2004 brought a pair of concerts in Essen with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, and in April of this year the Berlin Symphony Orchestra presented three concert performances of Francesca da Rimini coupled with Piano Concerto No.4 with Alexander Ghindin as soloist.

A critical reappraisal in Germany, positioning Rachmaninoff within the pantheon of 20^th century masters, is gathering momentum, as summed up by the Berliner Zeitung:

"The ambivalent modernism accorded to Stravinsky, Bartók or Janácek, namely the tension between innovation and anarchy, also characterises a great deal of Rachmaninoff’s work. As with Debussy and Ravel, dissonance for him often can no longer be interpreted as a tension yearning for resolution. It becomes pure instrumental colour... Intelligent musicians have always understood that Rachmaninoff's music is not one of plush sofas and perfumes, but one that with constructivist calculation describes the breaking apart of ‘inner-’ and ‘outer-time’."

Continuing effects of the Foundation’s initiative are being felt with Rachmaninoff programmes proliferating in Germany. This season brings a nine-concert series by the Stuttgart Philharmonic including the three symphonies, four piano concertos, The Bells and Isle of the Dead.

For further information on the Rachmaninoff Foundation please visit www.serge-rachmaninoff.de

For more details about Rachmaninoff's works please visit www.boosey.com/rachmaninoff

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