Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

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2021

Failure And Success

20210906

Donald Macleod delves into the failures and successes that led to Rachmaninov's cantata, Spring.

Rachmaninov has been seen as the last great champion of Russian late Romanticism. He was a celebrated pianist and conductor, as well as a composer, and his musical legacy includes his hugely popular piano concertos. In this series of programme, Donald Macleod turns his attention to Rachmaninov's great choral works and his story during the periods in which they were composed. These choral masterpieces are both sacred and secular, and include the cantata Spring, the choral symphony The Bells, Three Russian Songs, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and the iconic All-night Vigil. Donald explores what inspired Rachmaninov while he was writing this music, including creative collaborations, beautiful poetry, and places in in Russia and abroad

Rachmaninov and his wife received the gift of a small house, on an estate at Ivanovka, as a wedding present. Rachmaninov used the house as a retreat where he composed many of his major works and it was in this rural setting that he worked on his cantata Spring, for baritone, chorus and orchestra. This choral work was completed in 1902 but, in the years before, Rachmaninov had experienced a series of successes and failures which nearly stopped him composing altogether.

How Fair this Spot, Op 21 no 7

Aida Garifullina, soprano

ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna

Cornelius Meister, conductor

Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, Op 18 (Adagio sostenuto)

Yevgeny Sudbin, piano

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Sakari Oramo, conductor

Suite No 2 for two pianos, Op 17

Peter Donohoe, piano

Martin Roscoe, piano

Spring, Op 20

Alexi Tanovitsky, bass

St Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre Chorus

BBC Philharmonic

Gianandrea Noseda, conductor

Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales

Donald Macleod explores the period during which Rachmaninov composed his cantata, Spring

2021

Ecclesiastical Outrage

20210907

Donald Macleod explores Rachmaninov's Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, which failed to win over Russia's church authorities.

Rachmaninov has been seen as the last great champion of Russian late Romanticism. He was a celebrated pianist and conductor, as well as a composer, and his musical legacy includes his hugely popular piano concertos. In this series of programmes, Donald Macleod turns his attention to Rachmaninov's great choral works and his story during the periods in which they were composed. These choral masterpieces are both sacred and secular, and include the cantata Spring, the choral symphony The Bells, Three Russian Songs, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and the iconic All-Night Vigil. Donald explores what inspired Rachmaninov while he was writing this music, including creative collaborations, beautiful poetry, and places in Russia and abroad.

During the first decade of the 20th century, Rachmaninov made a number of trips away from Russia. In Italy and Germany, Rachmaninov and his family found respite from the political and social turmoil in Russia at that time. He also visited the USA on a concert tour, where he performed his newly completed Third Piano Concerto. Russia herself, however, exerted a tremendous pull on Rachmaninov's creative spirit, and during this time that he decided to compose music for use in Russian church services. The Russian Orthodox ecclesiastical authorities judged his Liturgy of St John Chrysostom to be far too modernist, and refused to sanction its use in church.

Before my window, Op 26 No 10

Daniil Shtoda, tenor

Larissa Gergieva, piano

Piano Concerto No 3 in D minor, Op 30 (Allegro ma non tanto)

Yuja Wang, piano

Sim　n Bol퀀var Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela

Gustavo Dudamel, conductor

Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Op 31 Nos 6-10

Natalia Kornieva, soprano

Alexander Ranne, tenor

Sergey Tsipcalo, baritone

St Petersburg Chamber Choir

Nikolai Korniev, conductor

Etudes-tableaux, Op 33 No 8 (Moderato)

Mikhail Pletnev, piano

Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales

Donald Macleod follows Rachmaninov on his travels around Europe and the USA.

2021

A Secret Admirer

20210908

Rachmaninov is stung by an unexpected rivalry and inspired by secret admirers. With Donald Macleod.

Rachmaninov has been seen as the last great champion of Russian late Romanticism. He was a celebrated pianist and conductor, as well as a composer, and his musical legacy includes his hugely popular piano concertos. In this series of programmes, Donald Macleod turns his attention to Rachmaninov's great choral works and his story during the periods in which they were composed. These choral masterpieces are both sacred and secular, and include the cantata Spring, the choral symphony The Bells, Three Russian Songs, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and the iconic All-Night Vigil. Donald explores what inspired Rachmaninov while he was writing this music, including creative collaborations, beautiful poetry, and places in Russia and abroad.

Rachmaninov was exceptionally busy as a concert pianist around 1910, with tours around Europe and the USA. Back in Russia, audiences were lapping up the music of Rachmaninov's close contemporary, Alexander Scriabin, and Rachmaninov found himself cold-shouldered in Moscow. He even contemplated giving up composing altogether. He turned to song writing after receiving letters from a secret admirer. Another anonymous correspondent let him to the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, inspiring his mighty choral symphony, The Bells.

Lilacs, Op 21 No 5

Alessio Bax, piano

The Muse, Op 34 No 1

Joan Rodgers, soprano

Howard Shelley, piano

It Cannot Be, Op 34 No 7

Annamaria Popescu, mezzo-soprano

The Bells, Op 35

L'uba Orgon ovက, soprano

Dmytro Popov, tenor

Mikhail Petrenko, baritone

Rundfunkchor Berlin

Berliner Philharmoniker

Simon Rattle, conductor

Piano Sonata No 2 in B flat minor, Op 36 (Allegro molto)

Zoltကn Kocsis, piano

Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales

Rachmaninov finds himself in the shadow of rival composer. With Donald Macleod.

2021

The All-night Vigil

20210909

Donald Macleod explores Rachmaninov's collaboration with Alexander Kastalsky on his greatest sacred masterpiece.

Rachmaninov has been seen as the last great champion of Russian late Romanticism. He was a celebrated pianist and conductor, as well as a composer, and his musical legacy includes his hugely popular piano concertos. In this series of programmes, Donald Macleod turns his attention to Rachmaninov's great choral works and his story during the periods in which they were composed. These choral masterpieces are both sacred and secular, and include the cantata Spring, the choral symphony The Bells, Three Russian Songs, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and the iconic All-Night Vigil. Donald explores what inspired Rachmaninov while he was writing this music, including creative collaborations, beautiful poetry, and places in Russia and abroad.

Today, Donald traces Rachmaninov's productive collaboration with the composer Alexander Kastalsky, who supported and advised Rachmaninov through the writing of his most celebrated sacred choral work: the All-Night Vigil. Despite a cool response from the church authorities to this work, Rachmaninov's Vespers soon entered the repertoire of Russian choirs. Not long after, Rachmaninov suffered a spate of poor health and doctors prescribed a period of recuperation at the mineral baths in the Caucasus. The poet Marietta Shaginyan helped nurse Rachmaninov back to health, and encouraged him to begin writing music again. Although reluctant to compose many new works during this period of personal and political turmoil, he did begin to revise some earlier works, including his First Piano Concerto.

Vocalise, Op 34 No 14

Aida Garifullina, soprano

ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna

Cornelius Meister, conductor

All-Night Vigil Op 37 (excerpt)

Latvian Radio Choir

Sigvards K?ava, conductor

To Her, Op 38 No 2

Daisies, Op 38 No 3

A-u!, Op 38 No 6

Louise Alder, soprano

Joseph Middleton, pianos

Piano Concerto No 1 in F sharp minor, Op 1 (Allegro vivace)

Leif Ove Andsnes, piano

Berlin Philharmonic

Antonio Pappano, conductor

Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales

Donald Macleod surveys Rachmaninov's final years in Russia.

2021

05 LAST

Inspired In Exile

20210910

Donald Macleod explores Rachmaninov's deep longing for his homeland, following his move to America.

Rachmaninov has been seen as the last great champion of Russian late Romanticism. He was a celebrated pianist and conductor, as well as a composer, and his musical legacy includes his hugely popular piano concertos. In this series of programmes, Donald Macleod turns his attention to Rachmaninov's great choral works and his story during the periods in which they were composed. These choral masterpieces are both sacred and secular, and include the cantata Spring, the choral symphony The Bells, Three Russian Songs, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and the iconic All-Night Vigil. Donald explores what inspired Rachmaninov while he was writing this music, including creative collaborations, beautiful poetry, and places in Russia and abroad.

After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Rachmaninov moved to America with his family and would spend 25 years there. During the first eight years, he didn't compose anything new, but then came his Fourth Piano Concerto, a work steeped in the heritage of the composer's abandoned homeland. Rachmaninov followed this with his Three Russian Songs, another work, whose original sketches predated the composer's flight from Russia and whose music seems suffused with sadness.

Kreisler, arr. Rachmaninov

Liebeslied

Alessio Bax, piano

Piano Concerto No 4 in G minor, Op 40 (Allegro vivace)

Simon Trp?eski, piano

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Vasily Petrenko, conductor

Three Russian Songs, Op 41

St Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre Chorus

BBC Philharmonic

Gianandrea Noseda, conductor

All-night Vigil Op 37 (excerpt)

St Petersburg Chamber Choir

Nikolai Korniev, conductor

Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales

Donald Macleod explores Rachmaninov's deep longing for his abandoned homeland.

Episodes

Series	Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Comments
2021	01	Failure And Success	20210906	Donald Macleod delves into the failures and successes that led to Rachmaninov's cantata, Spring. Rachmaninov has been seen as the last great champion of Russian late Romanticism. He was a celebrated pianist and conductor, as well as a composer, and his musical legacy includes his hugely popular piano concertos. In this series of programme, Donald Macleod turns his attention to Rachmaninov's great choral works and his story during the periods in which they were composed. These choral masterpieces are both sacred and secular, and include the cantata Spring, the choral symphony The Bells, Three Russian Songs, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and the iconic All-night Vigil. Donald explores what inspired Rachmaninov while he was writing this music, including creative collaborations, beautiful poetry, and places in in Russia and abroad Rachmaninov and his wife received the gift of a small house, on an estate at Ivanovka, as a wedding present. Rachmaninov used the house as a retreat where he composed many of his major works and it was in this rural setting that he worked on his cantata Spring, for baritone, chorus and orchestra. This choral work was completed in 1902 but, in the years before, Rachmaninov had experienced a series of successes and failures which nearly stopped him composing altogether. How Fair this Spot, Op 21 no 7 Aida Garifullina, soprano ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna Cornelius Meister, conductor Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, Op 18 (Adagio sostenuto) Yevgeny Sudbin, piano BBC Symphony Orchestra Sakari Oramo, conductor Suite No 2 for two pianos, Op 17 Peter Donohoe, piano Martin Roscoe, piano Spring, Op 20 Alexi Tanovitsky, bass St Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre Chorus BBC Philharmonic Gianandrea Noseda, conductor Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales Donald Macleod explores the period during which Rachmaninov composed his cantata, Spring
2021	02	Ecclesiastical Outrage	20210907	Donald Macleod explores Rachmaninov's Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, which failed to win over Russia's church authorities. Rachmaninov has been seen as the last great champion of Russian late Romanticism. He was a celebrated pianist and conductor, as well as a composer, and his musical legacy includes his hugely popular piano concertos. In this series of programmes, Donald Macleod turns his attention to Rachmaninov's great choral works and his story during the periods in which they were composed. These choral masterpieces are both sacred and secular, and include the cantata Spring, the choral symphony The Bells, Three Russian Songs, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and the iconic All-Night Vigil. Donald explores what inspired Rachmaninov while he was writing this music, including creative collaborations, beautiful poetry, and places in Russia and abroad. During the first decade of the 20th century, Rachmaninov made a number of trips away from Russia. In Italy and Germany, Rachmaninov and his family found respite from the political and social turmoil in Russia at that time. He also visited the USA on a concert tour, where he performed his newly completed Third Piano Concerto. Russia herself, however, exerted a tremendous pull on Rachmaninov's creative spirit, and during this time that he decided to compose music for use in Russian church services. The Russian Orthodox ecclesiastical authorities judged his Liturgy of St John Chrysostom to be far too modernist, and refused to sanction its use in church. Before my window, Op 26 No 10 Daniil Shtoda, tenor Larissa Gergieva, piano Piano Concerto No 3 in D minor, Op 30 (Allegro ma non tanto) Yuja Wang, piano Sim　n Bol퀀var Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela Gustavo Dudamel, conductor Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Op 31 Nos 6-10 Natalia Kornieva, soprano Alexander Ranne, tenor Sergey Tsipcalo, baritone St Petersburg Chamber Choir Nikolai Korniev, conductor Etudes-tableaux, Op 33 No 8 (Moderato) Mikhail Pletnev, piano Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales Donald Macleod follows Rachmaninov on his travels around Europe and the USA.
2021	03	A Secret Admirer	20210908	Rachmaninov is stung by an unexpected rivalry and inspired by secret admirers. With Donald Macleod. Rachmaninov has been seen as the last great champion of Russian late Romanticism. He was a celebrated pianist and conductor, as well as a composer, and his musical legacy includes his hugely popular piano concertos. In this series of programmes, Donald Macleod turns his attention to Rachmaninov's great choral works and his story during the periods in which they were composed. These choral masterpieces are both sacred and secular, and include the cantata Spring, the choral symphony The Bells, Three Russian Songs, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and the iconic All-Night Vigil. Donald explores what inspired Rachmaninov while he was writing this music, including creative collaborations, beautiful poetry, and places in Russia and abroad. Rachmaninov was exceptionally busy as a concert pianist around 1910, with tours around Europe and the USA. Back in Russia, audiences were lapping up the music of Rachmaninov's close contemporary, Alexander Scriabin, and Rachmaninov found himself cold-shouldered in Moscow. He even contemplated giving up composing altogether. He turned to song writing after receiving letters from a secret admirer. Another anonymous correspondent let him to the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, inspiring his mighty choral symphony, The Bells. Lilacs, Op 21 No 5 Alessio Bax, piano The Muse, Op 34 No 1 Joan Rodgers, soprano Howard Shelley, piano It Cannot Be, Op 34 No 7 Annamaria Popescu, mezzo-soprano The Bells, Op 35 L'uba Orgon ovက, soprano Dmytro Popov, tenor Mikhail Petrenko, baritone Rundfunkchor Berlin Berliner Philharmoniker Simon Rattle, conductor Piano Sonata No 2 in B flat minor, Op 36 (Allegro molto) Zoltကn Kocsis, piano Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales Rachmaninov finds himself in the shadow of rival composer. With Donald Macleod.
2021	04	The All-night Vigil	20210909	Donald Macleod explores Rachmaninov's collaboration with Alexander Kastalsky on his greatest sacred masterpiece. Rachmaninov has been seen as the last great champion of Russian late Romanticism. He was a celebrated pianist and conductor, as well as a composer, and his musical legacy includes his hugely popular piano concertos. In this series of programmes, Donald Macleod turns his attention to Rachmaninov's great choral works and his story during the periods in which they were composed. These choral masterpieces are both sacred and secular, and include the cantata Spring, the choral symphony The Bells, Three Russian Songs, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and the iconic All-Night Vigil. Donald explores what inspired Rachmaninov while he was writing this music, including creative collaborations, beautiful poetry, and places in Russia and abroad. Today, Donald traces Rachmaninov's productive collaboration with the composer Alexander Kastalsky, who supported and advised Rachmaninov through the writing of his most celebrated sacred choral work: the All-Night Vigil. Despite a cool response from the church authorities to this work, Rachmaninov's Vespers soon entered the repertoire of Russian choirs. Not long after, Rachmaninov suffered a spate of poor health and doctors prescribed a period of recuperation at the mineral baths in the Caucasus. The poet Marietta Shaginyan helped nurse Rachmaninov back to health, and encouraged him to begin writing music again. Although reluctant to compose many new works during this period of personal and political turmoil, he did begin to revise some earlier works, including his First Piano Concerto. Vocalise, Op 34 No 14 Aida Garifullina, soprano ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna Cornelius Meister, conductor All-Night Vigil Op 37 (excerpt) Latvian Radio Choir Sigvards K?ava, conductor To Her, Op 38 No 2 Daisies, Op 38 No 3 A-u!, Op 38 No 6 Louise Alder, soprano Joseph Middleton, pianos Piano Concerto No 1 in F sharp minor, Op 1 (Allegro vivace) Leif Ove Andsnes, piano Berlin Philharmonic Antonio Pappano, conductor Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales Donald Macleod surveys Rachmaninov's final years in Russia.
2021	05 LAST	Inspired In Exile	20210910	Donald Macleod explores Rachmaninov's deep longing for his homeland, following his move to America. Rachmaninov has been seen as the last great champion of Russian late Romanticism. He was a celebrated pianist and conductor, as well as a composer, and his musical legacy includes his hugely popular piano concertos. In this series of programmes, Donald Macleod turns his attention to Rachmaninov's great choral works and his story during the periods in which they were composed. These choral masterpieces are both sacred and secular, and include the cantata Spring, the choral symphony The Bells, Three Russian Songs, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and the iconic All-Night Vigil. Donald explores what inspired Rachmaninov while he was writing this music, including creative collaborations, beautiful poetry, and places in Russia and abroad. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Rachmaninov moved to America with his family and would spend 25 years there. During the first eight years, he didn't compose anything new, but then came his Fourth Piano Concerto, a work steeped in the heritage of the composer's abandoned homeland. Rachmaninov followed this with his Three Russian Songs, another work, whose original sketches predated the composer's flight from Russia and whose music seems suffused with sadness. Kreisler, arr. Rachmaninov Liebeslied Alessio Bax, piano Piano Concerto No 4 in G minor, Op 40 (Allegro vivace) Simon Trp?eski, piano Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Vasily Petrenko, conductor Three Russian Songs, Op 41 St Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre Chorus BBC Philharmonic Gianandrea Noseda, conductor All-night Vigil Op 37 (excerpt) St Petersburg Chamber Choir Nikolai Korniev, conductor Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales Donald Macleod explores Rachmaninov's deep longing for his abandoned homeland.