Credits:

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Description:

In 1917, as a result of the October Revolution, Rachmaninoff decided to leave Russia, where the Bolsheviks (a Russian political party led by Lenin) had seized power. He renounced all his possessions and began a new life. From Scandinavia via Denmark to the United States the following year, Rachmaninoff became an outstanding concert pianist, giving 40 concerts in four months by the end of 1918 to raise money to buy a house, which was noticed by a number of upstart American record companies. A number of upstart American record companies took notice. Among them was the Edison Record Company, which had never recorded any outstanding pianists except Rosenthal, so it was possible to sign Rachmaninoff first and make a few recordings.However, Edison Records Inc. sold recordings that Rachmaninoff did not approve of, and thereafter Rachmaninoff signed a contract with Victor Talking Machine Inc. to sell many of his recordings. This album contains several takes of the recordings that remain at Edison Records. Naxos Japan