Phonograph
Many of Rachmaninoff’s recordings are acknowledged classics. In 1919, Rachmaninoff recorded a selection of piano pieces for Edison Records on their “Diamond Disc” records, as they claimed the best audio fidelity in piano recording. Thomas Edison, who was quite deaf, did not care for Rachmaninoff’s playing, or for classical music in general, and referred to him as a “pounder” at their initial meeting. However, staff at the Edison recording studio in New York City asked Edison to reconsider his dismissive position, resulting in a limited contract for ten released sides. Rachmaninoff recorded on a Lauter concert grand piano, one of the few the company made. He felt his performances varied in quality and requested final approval prior to a commercial release. Edison agreed, but still issued multiple takes, an unusual practice which was standard at Edison Records, where strict company policy demanded three good takes of each piece in case of damage or wear to the masters. Rachmaninoff and Edison Records were pleased with the released discs and wished to record more, but Edison refused, saying the ten sides were sufficient.
In 1920, Rachmaninoff signed a contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company (later RCA Victor). The company was pleased to comply with his requests, and proudly advertised him as one of their prominent recording artists. He continued to record for Victor until 1942, when the American Federation of Musicians imposed a recording ban on their members in a strike over royalty payments.
Particularly renowned are his renditions of Schumann’s Carnaval and Chopin’s Funeral March Sonata, along with many shorter pieces. He recorded all four of his piano concertos with the Philadelphia Orchestra, including two versions of the second concerto with Leopold Stokowski conducting (an acoustical recording in 1924 and a complete electrical recording in 1929), and a world premiere recording of the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, soon after the first performance (1934) with the Philadelphians under Stokowski. The first, third, and fourth concertos were recorded with Eugene Ormandy in 1939–41. Rachmaninoff also made three recordings conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra in his own Third Symphony, his symphonic poem Isle of the Dead, and his orchestration of Vocalise. All of these recordings were reissued by RCA Victor in a 10-CD set “Sergei Rachmaninoff The Complete Recordings” (RCA Victor Gold Seal 09026-61265-2).
In an article for Gramophone, April 1931, Rachmaninoff defended an earlier stated view on the musical value of radio, about which he was sceptical: “the modern gramophone and modern methods of recording are musically superior to wireless transmission in every way”.
Piano rolls
Rachmaninoff was also involved in various ways with music on piano rolls. Several manufacturers, and in particular the Aeolian Company, had published his compositions on perforated music rolls from about 1900 onwards. His sister-in-law, Sofia Satina, remembered him at the family estate at Ivanovka, pedalling gleefully through a set of rolls of his Second Piano Concerto, apparently acquired from a German source, most probably the Aeolian Company’s Berlin subsidiary, the Choralion Company. Aeolian in London created a set of three rolls of this concerto in 1909, which remained in the catalogues of its various successors until the late 1970s.
From 1919 he made 35 piano rolls (12 of which were his own compositions), for the American Piano Company (Ampico)’s reproducing piano. According to the Ampico publicity department, he initially disbelieved that a roll of punched paper could provide an accurate record, so he was invited to listen to a proof copy of his first recording. After the performance, he was quoted as saying “Gentlemen—I, Sergei Rachmaninoff, have just heard myself play!” For demonstration purposes, he recorded the solo part of his Second Piano Concerto for Ampico, though only the second movement was used publicly and has survived. He continued to record until around 1929, though his last roll, the Chopin Scherzo in B-flat minor, was not published until October 1933.
