Koussevitzky and Rachmaninoff

Composer-pianist Rachmaninoff and conductor-bassist Koussevitzky were contemporaries who shared more than a first name and nationality: the two Russian-born Sergeis also collaborated on supporting and promoting other Russian composers of the day. Koussevitzky founded a novel publishing house on whose governance committee Rachmaninoff served as artistic advisor. Established in 1909, Éditions Russes de Musique operated at cost, sending all profits back to the composers it represented. Rachmaninoff also appeared at Koussevitzky’s conducting debut in Berlin in 1908, which featured an all-Russian program, performing his own Piano Concerto No. 2. Signifying a social as well as artistic connection, Rachmaninoff later signed the friendship tablecloth that the Koussevitzkys brought with them to America. Rachmaninoff was also no stranger to the BSO. His first appearance with the orchestra was in 1909 under BSO conductor Max Fiedler, and in all, he performed as soloist with the BSO 24 times between 1909 and 1937. He was offered the post of BSO conductor twice, first around the time of his debut in America (1909) and later in August 1918. It was Koussevitzky, however, who became the orchestra’s first Russian conductor. 

Criticism of Rachmaninoff’s First Symphony was so harsh when it premiered in 1897 that the composer spiraled into depression. When he finally returned to the symphonic form ten years later, he worked in secret in 1906 and 1907, before his new symphony premiered to great acclaim in 1908. Fittingly, it was this Second Symphony which Koussevitzky performed mere days after Rachmaninoff’s death on April 7, 1943, and which Koussevitzky reprised to mark the first anniversary of the composer's passing. Koussevitzky performed the Second Symphony 6 times in late March/April 1944 in Boston, Cambridge, Providence, and New York, including this special concert at Hunter College broadcast from Assembly Hall. As of 2024, the BSO has never recorded Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony commercially. 

Rachmaninoff orchestrated his famous Vocalise, originally a wordless song for voice and piano, especially for Koussevitzky's concerts in Moscow, and Koussevitzky led the premiere on January 25, 1916. Prior to conducting the version for singer and orchestra, however, Koussevitzky performed his own transcription of the work for double bass and orchestra on December 7, 1915, with Grzegorz Fitelberg conducting. The original version was published by Éditions Russes de Musique, and the orchestration (without singer) was the first composition by Rachmaninoff that Koussevitzky programed as BSO music director (performed on tour during his first season in November 1924). Koussevitzky and the BSO recorded the Vocalise in April 1945 on RCA Victor shortly after this broadcast performance.