# Sergei Rachmaninoff recordings

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music.

## Recordings
### Phonograph

Many of Rachmaninoff's recordings are acknowledged classics. Rachmaninoff first recorded in 1919, for Edison Records' unusual "Diamond Discs", as they claimed the best audio fidelity in recording the piano at the time. Thomas Edison, who was musically unsophisticated and quite deaf, did not care for Rachmaninoff's playing and referred to him as a "pounder" at their initial meeting. However, the staff at Edison's New York recording studio (led by company pianist Robert Gayler) asked Edison to reconsider his dismissive position, resulting in a limited contract for ten released sides. The Edison company took some care with its piano recordings but used an unusual make, the Lauter, made in Newark; Rachmaninoff recorded on a Lauter concert grand, one of the few the company made. Rachmaninoff believed his own performances to be variable in quality and requested that he be allowed to approve any recordings for commercial release. Edison agreed but still issued multiple takes, a very unusual practice which was routine at Edison, where strict company policy demanded three good takes of each selection to mitigate the effects of production wear and provide redundancy in case of damage to a metal master; in practice, this meant to the staff that takes passed for issue were interchangeable, but it was also very wearing on artists who often had to record an item several times over to produce each of those three problem-free takes. Edison's staff and Rachmaninoff were pleased with the released discs and wanted to record more, but Thomas Edison refused to engage the pianist for further work, saying the ten sides were sufficient for label prestige purposes.
Rachmaninoff signed a contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company (later RCA Victor) in 1920. The company was pleased to comply with Rachmaninoff's restrictions, and proudly advertised him as one of their prominent recording artists. His recordings for Victor continued until 1942, when the American Federation of Musicians imposed a recording ban on their members.
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 an electrical remake in 1929), and the 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 in a 10-CD set "Sergei Rachmaninoff The Complete Recordings" in RCA Victor Gold Seal 09026-61265-2, along with subsequent reissues.
This listing below includes only recordings in which Rachmaninoff himself was a participant, as either pianist or conductor. Recordings of Rachmaninoff’s music made by other performers are not included.
| Composer | Title of Work, other performers | Recording date(s) | Record label |
| Johann Sebastian Bach | Sarabande, from Klavier Partita No. 4 in D major, BWV 828 | December 16, 1925 | RCA |
| Johann Sebastian Bach | Prelude, Gavotte, and Gigue, from Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006 | February 26 & 27, 1942 | RCA |
| Ludwig van Beethoven | Violin Sonata No. 8 in G major, Op. 30, No. 3 Fritz Kreisler, violin | March 22, 1928 | RCA |
| Ludwig van Beethoven | 32 Variations in C minor, WoO. 80 | April 13 & May 14, 1925 | RCA |
| Ludwig van Beethoven | Turkish March, from The Ruins of Athens, Op. 113 | December 14, 1925 | RCA |
| Georges Bizet | Minuet, from L'arlésienne Suite, No. 1 | February 24, 1922 | RCA |
| Alexander Borodin | Scherzo in A-flat major | December 23, 1935 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Ballade in A-flat major, Op. 47 | April 13, 1925 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Mazurka in C-sharp minor, Op. 63, No. 3 | December 27, 1923 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Mazurka in A minor, Op. 68, No. 2 | December 23, 1935 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2 | April 5, 1927 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Nocturne in F-sharp major, Op. 15, No. 2 | December 27, 1923 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | "Return Home", and "The Maiden's Wish", from Polish Songs | February 27, 1942 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Scherzo in C-sharp minor, Op. 39 | March 28, 1924 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35 | February 18, 1930 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Waltz in E-flat major, Op. 18 "Grand Valse Brillante" | January 21, 1921 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Waltz in F major, Op. 34, No. 3 "Valse Brillante" | November 4, 1920 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 42 | April 18, 1919 | Edison |
| Frédéric Chopin | Waltz in D-flat major, Op. 64, No. 1 "Minute" | April 2, 1921 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Waltz in D-flat major, Op. 64, No. 1 "Minute" | April 5, 1923 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2 | April 5, 1927 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 64, No. 3 | April 19, 1919 | Edison |
| Frédéric Chopin | Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 64, No. 3 | April 5, 1927 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Waltz in B minor, Op. 69, No. 2 | October 24, 1923 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Waltz in G-flat major, Op. 70, No. 1 | April 2, 1921 | RCA |
| Frédéric Chopin | Waltz in E minor, Op. posth | February 18, 1930 | RCA |
| Louis-Claude Daquin | "Le coucou" | October 21, 1920 | RCA |
| Claude Debussy | "Dr. Gradus ad Parnassum", and "Golliwog's Cakewalk", from Children's Corner | January 21, 1921 | RCA |
| Ernst von Dohnányi | Etude in F major, Op. 28, No. 2 | October 25, 1921 | RCA |
| Christoph Willibald Gluck | Melodie, from Orfeo ed Euridice | May 14, 1925 | RCA |
| Edvard Grieg | Waltz, and Elfin Dance, from Lyric Pieces, Op. 12 | October 12, 1921 | RCA |
| Edvard Grieg | Violin Sonata in C minor, Op. 45 Fritz Kreisler, violin | September 14 & 15, 1928 | RCA |
| George Frideric Handel | Air & Variations ("The Harmonious Blacksmith") | January 3, 1936 | RCA |
| Adolf Henselt | "Si oiseau j'étais" (Etude in F-sharp major, Op. 2, No. 6) | December 27, 1923 | RCA |
| Fritz Kreisler | "Liebesfreud" (arr. Rachmaninoff) | December 29, 1925 | RCA |
| Fritz Kreisler | "Liebesfreud" (arr. Rachmaninoff) | February 26, 1942 | RCA |
| Fritz Kreisler | "Liebeslied" (arr. Rachmaninoff) | October 25, 1921 | RCA |
| Franz Liszt | "Gnomenreigen" (Concert Etude No. 2) | December 16, 1925 | RCA |
| Franz Liszt | Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (cadenza: Rachmaninoff) | April 22, 1919 | Edison |
| Franz Liszt | Polonaise No. 2 in E major | April 13, 1925 | RCA |
| Felix Mendelssohn | Etude in F major, Op. 104b, No. 2 | April 5, 1927 | RCA |
| Felix Mendelssohn | Etude in A minor, Op. 104b, No. 3 | April 5, 1927 | RCA |
| Felix Mendelssohn | "Spinning Song", from Songs Without Words, Op. 67 | November 4, 1920 | RCA |
| Felix Mendelssohn | "Spinning Song", from Songs Without Words, Op. 67 | April 25, 1928 | RCA |
| Felix Mendelssohn | Scherzo, from A Midsummer Night's Dream (arr. Rachmaninoff) | December 23, 1935 | RCA |
| Moritz Moszkowski | "La jongleuse", Op. 52, No. 4 | March 6, 1923 | RCA |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Theme and Variations, from Sonata in A major, K. 331 | April 18, 1919 | Edison |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Rondo alla turca, from Sonata in A major, K. 331 | May 14, 1925 | RCA |
| Modest Mussorgsky | Hopak, from The Fair at Sorochyntsi (arr. Rachmaninoff) | April 13, 1925 | RCA |
| Ignacy Jan Paderewski | Minuet in G major, Op. 14, No. 1 | April 5, 1927 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Barcarolle in G minor, Op. 10, No. 3 | April 23, 1919 | Edison |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 1 Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy, conductor | December 4, 1939 & February 24, 1940 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 Philadelphia Orchestra Leopold Stokowski, conductor | January 3 & December 22, 1924 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 Philadelphia Orchestra Leopold Stokowski, conductor | April 10 & 13, 1929 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy, conductor | December 4, 1939 & February 24, 1940 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40 Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy, conductor | December 20, 1941 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Etude-tableau in C major, Op. 33, No. 2 | March 18, 1940 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Etude-tableau in E-flat major, Op. 33, No. 7 | March 18, 1940 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Etude-tableau in A minor, Op. 39, No. 6 | December 16, 1925 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Humoresque in G major, Op. 10, No. 5 (revised version) | April 9, 1940 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Isle of the Dead, Op. 29 The Philadelphia Orchestra | April 2, 1929 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Melodie in E major, Op. 3, No. 3 (revised version) | April 9, 1940 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Moment Musical in E-flat minor, Op. 16, No. 2 | March 18, 1940 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | "Oriental Sketch" | March 18, 1940 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Polichinelle in F-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 4 | March 6, 1923 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | "Polka de W.R." | April 23, 1919 | Edison |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | "Polka de W.R." | October 12, 1921 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | "Polka de W.R." | April 4, 1928 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | "Polka italienne" Natalie Rachmaninoff, second piano | 1938 | Private recording |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2 | April 23, 1919 | Edison |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2 | October 14, 1921 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2 | April 4, 1928 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5 | May 17, 1920 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Prelude in G-flat major, Op. 23, No. 10 | March 18, 1940 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Prelude in E major, Op. 32, No. 3 | March 18, 1940 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Prelude in G major, Op. 32, No. 5 | May 3, 1920 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Prelude in F minor, Op. 32, No. 6 | March 18, 1940 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Prelude in F major, Op. 32, No. 7 | March 18, 1940 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Prelude in G-sharp minor, Op. 32, No. 12 | January 21, 1921 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 Philadelphia Orchestra Leopold Stokowski, conductor | December 24, 1934 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Serenade in B-flat, Op. 3, No. 5 (1892 version) | November 4, 1922 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Serenade in B-flat, Op. 3, No. 5 (1892 version) | January 3, 1936 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | "Daisies", Op. 38, No. 3 | March 18, 1940 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | "Lilacs", Op. 21, No. 5 | December 27, 1923 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | "Lilacs", Op. 21, No. 5 | February 26, 1942 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | "Vocalise", Op. 34, No. 14 Philadelphia Orchestra | April 20, 1929 | RCA |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff | Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44 Philadelphia Orchestra | December 11, 1939 | RCA |
| Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | "Flight of the Bumblebee", from Tsar Sultan (arr. Rachmaninoff) | April 16, 1929 | RCA |
| Camille Saint-Saëns | "The Swan", from The Carnival of the Animals (arr. Siloti) | December 30, 1924 | RCA |
| Domenico Scarlatti | Pastorale (after Sonata in D minor, L. 413) (arr. Karl Tausig) | April 19, 1919 | Edison |
| Franz Schubert | Impromptu in A-flat major, D. 899, No. 4 | December 29, 1925 | RCA |
| Franz Schubert | Violin Sonata in A major, D. 574 Fritz Kreisler, violin | December 20 & 21, 1928 | RCA |
| Franz Schubert | Serenade, from Schwanengesang, D. 957 (arr. Franz Liszt) | February 27, 1942 | RCA |
| Franz Schubert | Das Wandern, from Die schöne Müllerin, D, 795 (arr. Liszt) | April 14, 1925 | RCA |
| Franz Schubert | Wohin?, from Die schöne Müllerin, D, 795 (arr. Rachmaninoff) | December 29, 1925 | RCA |
| Robert Schumann | Carnaval, Op. 9 | April 9, 10, & 12, 1929 | RCA |
| Robert Schumann | "Der Kontrabandiste", from Spanisches Liederspiel, Op. 74 (arr. Tausig) | February 27, 1942 | RCA |
| Alexander Scriabin | Prelude in F-sharp minor, Op. 11, No. 8 | April 16, 1929 | RCA |
| Johann Strauss II | One Lives But Once (arr. Tausig) | April 5, 1927 | RCA |
| Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Humoresque in G major, Op. 10, No. 2 | December 27, 1923 | RCA |
| Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Troika (November), from The Seasons, Op. 37b | May 3, 1920 | RCA |
| Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Troika (November), from The Seasons, Op. 37b | April 11, 1928 | RCA |
| Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 40, No. 8 | April 5, 1923 | RCA |
| Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Lullaby, Op. 16, No. 1 | February 26, 1942 | RCA |
| Traditional | Powder and Paint Nadezhda Plevitskaya, vocalist | February 22, 1926 | RCA |
| Rachmaninoff | Symphonic Dances | 21 December 1940 | Private (Marston Records) |

### Piano rolls

Rachmaninoff also performed several works on piano rolls. Several manufacturers, in particular the Aeolian Company, 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 make roll recordings until around 1929, though his last roll, the Chopin Scherzo in B-flat minor, was not published until October 1933.
| Composer | Title of Work | Recording date(s) | Roll company |
| Tchaikovsky | Troika (November), from The Seasons, Op. 37b | March 17, 1919 | Ampico |
| John Stafford Smith | The Star Spangled Banner (arr. Rachmaninoff) | March 17, 1919 | Ampico |
| Rachmaninoff | Polichinelle, Op. 3, No. 4 | March 17, 1919 | Ampico |
| Rachmaninoff | Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2 | March 17, 1919 | Ampico |
| Rachmaninoff | Melodie in E major, Op. 3, No. 3 (original version) | March 17, 1919 | Ampico |
| Rachmaninoff | Humoresque in G major, Op. 10, No. 5 (original version) | March 17, 1919 | Ampico |
| Rachmaninoff | Barcarolle in G minor, Op. 10, No. 3 | March 17, 1919 | Ampico |
| Rachmaninoff | Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5 | March 17, 1919 | Ampico |
| Rachmaninoff | Polka de W.R. | March 17, 1919 | Ampico |
| Mendelssohn | Spinning Song, Op. 67, No. 4 | March 5, 1921 | Ampico |
| Chopin | Waltz in E-flat major, Op. 18 | March 5, 1921 | Ampico |
| Rachmaninoff | Etude-Tableau in A minor, Op. 39, No. 6 | March 5, 1921 | Ampico |
| Mussorgsky | Hopak, from Sorochintsky Fair (arr. Rachmaninoff) | March 5, 1921 | Ampico |
| Kreisler | Liebesleid (arr. Rachmaninoff) | April 6, 1922 | Ampico |
| Bizet | Minuet, from L’Arlesienne Suite (arr. Rachmaninoff) | April 6, 1922 | Ampico |
| Tchaikovsky | Waltz, Op. 40, No. 8 | April 13, 1923 | Ampico |
| Chopin | Waltz in F major, Op. 34, No. 3 | April 13, 1923 | Ampico |
| Rachmaninoff | Lilacs, Op. 21, No. 6 | April 13, 1923 | Ampico |
| Rachmaninoff | Serenade, Op. 3, No. 5 (1892 version) | April 13, 1923 | Ampico |
| Henselt | Etude in F-sharp major, Op. 2, No. 6 | November 13, 1923 | Ampico |
| Chopin | The Maiden’s Wish (arr. Liszt) | November 13, 1923 | Ampico |
| Gluck | Melodie, from Orfeo and Euridice (arr. Sgambati) | January 14, 1925 | Ampico |
| Schubert | Das Wandern (arr. Liszt) | January 14, 1925 | Ampico |
| J. S. Bach | Sarabande, from Partita No. 4, BWV 828 | December 22, 1925 | Ampico |
| Schubert | Wohin? (arr. Rachmaninoff) | December 22, 1925 | Ampico |
| Kreisler | Liebesfreud (arr. Rachmaninoff) | December 22, 1925 | Ampico |
| Chopin | Nocturne in F major, Op. 15, No. 1 | February 1, 1927 | Ampico |
| Paderewski | Minuet in G major, Op. 14 | February 1, 1927 | Ampico |
| Beethoven | Turkish March, from The Ruins of Athens (arr. Anton Rubinstein) | February 1, 1927 | Ampico |
| Schubert | Impromptu in A-flat major, D. 899, No. 4 | March 27, 1928 | Ampico |
| Rachmaninoff | Etude-Tableau in B minor, Op. 39, No, 4 | March 27, 1928 | Ampico |
| Rachmaninoff | Elegie in E-flat minor, Op. 3, No. 1 | April 4, 1928 | Ampico |
| Anton Rubinstein | Barcarolle, Op. 93, No. 7 | February 1, 1929 | Ampico |
| Chopin | Scherzo in B-flat minor, Op. 31 | February 1, 1929 | Ampico |
| Rimsky-Korsakov | Flight of the Bumble Bee, from The Tsar Sultan (arr. Rachmaninoff) | February 1, 1929 | Ampico |