Film Premiere of Breaking Rachmaninoff!
Channel: Aleksey Igudesman
Date: 2023-04-11

Some fun with amazing VIPs from the Vienna Music world and the great team of Only Hands Small film productions and the great team of the documentary "Breaking Rachmaninoff". Thank you https://anna-patritsiya.art/ for making this awesome video!

“Breaking Rachmaninoff “ is a humorous loving documentary about the search for a great composerwho managed to overcome his depression by spelling his own name wrong.

Much like Rachmaninoff, who struggled to be taken seriously as he stuck to his post-romantic compositionalstyle, in this documentary, Igudesman - also an immigrant and a prolific composer - tries to be honestabout the innate insecurities of composers. The fact that Rachmaninoff was born on the 1st of April lends itself perfectly to Igudesman’s famouslyhilarious antics. So what to do? Easy: simply send Sergei a whole lot of text messages trying to invite himto his own celebration! 

As Igudesman travels the world, interviewing celebrity musicians from various genres, he explores varioussubjects with his intimate, fun, yet insightful line of questioning. Loved by showbiz greats, Rachmaninoff ’s melodies have been repeatedly turned into songs and hits byFrank Sinatra and Eric Carmen. During interviews with top music stars, Igudesman gets behind how Rachmaninoff redefined pianistic standards- even if it was just due to his unusually large hands – as well as how he coped with depression, and addresses how problematic and common depression is for artists. And last and probably least, is it really true that Rachmaninoff spelt his name with ff at the end, in order to make it sound louder?

All of this and more is uncovered in engaging conversations and at times even performances withgreat artists, such as:
• the Piano Man himself, Billy Joel,
• the incomparable actor John Malkovich,
• the renowed pianist Yuja Wang,
• the outstanding conductor Andrew Litton,
• the celebrated cellist Mischa Maisky,
• the amazing pianist Lily Maisky,
• the esteemed conductor Paavo Järvi,
• the self-proclaimed Rachmaninoff specialist Hyung-ki Joo,
• the “All by Myself” composer/pop artist, Eric Carmen,
• the fabulous multi-percussionist Lucy Landymore,
• one of the world‘s greatest orchestras, the Czech Philharmonic

In a parallel storyline, we get to experience the unique reinventions by Igudesman & Joo of some of Rachmaninoff ’s compositional favourites. Together with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, they manage to take Eric Carmen’s classic song “All by Myself ” back to its roots by merging it with Rachmaninoff ’s piano concerto. In the “Rach-Pag Fantasy”, Igudesman & Joo take Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and integrate the violin and percussion, with the help of Lucy Landymore, the drummer of “The World of Hans Zimmer”. In “Staying Dead or Alive,” Rachmaninoff’s music gets kidnapped to stand next to the BeeGees. 

“Rachmaninoff had Big Hands,” the sketch that brought Igudesman & Joo worldwide fame, takes a special place in this unusual and vibrant documentary. And in an exciting twist of events, Igudesman manages to convince Eric Carmen to write a new “less depressive” song based on Rachmaninoff, which sees the world premiere in the orchestral show.

“Breaking Rachmaninoff” aims to be the most humorous and at the same time, the most personal and moving documentary about the great Sergei.

Documentary, 52 minute 
A production of Only Hands Small OG (OHS) in co-production with ORF  and WDR 
Premiere: April 1st , 2023 (Czech TV), April 2nd , 2023 (WDR & ORF)

Directed by Aleksey Igudesman 
Screenplay by Aleksey Igudesman & Sabina Hasanova
Edited by Sabina Hasanova
Original Soundtrack by Aleksey Igudesman & Ben Landymore
Sound Design by Ben Landymore & Sabina Hasanova
Sound & Mix by Philipp Treiber, PDV Records & Ben Landymore
 With thanks to Sergei Rachmaninoff Foundation, Kanton Luzern, Andrea Loetscher, Alex Basker, Steinway Austria, Tobias Schröter, David Koller, Matthias Greving, David Maraček, Katharina Kang Litton, Amy Murphy Carmen, Czech Philharmonic
Dramaturgical Consultant  - Barbara Weissenbeck 
Technical Consultant - Sebastian Leitner 
Production Assistants - Julia Rhee, Aleksandra Dimitrov
Opening/Grave Sequence - Christian Pilsl
Animations - PIROS Animation
Graphic Design SVEA & JULIUS | Lovers of the Arts
Cover Julia Wesely
Pictures Rachmaninoff - State Archives of Lucerne
Color Grading and Mfx Master viennaFX
Production Manager - Sabina Hasanova
Executive Producer - Annika Ulla Schmid
Producers Hyung-ki Joo, Konrad Fischer, Dominik Joelsohn   
Producer ORF Martin Traxl   
Editors Teresa Vogl (ORF)
Martin Bürkl, Christian Nurtsch-Wesener (WDR)

https://www.alekseyigudesman.com
https://igudesmanandjoo.com
https://www.onlyhandssmall.com