ALC_0158_Rachmaninov 10 Preludes, Op. 23

From a very young age, Rachmaninov displayed extraordinary pianistic gifts. He was entrusted to the renowned Russian teacher Nikolai Zverev and completed his studies with Alexander Ziloti, Liszt’s favorite pupil. Yet, his deepest passion always remained composition: awarded the Moscow Conservatory's gold medal at only 19, the young Sergei secured a publishing contract with Gutheil and was personally encouraged by Tchaikovsky.
As Rachmaninov himself would later affirm: "For me, composing was like speaking, and often the pen could barely keep up with the rapid flight of my musical ideas."
At the height of his early career, an unexpected crisis struck the 24-year-old composer. The premiere of his Symphony No. 1 in D minor in St. Petersburg turned out to be a complete fiasco, triggering a deep depression so severe that it silenced his creativity for nearly three years. “I felt like someone who had suffered a stroke and had lost, for a long time, the use of his head and hands,” he would later confess.
Exhausted, Rachmaninov turned to Dr. Nikolai Dahl, a well-known therapist of the time who practiced hypnosis. Repeating the same affirmations during each session: "You will begin to write your concerto... you will work with great ease... the concerto will be of excellent quality".
Dahl gradually restored Rachmaninov’s confidence. Slowly, the composer resumed writing with renewed passion.