Congratulations St. Petersburg!

[opus23#10]

Last Saturday, May 30, St. Petersburg celebrated the 304th anniversary of the founding of the city St. Petersburg was important in Rachmaninoff's life, even though some of his memories of the place were sad (his little sister's death, and the break up of his parents' marriage). It was there that the boy Sergei won a scholarship to the conservatory -- from which he was frequently truant. While skipping his classes he saw St. Petersburg by hitching rides on the backs of horse drawn wagons. I hope that St. Petersburg commemorates his memory, even if he was a bold and defiant student.
Opus23#10

[mikhailp]

youtube.com/watch?v=915M0d-ex9U

A wonderful lulluby by Tchaikofsky that Rachmaninoff recorded
I thought it be fitting, seeing as how it was in the conservatory of St.Petersburg where Rachmaninoff became familiar with Tchaikofsky and his works, growing from his influence and rich knowledge.

[Marianne]

Dear dear friends!!! Thank you so much for your words and congratulations!!!
Dear opus 23#10 - yes, we remember Rachmaninoff in Saint-Petersburg and the head of the Saint-Petersburg Rachmaninoff society wrote a book about Rachmaninoff's days in SPB, and there was the first edition - very good one, and now we collect money for the second edition. I will gladly post some photos of Saint-Petersburg places connected with Rachmaninoff's name a bit later... because I have more happy news for today:

This year is good for our region - not far away from Saint-Petersburg - three or four hours driving by car there is Novgorod, the town in which Rachmaninoff spent so much time.
And next weekend there will be an official opening of the monument to SVR there!!!
Rachmaninoff's great-granddaughter - Natalie Wanamaker-Javier is coming with her family
The money for the monument were donated by the big companies
Here are the photos of the sculpture in project (by Alexander Rukavishnikov):





and in process of erecting it these week:





The opening will happen on the 14th of June this year!

[opus23#10]

St. Petersburg certainly does commemorate Rachmaninoff! The book on SVR's days in St. Petersburg must have required much research. Do you have the first publication? *** As for the regional celebration -- it sounds wonderful. What a unique statue! The artist must have studied many, many pictures to create it. Thanks for the news about related celebrations that SVR's descendants are attending. Marianne, you must be thrilled with all of this. I am glad you shared the news with forum members -- even the details about putting the statue in place.
Opus23#10