All three recordings of Rachmaninoff playing the C# Minor Prelude, from his first 1919 Edison record, the 1923 acoustic, and the 1928 Victor electric remake. Recorded on the HMV 31b Orthophonic Gramophone. I have equalized the sound recordings (with a RIAA curve) to help with bass response. Otherwise the recordings are not manipulated. The few distortions are digital artifacts due to the recording level. The identical movie below is a straight recording from the Gramophone without equalization added. www.youtube.com The Prelude in C Sharp Minor, The Bells of Moscow, is arguably Rachmaninoffs most (in)famous work. It had been recorded as early as 1917 by Mark Hambourg and Josef Hofmann. When Rachmaninoff arrived in New York shortly after armistice in 1918, he had a difficult start like many Russian émigrés. To make his first recordings, he signed up with the Edison company, who claimed for themselves to have a superior recording process. Rachmaninoff nervous and insecure with the unknown recording experience recorded a few pieces in many takes in April 1919 at the Edison New York studio. Unfortunately, the Edison company had no track record dealing with celebrity pianists: Rachmaninoff was forced to play on an upright piano, and despite his wishes to publish only certain good takes, the Edison company also published takes containing slips or embarrassing mistakes. Thomas A. Edison himself very hard of hearing called Rachmaninoff dismissively just a pounder. Matters were ...
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