On April 8 the Russian Center at German-Russian Institute of Culture (GRIC) received guests from Moscow. Three employees of the Russian TV channel "Culture" came to Dresden to explore the heritage of Sergey Rakhmaninov.
The world-renowned Russian pianist, conductor and composer rented a house in Dresden on Sidonienstrasse from 1906 to 1909. In one of his letters to a friend Rakhmaninov said: "This city appeals to me... I feel at home here." In Dresden the composer created such significant masterpieces as the Second Symphony and "Island of the Dead". It is here that he was preparing for his concert tours in different parts of the world.
Rakhmaninov's entire family as well the Satins (his father-in-law and mother-in-law) belonged to the Russian Orthodox community and actively participated in the church life. The composer's older daughter Irina wedded with prince Petr Volkonsky in St. Simeon Divnogorets Orthodox Church in Dresden on September 24, 1924, which is corroborated by the extant church archives.
And the house on Sidonienstrasse was regrettably destroyed in February 1945 as a result of Anglo-American bombing. The well-known author and film director Aleksey Denisov created the documentary Dresden: the Chronicle of the Tragedy. The members of our Institute actively helped create this film.
This time we showed the movies Russian Footprint in Dresden where there is information about Rakhmaninov and New Russian Footprint in Dresden, made last year on the grant of the Russkiy Mir Foundation. We told them about our work during 20 years.
This is a jubilee year for us. On Wednesday April 10 a wonderful concert, dedicated to the 140th anniversary of Rakhmaninov's birthday and 70th anniversary of his death was given in the overcrowded hall of the Russian Center in Dresden. Among the performers were musicians and soloist from Veliki Novgorod, the composer's home city.
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