Married 7 March 1964, with two children Alexandra born in 1964 married with 5 children and Serge Conus born 1970 married with 2 children.
children. Divorced after 1970.
[obituary from The Telegraph, 4 November 2012]
Alexandre Rachmaninoff, who has died aged 79, was the founder of the Rachmaninov Foundation and custodian of the Swiss estate which kept the flame burning for the music of his grandfather, Sergei Rachmaninov. However, he was rarely an easy person to deal with and critics accused him of overzealousness in his protection of the composer's reputation.
Sergei Rachmaninov had left Russia after the Revolution of 1917, escaping to Finland on an open sledge on Christmas Eve and eventually settling in America. He visited Europe most summers, and his grandson later recalled spending many happy months at Villa Senar (an acronym for Sergei and Natalya Rachmaninov, the composer's wife), the house modelled on his former Russian estate that the composer built in the 1930s by Lake Lucerne.
Alexandre, who was 10 when his grandfather died in 1943, recalled the older man as being kind and gentle, "never raising his voice". He dismissed as "propaganda" reports that the composer did not enjoy living in the West and yearned to return to Russia.
For many years Rachmaninov's work was neglected, mocked as "bar music" (as Alexandre Rachmaninoff was once told in Prague) or scorned because of its tonality in a century that gravitated towards atonality. To address this Rachmaninoff established the Rachmaninov Foundation in 1999, which was funded by the copious royalties from music that, in many cases, remains in copyright until next year.
Before long a group of scholars, including Geoffrey Norris from The Daily Telegraph, were working with him to resurrect the original version of the composer's Fourth Piano Concerto. It had not been heard in public since the composer, who preferred a substantially revised version, had given it an airing in 1927 with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski. After much labour the work was performed in its original form in 2001 in Helsinki, the city where it was first conceived, by Alexander Ghindin conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy.
The foundation was soon supporting Rachmaninov festivals in London, New York and Zurich. Even in Germany, where beyond the famous Piano Concerto No 2 or Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini the composer's music was little appreciated, there were frequent performances in the early years of the 21st century. Meanwhile, Rachmaninoff commissioned a "fifth" piano concerto, for which the composer Alexander Warenberg added a piano part to Rachmaninov's Second Symphony.
Alexandre Borisovich Conus was born in Paris on March 8 1933. His mother, Tatiana, the younger of Sergei Rachmaninov's two daughters, had married Boris Conus, a businessman descended from distinguished Russian musicians, and they had settled in Paris. From an early age Alexandre used the "ff" variant of his grandfather's surname.
He studied Law and worked in America from 1957 until his mother's death four years later, when he moved into Villa Senar. Although he spoke Russian perfectly, Rachmaninoff did not set foot inside the country of his forebears until 1973. Meanwhile, he pursued a career as a financier.
Villa Senar was rarely opened to visitors or historians; extracting permission to use copyright works was tortuous; and attempts by the Lucerne Festival to hold masterclasses at the villa, described by one German academic as a "haunted house", faltered.
But if some accused Rachmaninoff of guarding the flame too closely, by 2010 the composer's posthumous fortunes had turned and BBC Music Magazine named him among the leading composers of the 20th century.
Alexandre Rachmaninoff, who was unmarried, was an enthusiastic mountaineer; some of those granted access to the Rachmaninov legacy were only admitted after enthusiastic treks across breathtaking scenery. As for his own musical talents, Rachmaninoff once said: "I play the piano only when there is no one at home and all the doors are shut."
children. Divorced after 1970.
[obituary from The Telegraph, 4 November 2012]
Alexandre Rachmaninoff, who has died aged 79, was the founder of the Rachmaninov Foundation and custodian of the Swiss estate which kept the flame burning for the music of his grandfather, Sergei Rachmaninov. However, he was rarely an easy person to deal with and critics accused him of overzealousness in his protection of the composer's reputation.
Sergei Rachmaninov had left Russia after the Revolution of 1917, escaping to Finland on an open sledge on Christmas Eve and eventually settling in America. He visited Europe most summers, and his grandson later recalled spending many happy months at Villa Senar (an acronym for Sergei and Natalya Rachmaninov, the composer's wife), the house modelled on his former Russian estate that the composer built in the 1930s by Lake Lucerne.
Alexandre, who was 10 when his grandfather died in 1943, recalled the older man as being kind and gentle, "never raising his voice". He dismissed as "propaganda" reports that the composer did not enjoy living in the West and yearned to return to Russia.
For many years Rachmaninov's work was neglected, mocked as "bar music" (as Alexandre Rachmaninoff was once told in Prague) or scorned because of its tonality in a century that gravitated towards atonality. To address this Rachmaninoff established the Rachmaninov Foundation in 1999, which was funded by the copious royalties from music that, in many cases, remains in copyright until next year.
Before long a group of scholars, including Geoffrey Norris from The Daily Telegraph, were working with him to resurrect the original version of the composer's Fourth Piano Concerto. It had not been heard in public since the composer, who preferred a substantially revised version, had given it an airing in 1927 with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski. After much labour the work was performed in its original form in 2001 in Helsinki, the city where it was first conceived, by Alexander Ghindin conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy.
The foundation was soon supporting Rachmaninov festivals in London, New York and Zurich. Even in Germany, where beyond the famous Piano Concerto No 2 or Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini the composer's music was little appreciated, there were frequent performances in the early years of the 21st century. Meanwhile, Rachmaninoff commissioned a "fifth" piano concerto, for which the composer Alexander Warenberg added a piano part to Rachmaninov's Second Symphony.
Alexandre Borisovich Conus was born in Paris on March 8 1933. His mother, Tatiana, the younger of Sergei Rachmaninov's two daughters, had married Boris Conus, a businessman descended from distinguished Russian musicians, and they had settled in Paris. From an early age Alexandre used the "ff" variant of his grandfather's surname.
He studied Law and worked in America from 1957 until his mother's death four years later, when he moved into Villa Senar. Although he spoke Russian perfectly, Rachmaninoff did not set foot inside the country of his forebears until 1973. Meanwhile, he pursued a career as a financier.
Villa Senar was rarely opened to visitors or historians; extracting permission to use copyright works was tortuous; and attempts by the Lucerne Festival to hold masterclasses at the villa, described by one German academic as a "haunted house", faltered.
But if some accused Rachmaninoff of guarding the flame too closely, by 2010 the composer's posthumous fortunes had turned and BBC Music Magazine named him among the leading composers of the 20th century.
Alexandre Rachmaninoff, who was unmarried, was an enthusiastic mountaineer; some of those granted access to the Rachmaninov legacy were only admitted after enthusiastic treks across breathtaking scenery. As for his own musical talents, Rachmaninoff once said: "I play the piano only when there is no one at home and all the doors are shut."
Married 7 March 1964, with two children Alexandra born in 1964 married with 5 children and Serge Conus born 1970 married with 2 children.
children. Divorced after 1970.
[obituary from The Telegraph, 4 November 2012]
Alexandre Rachmaninoff, who has died aged 79, was the founder of the Rachmaninov Foundation and custodian of the Swiss estate which kept the flame burning for the music of his grandfather, Sergei Rachmaninov. However, he was rarely an easy person to deal with and critics accused him of overzealousness in his protection of the composer's reputation.
Sergei Rachmaninov had left Russia after the Revolution of 1917, escaping to Finland on an open sledge on Christmas Eve and eventually settling in America. He visited Europe most summers, and his grandson later recalled spending many happy months at Villa Senar (an acronym for Sergei and Natalya Rachmaninov, the composer's wife), the house modelled on his former Russian estate that the composer built in the 1930s by Lake Lucerne.
Alexandre, who was 10 when his grandfather died in 1943, recalled the older man as being kind and gentle, "never raising his voice". He dismissed as "propaganda" reports that the composer did not enjoy living in the West and yearned to return to Russia.
For many years Rachmaninov's work was neglected, mocked as "bar music" (as Alexandre Rachmaninoff was once told in Prague) or scorned because of its tonality in a century that gravitated towards atonality. To address this Rachmaninoff established the Rachmaninov Foundation in 1999, which was funded by the copious royalties from music that, in many cases, remains in copyright until next year.
Before long a group of scholars, including Geoffrey Norris from The Daily Telegraph, were working with him to resurrect the original version of the composer's Fourth Piano Concerto. It had not been heard in public since the composer, who preferred a substantially revised version, had given it an airing in 1927 with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski. After much labour the work was performed in its original form in 2001 in Helsinki, the city where it was first conceived, by Alexander Ghindin conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy.
The foundation was soon supporting Rachmaninov festivals in London, New York and Zurich. Even in Germany, where beyond the famous Piano Concerto No 2 or Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini the composer's music was little appreciated, there were frequent performances in the early years of the 21st century. Meanwhile, Rachmaninoff commissioned a "fifth" piano concerto, for which the composer Alexander Warenberg added a piano part to Rachmaninov's Second Symphony.
Alexandre Borisovich Conus was born in Paris on March 8 1933. His mother, Tatiana, the younger of Sergei Rachmaninov's two daughters, had married Boris Conus, a businessman descended from distinguished Russian musicians, and they had settled in Paris. From an early age Alexandre used the "ff" variant of his grandfather's surname.
He studied Law and worked in America from 1957 until his mother's death four years later, when he moved into Villa Senar. Although he spoke Russian perfectly, Rachmaninoff did not set foot inside the country of his forebears until 1973. Meanwhile, he pursued a career as a financier.
Villa Senar was rarely opened to visitors or historians; extracting permission to use copyright works was tortuous; and attempts by the Lucerne Festival to hold masterclasses at the villa, described by one German academic as a "haunted house", faltered.
But if some accused Rachmaninoff of guarding the flame too closely, by 2010 the composer's posthumous fortunes had turned and BBC Music Magazine named him among the leading composers of the 20th century.
Alexandre Rachmaninoff, who was unmarried, was an enthusiastic mountaineer; some of those granted access to the Rachmaninov legacy were only admitted after enthusiastic treks across breathtaking scenery. As for his own musical talents, Rachmaninoff once said: "I play the piano only when there is no one at home and all the doors are shut."
children. Divorced after 1970.
[obituary from The Telegraph, 4 November 2012]
Alexandre Rachmaninoff, who has died aged 79, was the founder of the Rachmaninov Foundation and custodian of the Swiss estate which kept the flame burning for the music of his grandfather, Sergei Rachmaninov. However, he was rarely an easy person to deal with and critics accused him of overzealousness in his protection of the composer's reputation.
Sergei Rachmaninov had left Russia after the Revolution of 1917, escaping to Finland on an open sledge on Christmas Eve and eventually settling in America. He visited Europe most summers, and his grandson later recalled spending many happy months at Villa Senar (an acronym for Sergei and Natalya Rachmaninov, the composer's wife), the house modelled on his former Russian estate that the composer built in the 1930s by Lake Lucerne.
Alexandre, who was 10 when his grandfather died in 1943, recalled the older man as being kind and gentle, "never raising his voice". He dismissed as "propaganda" reports that the composer did not enjoy living in the West and yearned to return to Russia.
For many years Rachmaninov's work was neglected, mocked as "bar music" (as Alexandre Rachmaninoff was once told in Prague) or scorned because of its tonality in a century that gravitated towards atonality. To address this Rachmaninoff established the Rachmaninov Foundation in 1999, which was funded by the copious royalties from music that, in many cases, remains in copyright until next year.
Before long a group of scholars, including Geoffrey Norris from The Daily Telegraph, were working with him to resurrect the original version of the composer's Fourth Piano Concerto. It had not been heard in public since the composer, who preferred a substantially revised version, had given it an airing in 1927 with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski. After much labour the work was performed in its original form in 2001 in Helsinki, the city where it was first conceived, by Alexander Ghindin conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy.
The foundation was soon supporting Rachmaninov festivals in London, New York and Zurich. Even in Germany, where beyond the famous Piano Concerto No 2 or Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini the composer's music was little appreciated, there were frequent performances in the early years of the 21st century. Meanwhile, Rachmaninoff commissioned a "fifth" piano concerto, for which the composer Alexander Warenberg added a piano part to Rachmaninov's Second Symphony.
Alexandre Borisovich Conus was born in Paris on March 8 1933. His mother, Tatiana, the younger of Sergei Rachmaninov's two daughters, had married Boris Conus, a businessman descended from distinguished Russian musicians, and they had settled in Paris. From an early age Alexandre used the "ff" variant of his grandfather's surname.
He studied Law and worked in America from 1957 until his mother's death four years later, when he moved into Villa Senar. Although he spoke Russian perfectly, Rachmaninoff did not set foot inside the country of his forebears until 1973. Meanwhile, he pursued a career as a financier.
Villa Senar was rarely opened to visitors or historians; extracting permission to use copyright works was tortuous; and attempts by the Lucerne Festival to hold masterclasses at the villa, described by one German academic as a "haunted house", faltered.
But if some accused Rachmaninoff of guarding the flame too closely, by 2010 the composer's posthumous fortunes had turned and BBC Music Magazine named him among the leading composers of the 20th century.
Alexandre Rachmaninoff, who was unmarried, was an enthusiastic mountaineer; some of those granted access to the Rachmaninov legacy were only admitted after enthusiastic treks across breathtaking scenery. As for his own musical talents, Rachmaninoff once said: "I play the piano only when there is no one at home and all the doors are shut."
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