Performed by the Rachmaninoff Choir.  Conducted by Anthony Antolini.  Bass Soloist, Andre Papkov.

 

 

 

 

 

Rediscovering Rachmaninoff is the story of the creation, disappearance and rediscovery of a sacred masterpiece.  It's the story of a dedicated choral director who painstakingly recreated Sergei Rachmaninoff's Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and the volunteer chorus that journeyed from California to the Soviet Union to perform the long-suppressed liturgy to overflow crowds. 

 

It is, more than anything, the story of celebrated composer Sergei Rachmaninoff's Liturgy, his first major choral composition, of which he wrote, "Not for a long time... have I written anything with such pleasure."  Inspired by the magnificent music sung in the Russian Orthodox Church, Rachmaninoff completed the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in July 1910.  It fell into obscurity after he fled Russia in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

 

Rediscovering Rachmaninoff features the Cabrillo Slavonic Chorus, conducted by Dr. Anthony Antolini.

(60 minutes, copyright 1992)