Breaking Rachmaninoff

“Breaking Rachmaninoff“ is a humorous loving documentary about the search for a great composer who managed to overcome his depression by spelling his own name wrong.”

Much like Rachmaninoff, who struggled to be taken seriously as he stuck to his post-romantic compositional style, in this documentary, Igudesman - also an immigrant and a prolific composer - tries to be honest about the innate insecurities of composers.

The fact that Rachmaninoff was born on the 1st of April lends itself perfec- tly to Igudesman’s famously hilarious antics. So what to do? Easy: simply send Sergei a whole lot of text messages trying to invite him to his own celebration!

As Igudesman travels the world, interviewing celebrity musicians from vari- ous genres, he explores various subjects with his intimate, fun, yet insightful line of questioning.

Loved by showbiz greats, Rachmaninoff’s melodies have been repeatedly turned into songs and hits by Frank Sinatra and Eric Carmen. Even in Hol- lywood movies, his name is synonymous with the grand gestures of romance, while he himself was an extremely private and nostalgic person who spent years in his home in his Lucerne villa, which he had rebuilt in the style of his childhood home.

This disparity is one of the aspects that Igudesman takes into focus in this documentary.

During the present post-pandemic era, when the world is facing massive emotional challenges, the greatly admired composer Rachmaninoff, who faced his own mental challenges, is a perfect subject for Igudesman, who aims to present him in a loving and humorous fashion.

During interviews with top music stars, Igudesman gets behind how Rachma- ninoff redefined pianistic standards- even if it was just due to his unusually large hands – as well as how he coped with depression, and addresses how problematic and common depression is for artists.

And last and probably least, is it really true that Rachmaninoff spelt his name with ff at the end, in order to make it sound louder?

Featuring: Billy Joel, John Malkovich, Yuja Wang, Andrew Litton, Mischa Maisky, Lily Maisky, Paavo Järvi, Hyung-ki Joo, Eric Carmen, Lucy Landymore, Czech Philharmonic

Original title Breaking Rachmaninoff
Production year 2023
Duration 52 minutes
Directed by Aleksey Igudesman
Written by Aleksey Igudesman & Sabina Hasanova
Produced by WDR, ORF and Only Hands Small Productions