ABSTRACT
Life of the Russian aristocracy in the seventies and eighties of the nineteenth century—The parents and grandparents of the artist—First recollections of his childhood—The piano mistress, Anna Ornazkaya—The parents differ about the future of their sons—“Corps of Pages”—Fate decides—The Rachmaninoff children and their parents—Removal to St. Petersburg—Little Sergei enters the Conservatoire
