Vintage pearl-finish 7 x 9 close-up portrait of Rachmaninoff by the Kubey-Rembrandt Studios of Philadelphia, signed and inscribed in black ink by the great Russian pianist in Cyrillic, "To Elena Konstantinovna Somova, S. Rachmaninoff," adding an uncommon three-bar musical quotation and lyrics below from Mussorgsky’s opera "Boris Gudunov." Lower left corner bears the photography studio blindstamp. Double-matted to an overall size of 12 x 14.5. In good to very good condition, with heavy creasing, light silvering, staining affecting the facial area, and damage to the borders and upper right corner creatively matted out. Rachmaninoff conducted Savva Mamontov’s Moscow Private Opera Company in their performance of Boris Gudunov in 1898. The recipient of this portrait, Elena Konstantivnovna Somova (1889-1969), was the wife of Evgenii Ivanovich Somov, engineer, secretary, and a friend of Rachmaninoff. Signed portraits of Rachmaninoff are rare in such a large size, with this example further augmented by the presence of a neatly penned musical quote.
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