Among Sergei Rachmaninoff's greatest musical gifts were his hands. Dextrous, fast and enormous, Rachmaninoff's hands, and his unfailing knowledge of what to do with them, gave him millions of fans, thousands of recitals, near-constant touring and millions of dollars. But, those same hands came with a cost — quite possibly the cancer that took his life.
The latest installment of Classical (De)composition, a video series written by CBC Radio 2's Tom Allen, places us in the capacious and capable hands of music's most feared and, in some ways, most tragic virtuoso pianist and composer. Illustrations by Kim Hiscocks. Watch it below.
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Why nobody knows how composer Charles-Valentin Alkan died
How did Tchaikovsky die?
The story of Enrique Granados's final hours will break your heart