WASHINGTON, November 26 (RIA Novosti) – Russian government officials are reportedly considering purchasing the Swiss estate of composer Sergei Rachmaninoff after a Russian pianist brought the question of its fate to the attention of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the New York Times reported.
The Times reported that on November 17 Putin instructed his government to “study the question” of buying the estate, which is known as Villa Senar, after renowned concert pianist Denis Matsuev discussed the matter with him at a meeting of the presidential council for culture and art in October.
Matsuev said he feared that that the composer’s descendants were planning to sell the estate and also its “unique manuscripts and unique musical scores, unique letters and grand piano,” according to the New York Times.
“If this would belong to Russia, I think it would be a place of pilgrimage. It is a place for unique master classes, festivals and competitions,” Matsuev said.
Rachmaninoff, who fled Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, spent his summers at Villa Senar during the 1930s and composed his famous “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” there, according to the New York Times.
Matsuev told Putin that he thought the estate would cost about 18 million Swiss francs (about $20 million).
In recent years, the Russian government has shown a willingness to spend large sums of money to reclaim and repatriate the country’s cultural legacy.
Last year, the country's Culture Ministry worked with regional government organizations, NGOs and businesspeople to purchase archives of director Andrei Tarkovsky for £1.3million ($2.1 million) at a Sotheby’s auction in London, the Guardian reported.
