Sergei Rachmaninoff (born March 20, 1873) was a Russian composer and a piano virtuoso. In March 1897, the debut of his Symphony No. 1 in D Minor was not well received, sending Rachmaninoff into a period of depression. The Symphony became part of the standard orchestral repertoire after his death, with a reconstructed score performed in 1945 in Moscow.  The American premiere took place on March 19, 1948, at the Philadelphia Academy of Music, conducted by Eugene Ormandy.  While the symphony's debut was not well received, it was certainly well received in Brattleboro on May 5, 2025, with the orchestra receiving a standing ovation at its conclusion!