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In the late 1930s, Rachmaninoff was looking for a permanent summer residence in Europe. His wife and daughters had already set their sights on the French Riviera, when Rachmaninoff quietly passed on their wishes by purchasing a piece of land in Switzerland on the Northern slope of a peninsula stretching deep into lake Lucerne.

 

Within a few years he developed the entire area. The work did not just involve the demolition of the original Villa Carolina but the redevelopment of the entire site to make way for a hypermodern Bauhaus-style villa situated on a plateau above the lake. At the entrance to the park a guesthouse with two garages was constructed and along the waterline a long quay was built with a boathouse attached to it.

 

Of course Rachmaninoff had his advisors - prominent among them his first biographer Oscar von Riesemann, lawyer Albert Riedweg, the architects Möri & Krebs and the garden designer Fritz Dové. Even so it was the composer himself who held sway over the entire project. At SENAR he realized a dream universe.

 

But even dreams can cast a shadow. Until 1939, Rachmaninoff paid as much for the maintenance of the entire estate as he had spent on the construction project. After his death, several family members toyed with the idea of ​​selling the house. When it really came down to it twice, the low proceeds (due to the high maintenance costs) caused a sale to fall through. In the end, the fact that SENAR remained family property for over 80 years until it was sold to the Canton of Lucerne in 2022 was only possible thanks to increasing copyright income.

 

 

The Rachmaninoff Network at SENAR

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When the Rachmaninoff Network was first invited to SENAR in May 2014, the future of the estate was still very uncertain. The composer's grandson, who died on November 30, 2012, had appointed the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation as the institutional heir for SENAR, but the contents of his will were contested. A years-long legal battle ensued. It is understandable that initially the preservation of SENAR's extensive archive collection was hardly the focus of attention.

 

Therefore the Rachmaninoff Network decided to step forward and offer its manpower, expertise and assistance. From 2016 to 2021, we spent an average of 3 ten-day visits to SENAR per year. During those visits we collected digital images and worked to stabilize and preserve both the paper archive and the image and sound archive. This helped ensure that not only the house, but also the archive collection came under monument protection. The Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation's successful application represented the first step was taken towards the eventual acquisition of SENAR by the Canton of Lucerne in 2022.

 

 

Sergei Rachmaninoff International Database

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Our work was over, but the Rachmaninoff Network gained an extensive collection of more than 10,000 digital images, containing a wealth of information about the life of Rachmaninoff and his inner circle. The value of this collection will only increase through cross-pollination with information from other sources. Which is why the Rachmaninoff Network is now devoting its time, energy and resources to set up the Sergei Rachmaninoff International Database.