At that concert I played the Bach E Major Partita for solo violin, and apparently my performance acted as an impulse for Rachmaninoff to do a wonderful piano transcription of some of the movements - the Prelude, the Gavotte, and the Gigue - which he subsequently published as a suite. Then came the day when Rachmaninoff said to me, “Nathan Mironovich, I’m giving a concert in Paris. I’ll be playing the Bach prelude in my transcription for the first time there. You come and hear it. And in the intermission, tell me your opinion.” Oh, I was so proud. For days I looked down my nose at everybody, I didn’t want to talk to anyone: Rachmaninoff was interested in my opinion of his work! I went to the concert and listened attentively, all ears. There was one passage in the transcription of the prelude that I didn’t like; I didn’t think it sounded “Bachian” enough. After the first part of the concert, I went back to see Rachmaninoff, as he had requested, and now I was afraid! Afraid to tell the truth. But I just couldn’t not tell it. Only what should I say? I made a bashful face and began, “Sergei Vasilyevich, I have some doubts: in the prelude, it seems to me, you have a chromatic sequence, which doesn’t sound just right –“ Rachmaninoff interrupted angrily, “Go to hell!” << less