On Mon, 1 Mar 1999, Jon Gallant wrote:

>I seem to recall passages in a Rachmaninoff prelude (is it the familiar
>march-like one in G minor?) which call for a span of an octave and a
>fifth in one hand, which only Sergei himself could play.  Pictures of
>Rachmaninoff show that, beside being very tall, his hands were enormous.

Not only were his hands tall, Rachmaninoff was a shade under two meters,
6' 6".  It was reported by many that his playing reach was an octave and
a fifth.

Doug Purl