Arthur Rubinstein was a Polish-American pianist who is widely considered as one of the greatest piano virtuosos of the 20th Century.
Arthur Rubinstein
plays Chopin
Label: Polskie Nagrania, 2008
Catalogue No: PNCD1227
Format: CD
Tracks:
- Frederic Chopin - Piano Concerto in F minor Op.21 - Maestoso
- Frederic Chopin - Piano Concerto in F minor Op.21 - Larghetto
- Frederic Chopin - Piano Concerto in F minor Op.21 - Allegro vivace
- Polonaise in A flat major, op. 53 (encore)
- Mazurka in E major, op.6 no 3
- Polonaise in F sharp minor, op.44
Performed by:
Arthur Rubinstein - piano
The National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw, Witold Rowicki - conductor
Recorded:
live at the National Philharmonics in Warsaw, Poland on February 22, 1960
(tracks 1-4); 1939 (track 5, studio recording), 1936 (track 6, studio
recording),
About:
Arthur (born Artur) Rubinstein (January 28, 1887 – December 20, 1982) was a
Polish-American pianist who is widely considered as one of the greatest piano
virtuosos of the 20th Century. He received international acclaim for his
performances of Chopin and Brahms and his championing of Spanish music.
Rubinstein was born in Lodz, Poland (then part of Russian-controlled Congress
Poland) in a Jewish family. Aside from his early and singular fascination with
the piano, another interesting childhood trait is that Rubinstein didn't begin
speaking until some time around the age of three. Until the time that he
developed speech, Rubinstein would entertain his family by imitating non-speech
sounds.[1] The descriptions of Rubinstein's delayed speech, his early childhood
tantrums and his later virtuosity closely follow a similar pattern of
development of other famous late-talkers, such as fellow pianist Clara Schumann
and physicist (and sometimes-musician) Albert Einstein, among others.
Rubinstein studied in Warsaw. He made his debut in Berlin in 1900, followed by
appearances in Germany and Poland and further study with Karl Heinrich Barth. In
1904, he went to Paris, where he met the composers Ravel, Dukas, and the
violinist Jacques Thibaud. He also played Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2 in
the presence of the composer.
Rubinstein made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall in 1906, and thereafter
toured the United States, Austria, Italy, and Russia. In 1912, he made his
London debut.
During World War I Rubinstein lived mainly in London, accompanying the violinist
Eugène Ysaÿe. From 1916 to 1917, he toured Spain and South America, developing
an enthusiasm for the music of Granados, Albéniz, de Falla, and Villa-Lobos. He
was the dedicatee of Villa-Lobos's Rudepoêma and Stravinsky's Trois mouvements
de Petrouchka.
In 1917 Rubinstein left Cádiz (Spain) with his music manager Ernesto de Quesada,
on the Infanta Isabel to South America. He debuted on July 2, 1917 in the Teatro
Odéon, in Buenos Aires. This tour included concerts in Buenos Aires, Montevideo
(Uruguay), Santiago de Chile and Valparaíso.
Rubinstein made numerous live-recording player piano music rolls for the Aeolian
Duo-Art system all of which survive today and can be heard. In 1932 he withdrew
from concert life for several months to work on his technique and repertory.
Astor Piazzolla cites a Rubinstein concert staged in Buenos Aires in 1939 as one
his first great impressions, which led the 18-year-old to write and dedicate to
Rubinstein a piano "concerto" (a definition that Rubinstein was to debate with
the young composer).
During World War II, Rubinstein's career was centered in the United States,
where he became a naturalized citizen in 1946. Impresario Sol Hurok insisted
Rubinstein be billed as Artur for his American concerts, even though the pianist
referred to himself as Arthur when in English speaking countries. He refused to
play in post-war Germany because of the Nazi extermination of members of his
family. He retired from the stage in 1976, as his eyesight and hearing were
rapidly deteriorating. He became almost blind in later life.
Although best known as a recitalist and concerto soloist, Rubinstein was also
considered an outstanding chamber musician, partnering with such luminaries as
Henryk Szeryng, Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, and the Guarneri Quartet. Of
the piano solo repertoire Rubinstein recorded a vast portion, including nearly
all the works of Chopin,save the Études, and innumerable other Romantic
composers. He was one of the earliest champions of the afore-mentioned Spanish
and South American composers and of French composers who, in the early 20th
century, were still considered "modern" (Debussy, Dukas). In addition,
Rubinstein was the first champion of the music of his compatriot Karol
Szymanowski. Rubinstein, in conversation with Alexander Scriabin, named Brahms
as his favorite composer (a response that enraged Scriabin).
Rubinstein was fluent in eight languages. Rubinstein’s photographic memory of
much of the repertoire, not simply that of the piano, was formidable. According
to his memoirs, the pianist learned Franck’s Symphonic Variations while on a
train en route to the concert, without the benefit of a piano.
Rubinstein was married in 1932 to Aniela (Nela) Mlynarska, daughter of conductor
Emil Mlynarski and ex-wife of Mieczyslaw Munz. They had four children: their
daughter Eva married William Sloane Coffin; their son John Rubinstein is an
actor. Rubinstein also fathered a daughter with a South American woman.
Rubinstein carried on a series of affairs during his marriage, including with
Mary Irene Curzon and, in 1977 at age 90, left his wife for the young Annabelle
Whitestone, though he and Nela never divorced.
Rubinstein died in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1982 at age 95. On December 20, 1983
(first anniversary of his death), an urn holding his ashes was buried in Israel,
in a dedicated plot now dubbed "Rubinstein Forest" overlooking the Jerusalem
Forest. (This was arranged with the rabbis so that the main forest wouldn't fall
under religious laws governing cemeteries).
