Great Performers: Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein's 82 years on the stage constitutes one of the longest and most successful piano careers in history. Few pianists adored giving concerts more than Rubinstein, and, in turn, his red-blooded approach to music making, extrovert personality and communicative immediacy inspired adoration from audiences all over the world.
Read more…Born in Lodz, Poland on 28 January 1887, Rubinstein travelled to Berlin as a child, where he took piano lessons from Heinrich Barth and was mentored by the violinist Joseph Joachim, Brahms's close friend and collaborator. By his own admission, the young Rubinstein was interested in the good life, and counted on his innate facility for learning and absorbing new works to get through concerts and made the most of his natural charm and stage presence. He socialized in Paris's musical salons, where he made money playing Strauss's then-controversial opera 'Salome' on the piano. Rubinstein also championed the music of other contemporaries, becoming an early advocate of Villa-Lobos, Prokofiev, Poulenc and Szymanowski. Igor Stravinsky's Three Movements from 'Petrouchka' were written for and dedicated to Rubinstein
By the late 1920s Rubinstein's career and musicianship began to solidify and gain focus. Envious of his young rival Vladimir Horowitz's impeccable technique, Rubinstein reassessed his own workmanship. He began his long series of recordings, including an extensive Chopin series that helped establish the pianist's standing as one of this composer's foremost interpreters. With Rubinstein's 1937 return to America, the pianist finally took his rightful place among the 20th century's most celebrated pianists. He continued touring and recording until a few months past his 89th birthday and died, aged 95, on 20 December 1982.
There is nothing remotely off-balance in a typical Rubinstein performance. His naturally singing tone and strong rhythmic backbone allowed for no artifice or exaggeration, although his earlier shellac and early LP recordings often reveal a more vivid and daring artist than one hears on the more carefully considered interpretations Rubinstein set down in the 1960s and '70s. Rubinstein seemed to take being a great pianist in stride, and he certainly made it look easy. Yet, in truth, he worked hard in pursuit of the utmost precision and specificity, while continuing to grow and evolve as an artist.
Consider, for example, Rubinstein in his mid-'70s, and when he completely overhauled his interpretation of Beethoven’s "Appassionata" Sonata, purging it of past exaggerations and rhetorical conceits and paying closer attention to the composer's markings. Or how his valedictory recordings of Schumann's 'Carnaval' and Brahms's Second Piano Concerto eschewed their predecessor's cavalier characteristics. The Chopin Mazurka cycles from the 1930s and '50s boast hearty athleticism, while the 1960s stereo remakes are generally more introspective, yet richer in detail.
As fashions continue to fluctuate in the piano world, one wistfully looks back at Rubinstein's generous, uncluttered and beautifully centred artistry and as a musical golden mean.