Search - Franz Liszt, Anton Rubinstein, Artur Rubinstein :: Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 31

Rubinstein plays Rubinstein (no relation) & Liszt

Hank Drake | Cleveland, OH United States | 10/14/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Arthur Rubinstein was surprisingly ambivalent toward the music of Liszt. This CD, Volume 31 of RCA's reissue of the pianist's complete recordings, contains virtually his entire repertoire of Liszt's music, except the Sonata in b minor. Rubinstein chose his Liszt carefully, constrasting virtuoso works alongside more intimate pieces. The Hungarian Rhapsody No. 10 was a Rubinstein specialty. Apparently, he recorded the work as far back as 1910. That recording, on the Polish Favorit label, has unfortunately been lost. Rubinstein performs the glissandi passages with rare control, carefully balancing them with the left hand passages and building an effective link to the coda. Throughout this piece, and the other virtuoso works, Rubinstein has all the brilliance of certain Liszt "specialists" without the vulgarity one often hears.Liszt's more contemplative works are also served well here. This is particularly true in the Consolation No. 3, which is vastly improved over the pianist's 1937 recording. RCA was forever trying to persuade Rubinstein to record the concerto of Anton Rubinstein (no relation). The pianist was savvy enough to recognize the obvious marketing ploy, "Rubinstein plays Rubinstein." In the end, he confined himself to a few short works, which were issued on 7-inch 45RPM records.With the exception of the Valse-oubliee, Rubinstein never recorded any of these works in stereo. That is a pity, as there are those who will not purchase mono recordings, no matter how well remastered. The loss is theirs. These natural sounding gems were recorded in 1950, 1953 and 1955."