Search - Claude Debussy, Karol Szymanowski, Sergey Prokofiev :: Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 42

Rubinstein's Musical Gift to the World

Hank Drake | Cleveland, OH United States | 02/16/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the Autumn of 1961, Arthur Rubinstein graced New York with an unprecedented demonstration of musical generosity. He performed ten solo piano recitals at Carnegie Hall, never programming the same work twice. What's more, he donated his entire proceeds to several charities, including the Musicians' Emergency Fund, Big Brother, and the NAACP. RCA recorded all of the concerts, and Rubinstein (who was uncomfortable with live recordings) consented to the release of a small portion of the music, which is mostly geared toward 20th Century music.



Rubinstein was playing Debussy's music when it was hot off the press, and as often as not, being booed for playing such "abstract" modern music. Rubinstein never cared for the "piano without hammers" approach of such Debussy specialists as Gieseking--he wanted more "meat" in his Debussy. However, he doesn't treat the French composer as some sort of 20th Century Chopin. Rubinstein generally uses softer "sound colors" here than he does in Chopin's work. His approach here is analogous to that of a painter substituting watercolors for oil paint.



Karol Szymanowski was a close friend of Rubinstein's, and the Mazurkas heard here were dedicated to the pianist. Rubinstein recorded some of these miniatures during the 78RPM era, and comparison with those recordings shows this later performance to more elegant and urbane than the rustic earlier version.



Rubinstein knew Prokofiev in Paris before the composer returned to Soviet Russia. The pianist performed less of this composer's music than that of his other contemporaries, perhaps because he did not feel at home with Prokofiev's percussive use of the keyboard. These 12 excerpts from the composer's 20 Visions fugitives are, along with the March from The Love for Three Oranges on Volume 70, Rubinstein's entire recorded Prokofiev output. Rubinstein's performance never crosses the line from percussive into ugly.



Rubinstein was an early champion of Villa-Lobos' piano music, and the composer's Rudepoema is said to be a musical portrait of the pianist. One of Rubinstein's favorite works was the Prole do bebe (The Baby's Children), and he often performed excerpts of the work in concert, usually altering the running order of the individual pieces. It's a pity that the pianist never recorded the entire cycle, as his approach to coloration and phrasing suits the work perfectly.



Schumann's Arabesque is the only 19th Century work on this disc. Rubinstein's utterly natural performance suits the music perfectly.



Albeniz' Navarra was one of Rubinstein's favorite encores, and the performance here is a demonstration of how the pianist, who understood that virtuosity meant more than mere technique, could bring down the house and leave the audience begging for more.



The recordings, by the way, were slightly edited to remove a few mistakes. RCA's remastering is a considerable improvement over the rather distorted LP issue, with greater dynamic range and warmer sound. The contents of this CD, and Schumann's Symphonic Etudes on Volume 39, are the only documents of these remarkable concerts to be released to the public. As Rubinstein begged his son John not to allow any further releases, and the pianist is said to have destroyed a number of the tapes himself, it is unlikely that we will hear any more documents of this remarkable gift to music lovers everywhere."

Bravo, Mr. Rubinstein, Bravo!

chopin87 | Midwestern USA | 03/20/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rubinstein, unlike Richter, Horowitz, and other distinguished artists of his stature, only approved of a just a few public performances to be published. The works on this disc, Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto (Volume 14), and Schumann's Symphonic Etudes (Volume 39) are all we have to enjoy and remember. After listening to this recording, you will be truly grateful that Rubinstein allowed these little gems to be released.Claude Debussy requested that when performers play his piano music, they should do it as if they had no bones in their fingers. Rubinstein was sort of in between "bony" and "not so bony", which is really a delightful mix. All four pieces are exquisitely performed with Rubinstein's fragile interpretation.Rubinstien met Szymanowski when he was around seventeen or so and immediately began playing his friend's pieces. The Mazurkas have a nice "crisp" sound.The twelve selections from Visions fugitives, Op. 22 are a lovely set. The performer plays them with much bio and character.Rubinstein helped discover Heitor Villa-Lobos. This composer and his compositions were not at all welcome in his native country (Brazil) since he was expelled from the conservatory he had attended (I am unable to remember the name of it). After meeting him, Rubinstein performed some of Villa-Lobos's pieces while he was on one of his South American tours in the 1910's. Rubinstein was very well liked by the South Americans, but was booed when he played any of the compositions. When Rubinstein performed these new works after he returned to Europe, they were well accepted and much adored. Here, we have a spectacular presentation of six selections from the first Prole do bebe suite.Schumann's Arabeske is performed with a perfect touch of melancholy. Absolutely extraordinary!Albeniz's Navarra was quite possible Rubinstein's most effective encore. He gives here an utterly fantastic rendition.It would have been grand if the entire ten-concert marathon had been published. This disc proves that those concerts must have been really something. The sound is great!"

A wonderful disk improved through remastering.

Craig Matteson | Ann Arbor, MI | 12/18/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rubinstein had an almost endless repertoire through Stravinsky. He had certain preferences and there were many things he never recorded I wish he had. But he had his reasons.



This disk has many nice things from some live concerts at the height of his powers. He performed the Debussy many many times and the Ondine was one of his favorite encore pieces.



I enjoyed all the performances here and recommend this disk to you without reservation. I have the older release, but this one should be higher quality because of the remastering. Still, there will be some limitations in the sound because of the technologies used at the time they were originally recorded. But don't let that stop you from enjoying these treasures.



Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI"