Rubinstein Artur, *28 January 1887 Łódź, †20 December 1982 Geneva, Polish pianist (American citizen since 1946). He started learning to play the piano with W. Pawłowska and A. Prechner in Łódź and there he performed for the first time on 14 December 1894. He continued studying music in Warsaw with A. Różycki, who negatively assessed Rubinstein’s piano abilities. In 1897, he went to Berlin, where J. Joachim took care of his music education in Hochschule für Musik; he continued piano studies with H. Barth and learnt music theory with G. Kulenkampff and R. Kahn. In 1900, Rubinstein performed in Potsdam and in Berlin Hochschule with Concerto in A major KV 488 by W.A. Mozart but his proper piano debut took place on 1 December 1900 in Beethoven-Saal with Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by J. Rebićk; apart from Mozart’s concert and Concerto in G minor by Saint-Saëns, his programme included solo pieces: Papillons by Schumann and Scherzo in B minor by Chopin. 13-year-old pianist succeeded artistically, reviews were enthusiastic. On 1 April 1902, he performed at the already mentioned Saint-Saëns’s concert at the Warsaw Philharmonic (E. Młynarski conducted). In 1903, Rubinstein was invited twice by I.J. Paderewski to Riond Bosson. In the summer of 1904, he made friends with K. Szymanowski in Zakopane and added his compositions to his repertoire. The same year in Paris, he was introduced to M. Ravel, P. Dukas and a music impresario G. Astruc with whom he won the contract to organise concerts around the world, starting with his Parisian debut in Nouveau-Théâtre on 19 December 1904. That was the beginning of Rubinstein’s international career. He toured the United States, performing in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Boston in 1906. Before World War I, he often visited Warsaw, giving series of recitals, chamber concerts (e.g. with P. Kochański in duo) and symphonic concerts with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by E. Młynarski, G. Fitelberg and H. Opieński. Rubinstein’s repertoire then included, among others, both concerts by Chopin and Brahms, a few concerts by Mozart, Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3 and No. 4, Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1, Rachmaninov’s Concerto No. 1 and solo repertoire included key works by Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms and Liszt. On 12 December 1909, Rubinstein debuted in Vienna and in 1910 at a private concert at the Grand Hotel in Rome; his official Italian debut was on 19 January 1911 with Teatro Augusteo Orchestra (later Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia) co9nducted by B. Molinari. At the end of 1910, Rubinstein won the 2nd award (A. Hoehn won the 1st award) at the An. Rubinstein Competition in St. Petersburg. In 1911, he toured Russia twice; on 1 May 1912, he debuted in London with a recital; on 16 May 1912, he performed in a duo with P. Casals and on 23 May and 5 June 1912 with J. Thibaud. In the summer of 1911 and 1913, he was a guest of K. Szymanowski in Tymoszówka in Ukraine; according to J. Iwaszkiewicz’s memories, they would play Stravinsky’s Petrushka together. He spent months before World War I in London, hosting K. Szymanowski, whom he introduced to I. Stravinsky. In 1915 and 1916, he performed in Spain with great success. At that time, his repertoire was enriched with works of I. Albéniz, E. Granados, C. Debussy, M. Ravel and A. Scriabin and later also of M. de Palla and H. Villa-Lobos. In 1917, Rubinstein started his first tour in South America, where he debuted on 2 July in Buenos Aires and later many times in Montevideo and Santiago de Chile. After coming back to Spain and another series of recitals in the concert season 1917/18 (including Sonata in B minor by Liszt), he went to Brazil and performed on 11 June 1918 in Rio de Janeiro. In 1919, he had another tour in America, which he later defined as an artistic “catastrophe.” In reviews and memories from Rubinstein’s performances in those years, negative reviews started to appear more often; pianistic condition, marvellous music memory together with youthful carelessness in personal life resulted in unprepared artistic productions. Over the following decade, Rubinstein’s concert activity was exceptionally vigorous. In 1924–33 and 1936–37, he performed in Poland. On 27 July 1932 in Paris, he married Aniela (Nela) Młynarska, the youngest daughter of E. Młynarski. His American tour in 1937/38 is considered a breakthrough. Engaged by impresario S. Hurok, Rubinstein succeeded and was acknowledged as one of the best contemporary pianists by critics. In 1938, after Mussolini’s racial laws were introduced, he cancelled his concerts in Italy and returned a decoration he got from Italian authorities. In October 1939, he left for the United States with his family; he performed in both Americas during the war. As a mark of his protest against the Nazi’s crimes, he refused to perform in Germany until the end of his pianistic career. He visited his country for the first time after the war in June 1958 and performed in Krakow and Warsaw; he chaired the jury of the 6th International F. Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1960, and then he gave concerts in Poznań, Bydgoszcz, Katowice and Łódź; in 1966, he gave a recital in Warsaw and performed at the opening of the Warsaw Autumn Festival; on 30 May 1975, he performed at the jubilee concert on the 60th anniversary of the Łódź Philharmonic, and on 31 May 1976, he performed in public for the last time at Wigmore Hall in London. In 1979, he visited Poland and his family town for the last time. At the end of the 1970s, he left his family and got involved with Annabella Whitestone, who was several dozen years younger than him and previously worked as an assistant to his British manager, W. van Wyck. After having been diagnosed with cancer and having undergone surgery in New York in 1980, he spent his last months in Geneva under the care of his new life companion. Rubinstein was one of the most prominent figures in the history of 20th-century pianism. During his 80 years of artistic activity, he performed in public more than 6000 times. His repertoire included almost all piano literature. The huge discography (he made his first recordings in 1920–25 at the New York Aeolian Duo-Art label) contains only a part of this repertoire, he never performed publicly many pieces (e.g. Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 6 or Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 3) that he either played privately or arranged with his students. His extraordinary musical memory and ease of learning musical texts allowed him to sight-read entire fragments of operas and symphonic works among friends; according to M. Draper, during one of such social gatherings, he accompanied J. Thibaud from memory in the entire Brahms Violin Concerto. Rubinstein’s importance as a virtuoso pianist is triform. He was one of the greatest performers of classical and romantic music in solo, chamber and concert arrangements. He combined the traditions of Romantic virtuosity with the spirit of the 20th century, stripping the former of its excess of emotional exaltation. He is considered an unrivalled Chopinist and an equally unrivalled performer of Brahms. The assessment of his performing art highlights the special qualities of sound, its fullness and lushness, the power of forte, unlimited virtuoso possibilities, the extraordinary gift of conducting a cantilena, excellent form construction and a sense of musical drama. Secondly, Rubinstein introduced the music of his times to concert stages: Szymanowski, Scriabin, Ravel, Albéniz, de Fallí, Villa-Lobos, Poulenc, Milhaud, giving world premieres of many works. He was considered a specialist in the latest Iberian music and the works of the Impressionists. Despite his youthful fascination with Stravinsky and interest in Prokofiev, he treated the works of neoclassicists coldly; he left the works of the dodecaphonists completely outside the scope of his interest. His repertoire was dominated by classical and romantic music. Thirdly, Rubinstein’s pianistic activity is of fundamental importance for Polish musical culture and national consciousness. He was the most ardent and outstanding propagator of the works of Chopin and Szymanowski. He advocated for the Polish cause during World War II, performed together with J. Kiepura at charity concerts for Polish refugees, financially supported J. Tuwim, made a fiery radio appeal for the United States to join World War II, in which he emphasised the war effort of the Polish nation . Rubinstein was one of the greatest personalities of the 20th century, not only as a famous virtuoso, but also as a versatile humanist; his circle of acquaintances and friends included the intellectual and artistic elite of this century. Rubinstein’s discographic output (Gramophone Company/His Masters Voice, RCA Victor) includes the basic corpus of Chopin’s works (except etudes), solo piano music from Bach to the 20th century, piano concertos by Mozart, Beethoven (3 versions), Brahms, Grieg, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, with the participation of the most outstanding conductors (J. Barbirolli, D. Barenboim, V. Golschmann, E. Ormandy, F. Reiner) and the highest-ranking symphonic ensembles, masterpieces of 19th century chamber music, accompanied by the violinists P. Kochański, J. Heifetz, H. Szeryng, cellists E. Feuermann, P. Fournier, G. Piatigorski and string quartets like the Guarneri, Pro Arte and Paganini. This achievement was immortalised in the monumental The Rubinstein Collection, published by RCA/BMG, 82 volumes (94 discs); Rubinstein’s discography was published in the English version of H. Sachs’s monograph.
Literature: Artur Rubinstein My Young Years, London 1973, Polish ed. Moje młode lata, transl. T. Szafar, Kraków 1976; Artur Rubinstein My Many Years, London 1980, Polish ed. Moje długie życie, transl. L. Kydryński, Kraków 1988; J. Iwaszkiewicz Spotkania z Szymanowskim, Kraków 1947; J. Ekiert Wirtuozi, Warsaw 1957; H. Sztompka Artur Rubinstein, Kraków 1966; H.C. Schonberg The Great Pianists, London 1965; E. Lipmann Artur Rubinstein, Paris 1980; H. Sachs Rubinstein. A Life, London 1995 (contains discography The Rubinstein Collection and Artur Rubinstein Discography, ed. D. Manildi), Polish ed. Artur Rubinstein, trans. D. Chylińska, Wrocław 1999.
