This article is about the Polish-American pianist. For the unrelated Russian pianist/composer/conductor, seeAnton Rubinstein. For the American film and television composer, seeArthur B. Rubinstein.
Arthur RubinsteinKBEOMRI (Polish:Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish and American pianist.[1] He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time.[2][3][4] He received international acclaim for his performances of the music written by a variety of composers and many regard him as one of the greatestChopin interpreters of his time.[5][6] He played in public for eight decades.[7] His repertoire also included the works ofBeethoven,Mozart,Schubert,Liszt,Tchaikovsky,Saint-Saëns,Schumann and more.
Arthur Rubinstein was born inŁódź,Congress Poland (part of theRussian Empire for the entire time Rubinstein resided there) on 28 January 1887, to a Jewish family. He was the youngest of seven children of Felicja Blima Fajga (née Heiman) and Izaak Rubinstein. His father owned a small textile factory.[8][9]
Rubinstein's birth name was to beLeo, but his eight-year-old brother claimed that "His name must be Artur. Since Artur X (a neighbour's son) plays the violin so nicely, the baby may also become a great musician!"[10] Thus, he was called Artur, although in English-speaking countries, he preferred to be known asArthur Rubinstein. His United StatesimpresarioSol Hurok, however, insisted he be billed asArtur, and records were released in the West under both versions of his name.[11]
At age two, Rubinstein demonstratedabsolute pitch and a fascination with the piano, watching his elder sister's piano lessons. By the age of four, he was recognised as achild prodigy. His father had a predilection for the violin and offered Rubinstein a violin; but Rubinstein rejected it because he thought his instinct was for harmony and polyphony. The Hungarian violinistJoseph Joachim, on hearing the four-year-old child play the piano, was greatly impressed, telling Arthur's family, "This boy may become a very great musician—he certainly has the talent for it... When the time comes for serious study, bring him to me, and I shall be glad to supervise his artistic education." On 14 December 1894, seven-year-old Arthur Rubinstein had his debut with pieces byMozart,Schubert andMendelssohn.[10][12]
When he turned ten, Rubinstein moved toBerlin to continue his studies, and gave his first performance with theBerlin Philharmonic in 1900, at the age of 13.[5] Joachim entrusted Rubinstein toKarl Heinrich Barth as his piano teacher. As a student of Barth, Rubinstein inherited a renowned pedagogical lineage: Barth was himself a pupil ofLiszt, who had been taught byCzerny, who had in turn been a pupil ofBeethoven.[5]
Rubinstein made his New York debut atCarnegie Hall in 1906, and thereafter toured the United States, Austria, Italy, and Russia. According to his own testimony and that of his son inFrançois Reichenbach's filmL'Amour de la vie (1969), he was not well received in the United States. By 1908, Rubinstein, destitute and desperate, hounded by creditors, and threatened with being evicted from his Berlin hotel room, made a failed attempt to hang himself. Subsequently, he said that he felt "reborn" and endowed with an unconditional love of life. In 1912, he made his London debut, and found a musical home there in the Edith Grove,Chelsea, musical salon of Paul and Muriel Draper, in company withIgor Stravinsky, Kochanski, Thibaud,Pablo Casals,Pierre Monteux and others.[12]
Rubinstein was appalled by Germany's conduct during World War I, particularlythe atrocities in Belgium and never played there again. His last performance in Germany was in 1914.[12] His dislike of Germany was not improved during and after World War II when most of his family back in Poland were killed during theHolocaust. (Rubinstein has said many times to interviewers that there were two countries where he would not play:Tibet, because it is too high, and Germany, because it is too low.)[citation needed]
In 1921, Rubinstein gave two American tours, travelling to New York City with Karol Szymanowski and his close friend Paul Kochanski.[12] During his recital in Florida, Rubinstein was accompanied by violinist virtuoso Rudolph Bochoco.[14]
In 1934, the pianist, who stated he neglected his technique in his early years, relying instead on natural talent, withdrew from concert life for several months of intensive study and practice.
Rubinstein toured the United States again in 1937, his career becoming centered there during theWorld War II years when he lived inBrentwood, Los Angeles, California. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1946.[15]
During his time in California, Rubinstein provided the piano soundtrack for several films, includingSong of Love withKatharine Hepburn. He appeared, as himself, in the filmsCarnegie Hall andOf Men and Music.
Although best known as a recitalist and concerto soloist, Rubinstein was considered an outstanding chamber musician, partnering withHenryk Szeryng,Jascha Heifetz,Pablo Casals,Gregor Piatigorsky and theGuarneri Quartet. Rubinstein recorded much of the core piano repertoire, particularly that of theRomantic composers. At the time of his death,The New York Times in describing him wrote, "Chopin was his specialty ... it was [as] a Chopinist that he was considered by many without peer."[5] With the exception of theÉtudes, he recorded most of the works of Chopin. In 1964, during theCold War, he performed an all-Chopin recital in Moscow.[16] He was one of the earliest champions of Spanish and South American composers, as well as French composers of the early 20th century such asDebussy andRavel. In addition, Rubinstein promoted the music of his compatriotKarol Szymanowski. Rubinstein, in conversation withAlexander Scriabin, namedBrahms as his favorite composer, a response that enraged Scriabin.[17][relevant?]
In 1969, the filmArthur Rubinstein – The Love of Life was released; it won theAcademy Award for Best Documentary Feature. (A later TV special,Rubinstein at 90, highlighted how he had been playing for people for eight decades.)
By the mid-1970s, Rubinstein's eyesight had begun to deteriorate. He retired from the stage at age 89 in May 1976, giving his last concert at London'sWigmore Hall, where he had first played nearly 70 years before.
Rubinstein was fluent in eight languages.[15] held He also memorized his own repertoire and that for other instrumental genres.[15] According to his memoirs, he learnedCésar Franck'sSymphonic Variations during the train journey to the concert he was to perform the work. He memorized the music without having a piano available, practicing passages on his lap. Rubinstein described his memory as photographic, to the extent that he would visualize an errant coffee stain while recalling a score.[18]
Rubinstein also had exceptionally developed aural abilities, which allowed him to play whole symphonies in his mind. "At breakfast, I might pass a Brahms symphony in my head," he said. "Then I am called to the phone, and half an hour later I find it's been going on all the time and I'm in the third movement." This ability was often tested by Rubinstein's friends, who would randomly pick extracts from opera and symphonic scores and ask him to play them from memory.[5]
Rubinstein's autobiography contained two volumes:My Young Years (1973); andMy Many Years (1980). Many were displeased by their emphasis on personal anecdotes over music. PianistEmanuel Ax, one of Rubinstein's greatest admirers, was profoundly disappointed by readingMy Many Years: "Until then," he toldHarvey Sachs, "I had idolized Rubinstein—I had wanted to have a life like his, the book changed all that."[7]
Rubinstein once said:
It is simply my life, music. I live it, breathe it, talk with it. I am almost unconscious of it. No, I do not mean I take it for granted—one should never take for granted any of the gifts of God. But it is like an arm, a leg, part of me. On the other hand, books and paintings and languages and people are passions with me, always to be cultivated. Travel too. I am a lucky man to have a business which allows me to be on the road so much. On the train, the plane, I have time to read. There again, I am a lucky man to be a pianist. A splendid instrument, the piano, just the right size so that you cannot take it with you. Instead of practicing, I can read. A fortunate fellow, am I not?[19]
Of his youth, Rubinstein once said: "It is said of me that when I was young I divided my time impartially among wine, women and song. I deny this categorically. Ninety percent of my interests were women."[5] At the age of 45, in 1932, Rubinstein married Nela Młynarska,[20] a 24-year-old Polishballerina (who had studied withMary Wigman). Nela was the daughter of the Polish conductorEmil Młynarski and his wife Anna Talko-Hryncewicz, who was from a Polish aristocraticheraldic family of Iłgowski coat of arms. Nela had first fallen in love with Rubinstein when she was 18, but marriedMieczysław Munz, another Polish-American pianist, after Rubinstein began an affair with an Italian princess.[21][22] Nela subsequently divorced Munz and three years later married Rubinstein.[22] They had five children (one died in infancy), including photographerEva Rubinstein, who marriedWilliam Sloane Coffin, and sonJohn Rubinstein, aTony Award-winning actor and father of actorMichael Weston.[23] Nela subsequently wroteNela's Cookbook, which included the dishes she prepared for the couple's legendary parties.[24]
Both before and during his marriage, Rubinstein carried on a series of affairs with women, including Lesley Jowitt, the wife of the British politicianWilliam Jowitt, andIrene Curzon.[25]
In addition to fathering a daughter (Brazilian pianistLuli Oswald[26]) with the Italian marchioness Paola Medici del Vascello (née Princess Paola di Viggiano, also: Donna Paola Sanfelice dei Principi di Viggiano), he may have been the father of American decorator and artistMuriel Draper's sonSanders Draper, who died in World War II.[12] Luli Oswald was never recognised by her biological parents, hidden from the public and given as a newborn to a friend of Rubinstein's, the Brazilian conductor and composerHenrique Oswald (1852-1931). The latter's daughter Maria and her husband Odoardo Marchesini raised her and adopted her. The adoptive parents signed an affidavit in 1967 stating that Luli Oswald had been entrusted to them by her biological parents Paola Medici and Arthur Rubinstein because she was the "fruit of a forbidden love."[27] After the adoption, her name was Margarida Henriqueta Marchesini. Oswald later performed under the stage name Luli Oswald.
Though he and Nela never divorced, in 1977, at age 90, he left her forAnnabelle Whitestone, then 33 years old.
Anagnostic, Rubinstein was proud of his Jewish heritage.[28] He was a supporter of Israel,[29] which he visited several times with his family. He played solo recitals, concerts with theIsrael Philharmonic Orchestra, and taught master classes at theJerusalem Music Centre.
In 1949, Rubinstein, some of whose family members were killed in theHolocaust, along with other prominent musicians announced that he would boycott theChicago Symphony if it hired the conductorWilhelm Furtwängler as its music director. Furtwängler had remained in Germany during the war and had performed a symphony for Hitler's birthday.[7]
Throughout his life, Rubinstein was deeply attached to Poland. At the inauguration of theUnited Nations in 1945, Rubinstein showed his Polish patriotism at a concert for the delegates. He began the concert by stating his deep disappointment that the conference did not have a delegation from Poland. Rubinstein later described becoming overwhelmed by a blind fury and angrily pointing out to the public the absence of the Polish flag. He stopped playing the piano, told the audience to stand up, including the Soviets, and played thePolish national anthem loudly and slowly, repeating the final part in a great thunderousforte. When he had finished, the public gave him a great ovation.[15][30]
In his two autobiographies, Rubinstein is often intensely self-critical. A natural pianist with a big technique, he claimed that he practiced as little as possible, learning new pieces quickly and with insufficient attention to detail, relying on his charm and charisma to conceal the lack of finish in his playing. The literal truth of these self-directed critiques is open to question: Rubinstein wasn't averse to making himself the butt of a good story. Even so, he insisted that his attitude toward practicing changed after his marriage. He stated that he did not want his children to see him as a second-rater, so he began in the summer of 1934 to restudy his entire repertoire. "I buckled down back to work—six hours, eight hours, nine hours a day." he recalled in 1958. "And a strange thing happened. ... I began to discover new meanings, new qualities, new possibilities in music that I have been regularly playing for more than 30 years." In general, however, Rubinstein believed that excessive practice could be dangerous for young pianists. Perhaps recalling his own youthful brush with repetitive-stress syndrome, Rubinstein regularly advised that young pianists should practice no more than three hours a day. "I was born very, very lazy and I don't always practice very long", he said, "but I must say, in my defense, that it is not so good, in a musical way, to overpractice. When you do, the music seems to come out of your pocket. If you play with a feeling of 'Oh, I know this', you play without that little drop of fresh blood that is necessary—and the audience feels it." Of his own practice methods, he said, "At every concert I leave a lot to the moment. I must have the unexpected, the unforeseen. I want to risk, to dare. I want to be surprised by what comes out. I want to enjoy it more than the audience. That way the music can bloom anew. It's like making love. The act is always the same, but each time it's different."[5][32]
Grave of Arthur Rubinstein at Arthur Rubinstein forest near Jerusalem
Rubinstein died in his sleep at his home inGeneva, Switzerland, on 20 December 1982, at the age of 95. His remains werecremated two days later.[5] On the first anniversary of his death, an urn holding his ashes was buried in Jerusalem—as specified in his will—in a dedicated plot now dubbed "Rubinstein Forest" overlooking theJerusalem Forest.[33] This was arranged by then-mayorTeddy Kollek withIsrael's Chief Rabbis, who had objected to Rubinstein's wish of having his ashes strewn over the Jerusalem Forest, given that Jewish law prohibits cremation and the forest is a public park, and as such falls under the religious law governing cemeteries.[34]
In October 2007, his family donated to theJuilliard School an extensive collection of original manuscripts, manuscript copies and published editions that had been seized by the Germans during World War II from his Paris residence. Seventy-one items were returned to his four children, marking the first time that Jewish property kept in theBerlin State Library was returned to the legal heirs.[35]
In 1974, Jan Jacob Bistritzky established theArthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, held every three years in Israel, intended to promote the careers of young and outstanding pianists. The Arthur Rubinstein Award and other prizes are presented to the winners. The Rubinstein Competition also commissions works by Israeli composers.[36]
There is an Arthur Rubinstein Street inTel Aviv and inBiałogard (Polish:ulica Artura Rubinsteina) and an Arthur Rubinstein Passage inŁódź (Polish:aleja Artura Rubinsteina).
Beginning in 1928, Rubinstein began to record extensively for theHis Master's Voice and forRCA Victor in the United States, making a large number of solo, concerto andchamber music recordings until his retirement in 1976. As recording technology improved, from 78-rpm discs to LPs and stereophonic recordings, Rubinstein re-recorded much of his repertoire. All of his RCA Victor recordings have been reissued oncompact disc and amount to about 107 hours of music.
Rubinstein preferred to make studio recordings and during his lifetime approved for release only around three hours of live recordings. However, since his death, several labels have issued many of his live recordings sourced from various radio broadcasts.
A recording of Rubinstein's version of Chopin'sMinute Waltz has served as the theme music for theBBC Radio 4 showJust a Minute since the programme's inception.[37]
^Rubinstein 1973, p. 4: "In later years, my manager Sol Hurok used the h-less 'Artur' for my publicity, but I sign 'Arthur' in countries where it is common practice, 'Arturo' in Spain and Italy, and 'Artur' in the Slav countries".
^Ulanowska, Elżbieta "Na cześć Artura Rubinsteina: Pianistyczna gala w Łodzi" ("In Honor of Artur Rubinstein: Piano Gala inŁódź"),Gwiazda Polarna (The Pole Star, a Polish-American biweekly), vol. 99, no. 21 (11 October 2008), p. 18.
^Parmenter, Ross (December 11, 1961) "Music: A Grand Finale".The New York Times.
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