Editing Anton Rubinstein (section)

==Early life and education==
[[File:Rubinstein N & A Postcard-1910.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Brothers Rubinstein: [[Nikolai Rubinstein|Nikolai]] (''left'') and Anton, 1862]]
Rubinstein was born to [[Jewish]] parents in the village of [[Ofatinți|Vikhvatinets]] in the [[Podolia Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]] (now known as Ofatinți in [[Transnistria]], [[Republic of Moldova]]), on the [[Dniestr]] River, about {{convert|150|km|mi}} northwest of [[Odessa]]. His sister {{ill|Sofia Rubinstein|lt=Sofia|ru|Рубинштейн, Софья Григорьевна}} was a chamber singer and teacher. Before he was 5 years old, his paternal grandfather ordered all members of the Rubinstein family to convert from Judaism to [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodoxy]]. Although he was raised as a Christian, Rubinstein would later become an [[atheist]].<ref>[[#Taylor|Taylor]], 88, 275–280.</ref>

{{Quote box| width = 22em|quote = Russians call me German, Germans call me Russian, Jews call me a Christian, Christians a Jew. Pianists call me a composer, composers call me a pianist. The classicists think me a futurist, and the futurists call me a reactionary. My conclusion is that I am neither fish nor fowl—a pitiful individual. |source = Anton Rubinstein, ''Gedankenkorb'' (1897){{full citation needed|date=March 2021}}}}

Rubinstein's father opened a pencil factory in Moscow. His mother, a competent musician, began giving him piano lessons at five, until the teacher {{ill|Alexander Villoing|fr}} heard and accepted Rubinstein as a non-paying student. Rubinstein made his first public appearance at a charity benefit concert at the age of nine. Later that year Rubinstein's mother sent him, accompanied by Villoing, to Paris where he sought unsuccessfully to enroll at the [[Paris Conservatoire]].{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

Rubinstein and Villoing remained in Paris for a year. In December 1840, Rubinstein played in the [[Salle Érard]] for an audience that included [[Frédéric Chopin]] and [[Franz Liszt]]. Chopin invited Rubinstein to his studio and played for him. Liszt advised Villoing to take him to Germany to study composition; however, Villoing took Rubinstein on an extended concert tour of Europe and Western Russia. They finally returned to Moscow in June 1843. Determined to raise money to further the musical careers of both Anton and his younger brother [[Nikolai Rubinstein|Nikolai]], their mother sent Rubinstein and Villoing on a tour of Russia, following which the brothers were dispatched to [[Saint Petersburg]] to play for Tsar [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]] and the Imperial family at the [[Winter Palace]]. Anton was 14 years old; Nikolai was eight.<ref>[[#Sachs|Sachs]], 65–68</ref>