Editing Anton Rubinstein (section)

===Abroad once more===
[[File:Anton Rubenstein.jpg|thumb|"Van II": [[Liszt]] considered Rubinstein to have a physical likeness to Ludwig van Beethoven.]]
In 1854, Rubinstein began a four-year concert tour of Europe.<ref name="Schonberg, 272">[[#Schonberg|Schonberg]], 272</ref> This was his first major concert tour in a decade. Now 24, he felt ready to offer himself to the public as a fully developed pianist as well as a composer of worth. He very shortly reestablished his reputation as a virtuoso. [[Ignaz Moscheles]] wrote in 1855 what would become a widespread opinion about Rubinstein: "In power and execution he is inferior to no one."<ref>[[#Sachs|Sachs]], 70–71</ref>

As was the penchant at the time, much of what Rubinstein played were his own compositions. At several concerts, Rubinstein alternated between conducting his orchestral works and playing as soloist in one of his piano concertos. One high point for him was leading the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra in his ''Ocean'' Symphony on 16 November 1854. Although reviews were mixed about Rubinstein's merits as a composer, they were more favorable about him as a performer when he played a solo recital a few weeks later.<ref>[[#Taylor|Taylor]], 56–59.</ref>

Rubinstein spent one tour break, in the winter of 1856–57, with Elena Pavlovna and much of the Imperial royal family in [[Nice]]. Rubinstein participated in discussions with Elena Pavlova on plans to raise the level of musical education in their homeland; these bore initial fruit with the founding of the [[Russian Musical Society]] (RMS) in 1859.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}