Editing Anton Rubinstein (section)

==Pianism==

==="Van II"===
Many contemporaries felt he bore a striking resemblance to [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]. [[Ignaz Moscheles]], who had known Beethoven intimately, wrote, "Rubinstein's features and short, irrepressible hair remind me of Beethoven." Liszt referred to Rubinstein as "Van II." This resemblance was also felt to be in Rubinstein's keyboard playing. Under his hands, it was said, the piano erupted volcanically. Audience members wrote of going home limp after one of his recitals, knowing they had witnessed a force of nature.<ref>[[#Schonberg|Schonberg]], 269</ref>

Sometimes Rubinstein's playing was too much for listeners to handle. American pianist [[Amy Fay]], who wrote extensively on the European classical music scene, admitted that while Rubinstein "has a gigantic spirit in him, and is extremely poetic and original ... for an entire evening he is too much. Give me Rubinstein for a few pieces, but [[Karl Tausig|Tausig]] for a whole evening." She heard Rubinstein play "a terrific piece by Schubert," reportedly the ''[[Wanderer Fantasy|Wanderer Fantasie]].'' The performance gave her such a violent headache that the rest of the recital was ruined for her.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

[[Clara Schumann]] proved especially vehement.  After she heard him play the [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]] [[Piano Trio No. 2 (Mendelssohn)|C minor Trio]] in 1857, she wrote that "he so rattled it off that I did not know how to control myself ... and often he so annihilated fiddle and cello that I ... could hear nothing of them." Nor had things improved in Clara's view a few years later, when Rubinstein gave a concert in Breslau.  She noted in her diary, "I was furious, for he no longer plays.  Either there is a perfectly wild noise or else a whisper with the soft pedal down.  And a would-be cultured audience puts up with a performance like that!"<ref>[[#Schonberg|Schonberg]], 274.</ref>

On the other hand, when Rubinstein played Beethoven's [[Piano Trio No. 7 (Beethoven)|"Archduke" Trio]] with violinist [[Leopold Auer]] and cellist [[Alfredo Piatti]] in 1868, Auer recalls:
<blockquote>It was the first time I had heard this great artist play. He was most amiable at the rehearsal... To this day I can recall how Rubinstein sat down at the piano, his leonine head thrown back slightly, and began the five opening measures of the principal theme... It seemed to me I had never before heard the piano really played. The grandeur of style with which Rubinstein presented those five measures, the beauty of tone his softness of touch secured, the art with which he manipulated the pedal, are indescribable ...<ref>[[Leopold Auer|Auer, Leopold]], ''My Long Life in Music'', 114–115, as quoted in [[#Sachs|Sachs]], 73–74.</ref></blockquote>
Violinist and composer [[Henri Vieuxtemps]] adds:
<blockquote>His power over the piano is something undreamt of; he transports you into another world; all that is mechanical in the instrument is forgotten. I am still under the influence of the all-embracing harmony, the scintillating passages and thunder of Beethoven's Sonata Op. 57 [''[[Appassionata]]''], which Rubinstein executed for us with unimagined mastery.<ref>Ysaÿe, Antoine and Ratcliff, Bertram, ''Ysaÿe'', 24, as quoted in [[#Sachs|Sachs]], 69.</ref></blockquote>
Viennese music critic [[Eduard Hanslick]] expressed what [[Harold C. Schonberg|Schonberg]] calls "the majority point of view" in an 1884 review. After complaining of the over-three-hour length of Rubinstein's recital, Hanslick admits that the sensual element of the pianist's playing gives pleasure to listeners. Both Rubinstein's virtues and flaws, Hanslick commented, spring from an untapped natural strength and elemental freshness. "Yes, he plays like a god", Hanslick writes in closing, "and we do not take it amiss if, from time to time, he changes, like Jupiter, into a bull".<ref>[[#Schonberg|Schonberg]], 275</ref>

[[Sergei Rachmaninoff]]'s fellow piano student Matvey Pressman adds, <blockquote>He enthralled you by his power, and he captivated you by the elegance and grace of his playing, by his tempestuous, fiery temperament and by his warmth and charm.  His ''crescendo'' had no limits to the growth of the power of its sonority; his ''diminuendo'' reached an unbelievable ''pianissimo'', sounding in the most distant corners of a huge hall.  In playing, Rubinstein created, and he created inimitably and with genius.  He often treated the same program absolutely differently when he played it the second time, but, more astoundingly still, everything came out wonderfully on both occasions.<ref name="Apetyan, Z.A 1988">{{harvnb|Apetyan|1988|loc=vol. 1, p. 194}},  as quoted in [[#Martyn|Martyn]], 368</ref></blockquote>

Rubinstein was also adept at improvisation—a practice at which Beethoven had excelled.  Composer [[Karl Goldmark]] wrote of one recital where Rubinstein improvised on a motive from the last movement of [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s [[Symphony No. 8 (Beethoven)|Eighth Symphony]]:<blockquote>He counterpointed it in the bass; then developed it first as a canon, next as a four-voiced fugue, and again transformed it into a tender song.  He then returned to Beethoven's original form, later changing it to a gay Viennese waltz, with its own peculiar harmonies, and finally dashed into cascades of brilliant passages, a perfect storm of sound in which the original theme was still unmistakable.  It was superb."<ref name="Schonberg, 272" /></blockquote>

===Technique===
[[File:Anton Rubinstein playing.jpg|thumb|right|Rubinstein at the piano]]
Villoing had worked with Rubinstein on hand position and finger dexterity. From watching Liszt, Rubinstein had learned about freedom of arm movement. [[Theodor Leschetizky]], who taught piano at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory when it opened, likened muscular relaxation at the piano to a singer's deep breathing. He would remark to his students about "what deep breaths Rubinstein used to take at the beginning of long phrases, and also what repose he had and what dramatic pauses."<ref name="Gerig, 236. As quoted in Sachs, 83">{{harvnb|Gerig|1976|loc=236}}, as quoted in [[#Sachs|Sachs]], 83</ref>

In his book ''The Great Pianists'', former ''[[New York Times]]'' critic [[Harold C. Schonberg]] describes Rubinstein's playing as that "of extraordinary breadth, virility and vitality, immense sonority and technical grandeur in which all too often technical sloppiness asserted itself." When caught up in the moment of performance, Rubinstein did not seem to care how many wrong notes he played as long as his conception of the piece he was playing came through.<ref>[[#Schonberg|Schonberg]], 272–274</ref> Rubinstein himself admitted, after a concert in Berlin in 1875, "If I could gather up all the notes that I let fall under the piano, I could give a second concert with them."<ref>{{harvnb|Litzmann|1906|loc=vol. III, p. 225}}, as quoted in [[#Sachs|Sachs]], 82</ref>

Part of the problem might have been the sheer size of Rubinstein's hands. They were huge, and many observers commented on them. Josef Hofmann observed that Rubinstein's fifth finger "was as thick as my thumb—think of it!  Then his fingers were square at the ends, with cushions on them. It was a wonderful hand."<ref>[[#Schonberg|Schonberg]], 277</ref>  Pianist [[Josef Lhévinne]] described them as "fat, pudgy ... with fingers so broad at the finger-tips that he often had difficulty in not striking two notes at once."  The German piano teacher [[Ludwig Deppe]] advised American pianist [[Amy Fay]] to watch carefully how Rubinstein struck his chords: "Nothing cramped about ''him''! He spreads his hands as if he were going to take in the universe, and takes them up with the greatest freedom and ''abandon''!"<ref name="Gerig, 236. As quoted in Sachs, 83" />

Because of the slap-dash moments in Rubinstein's playing, some more academic, polished players, especially German-trained ones, seriously questioned Rubinstein's greatness.  Those who valued interpretation as much or more than pure technique found much to praise.  Pianist and conductor [[Hans von Bülow]] called Rubinstein "the Michelangelo of music."  The German critic [[Ludwig Rellstab]] called him "the Hercules of the piano; the Jupiter Tonans of the instrument."<ref>[[#Schonberg|Schonberg]], 274–275</ref>

===Tone===
Pressman attested to the singing quality of Rubinstein's playing, and much more: "His tone was strikingly full and deep. With him the piano sounded like a whole orchestra, not only as far as the power of sound was concerned but in the variety of timbres. With him, the piano sang as [[Adelina Patti|Patti]] sang, as [[Giovanni Battista Rubini|Rubini]] sang."<ref name="Apetyan, Z.A 1988" />

Schonberg has assessed Rubinstein's piano tone the most sensuous of any of the great pianists. Fellow pianist Rafael Joseffy compared it to "a golden French horn." Rubinstein himself told an interviewer, "Strength with lightness, that is one secret of my touch... I have sat hours trying to imitate the timbre of Rubini's voice in my playing."<ref>[[#Schonberg|Schonberg]], 271–275</ref>

Rubinstein told the young [[Sergei Rachmaninoff|Rachmaninoff]] how he achieved that tone. "Just press upon the keys until the blood oozes from your fingertips". When he wanted to, Rubinstein could play with extreme lightness, grace and delicacy. He rarely displayed that side of his nature, however. He had learned quickly that audiences came to hear him thunder, so he accommodated them. Rubinstein's forceful playing and powerful temperament made an especially strong impression during his American tour, where playing of this kind had never been heard before. During this tour, Rubinstein received more press attention than any other figure until the appearance of [[Ignacy Jan Paderewski]] a generation later.<ref>[[#Schonberg|Schonberg]], 271–277</ref>

===Programs===
Rubinstein's concert programs were often gargantuan. Hanslick mentioned in his 1884 review that the pianist played more than 20 pieces in one concert in Vienna, including three sonatas (the [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]] F sharp minor sonata plus [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s D minor and Op. 101 in A). Rubinstein was a man with an extremely robust constitution and apparently never tired; audiences apparently stimulated his adrenals to the point where he acted like a superman. He had a colossal repertoire and an equally colossal memory until he turned 50, when he began to have memory lapses and had to play from the printed note.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Rubinstein was most famous for his series of historical recitals—seven consecutive concerts covering the history of piano music. Each of these programs was enormous.  The second, devoted to [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] [[piano sonata|sonatas]], consisted of the [[Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)|''Moonlight'']], [[Piano Sonata No. 17 (Beethoven)|''Tempest'']], [[Piano Sonata No. 21 (Beethoven)|''Waldstein'']], [[Piano Sonata No. 23 (Beethoven)|''Appassionata'']], [[Piano Sonata No. 27 (Beethoven)|E minor]], [[Piano Sonata No. 28 (Beethoven)|A major (Op. 101)]], [[Piano Sonata No. 30 (Beethoven)|E major (Op. 109)]] and [[Piano Sonata No. 32 (Beethoven)|C minor (Op. 111)]].  Again, this was all included in one recital.  The fourth concert, devoted to [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]], contained the [[Fantasie in C (Schumann)|Fantasy in C]], ''[[Kreisleriana]]'', ''[[Symphonic Studies (Schumann)|Symphonic Studies]]'', Sonata in F sharp minor, a set of short pieces and ''[[Carnaval (Schumann)|Carnaval]]''.  This did not include encores, which Rubinstein sprayed liberally at every concert.<ref>[[#Schonberg|Schonberg]], 275–276</ref>

Rubinstein concluded his American tour with this series, playing the seven recitals over a nine-day period in New York City in May 1873.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lott |first=R. Allen |date=2003 |title=Anton Rubinstein in America (1872-1873) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3250546 |journal=American Music |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=291–318 |doi=10.2307/3250546 |jstor=3250546 |issn=0734-4392}}</ref>

Rubinstein played this series of historical recitals in Russia and throughout Eastern Europe. In Moscow he gave this series on consecutive Tuesday evenings in the Hall of the Nobility, repeating each concert the following morning in the German Club for the benefit of students, free of charge.<ref name="Martyn, 367">[[#Martyn|Martyn]], 367</ref>

===Rachmaninoff on Rubinstein===
[[Sergei Rachmaninoff]] first attended Rubinstein's historical concerts as a twelve-year-old piano student.<ref name="Martyn, 367" /> Forty-four years later he told his biographer Oscar von Riesemann, "[His playing] gripped my whole imagination and had a marked influence on my ambition as a pianist."{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Rachmaninoff explained to von Riesemann, "It was not so much his magnificent technique that held one spellbound as the profound, spiritually refined musicianship, which spoke from every note and every bar he played and singled him out as the most original and unequalled pianist in the world."{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Rachmaninoff's detailed description to von Riesemann is of interest:

<blockquote>Once he repeated the whole finale of [Chopin's] Sonata in B minor, perhaps he had not succeeded in the short crescendo at the end as he would have wished.  One listened entranced, and could have heard the passage over and over again, so unique was the beauty of tone... I have never heard the virtuoso piece ''Islamey'' by Balakirev, as Rubinstein played it, and his interpretation of Schumann's little fantasy ''The Bird as Prophet'' was inimitable in poetic refinement: to describe the diminuendo of the pianissimo at the end of the "fluttering away of the little bird" would be hopelessly inadequate.  Inimitable, too, was the soul-stirring imagery in the ''Kreisleriana'', the last (G minor) passage of which I have never heard anyone play in the same manner.  One of Rubinstein's greatest secrets was his use of the pedal.  He himself very happily expressed his ideas on the subject when he said, "The pedal is the soul of the piano."  No pianist should ever forget this.<ref>Riesemann, Oscar von (1934) ''Rachmaninoff's Recollections''. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd. pp. 49–52.</ref></blockquote>

Rachmaninoff biographer Barrie Martyn suggests that it might not have been by chance that the two pieces Rachmaninoff singled out for praise from Rubinstein's concerts—Beethoven's ''[[Appassionata]]'' and [[Frédéric Chopin|Chopin]]'s [[Piano Sonata No. 2 (Chopin)|"Funeral March" Sonata]]—both became cornerstones of Rachmaninoff's own recital programs. Martyn also maintains that Rachmaninoff may have based his interpretation of the Chopin sonata on Rubinstein's traversal, pointing out similarities between written accounts of Rubinstein's version and Rachmaninoff's audio recording of the work.<ref>[[#Martyn|Martyn]], 368, 403–406</ref>

Rachmaninoff admitted that Rubinstein was not note-perfect at these concerts,<ref>[[#Sachs|Sachs]], 82</ref> remembering a memory lapse during [[Mily Balakirev|Balakirev]]'s ''[[Islamey]]'', where Rubinstein improvised in the style of the piece until remembering the rest of it four minutes later.<ref>{{harvnb|Cooke|1913|loc=218–219}}, as quoted in [[#Martyn|Martyn]], 368</ref> In Rubinstein's defense, however, Rachmaninoff said that "for every possible mistake [Rubinstein] may have made, he gave, in return, ideas and musical tone pictures that would have made up for a million mistakes."<ref>[[#Sachs|Sachs]]</ref>