Rubinstein

Author: Shi Hongzhen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-10-01
Features: We are delighted to recommend the "Giant Biographies Series" to young friends. At the turn of the century, having such a fine series accompany you is a joy in wisdom. We believe that from the footsteps of these giants and masters, you can learn how to properly handle success and failure, comfort and hardship, joy and pain, smoothness and trials, understand how to face life, how to learn to be a person, how to pursue knowledge, how to shape oneself, and how to shape the future.
Principal of Peking University: Zhao Yulin
Party Secretary: Dong Lingsheng
Principal of Tsinghua University: Zhao Qinggang
The giants are the elite of humanity. They have made outstanding contributions to the progress and civilization of human society. Their spirit of struggle and extraordinary achievements are deeply admired by people, becoming models for others to learn from. Giants are human, not gods. They come from ordinary people but are above ordinary people. Their lofty ideals and the belief that they must seek happiness for their motherland and humanity are the driving force behind their relentless striving and fearlessness of difficulties.
Principal of Tianjin Nankai: Kang Xiuyan
By carefully reading this series, you will feel as if you see their appearance, hear their words, and experience their ideals, beliefs, ambitions, and sentiments. This will help you learn how to be a person, how to pursue knowledge, and how to build a career.
Principal of Fudan University: Cao Tianren
Rubinstein was a remarkably long-lived performer, and just as his boundless vitality, he was truly one of the greatest Chopin interpreters of the 20th century, maintaining an eighty-year career as a performer. At the age of 13, Rubinstein collaborated with the Berlin Philharmonic on Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 and Saint-Sa?ns' No. 2 Piano Concerto, but interestingly, he did not begin recording until he was 39. Additionally, he wrote a lengthy 1,000-page autobiography, which was quite different from other performers. Rubinstein, the son of a Polish Jewish merchant, began learning the piano at the age of three and performed on stage at four. At the age of ten, thanks to the introduction of the violin master Yosif Samoilovitch, he studied with the renowned professor Bartok in Berlin. However, in 1904, when Rubinstein was 17, he left Bartok after feeling that his teacher showed signs of anti-Semitism. In 1905, Rubinstein performed in Paris, and Saint-Sa?ns predicted that he would become a great pianist. Although this young genius received high praise in Europe, he was thwarted when he attempted to enter the United States for the first time.
In 1906, Rubinstein accepted an invitation from the Knabe Piano Company to tour the United States for performances. Although he received some positive reviews, he did not create a sensation, and some critics called him an "unfinished masterpiece." After this setback, Rubinstein returned to Europe disheartened, living a reclusive life. Five years later, he returned to the stage, touring Germany and other countries, but his two trips to the United States in 1919 and 1921 were still unsuccessful.
Rubinstein possessed exceptional musical talent, which he himself did not deny. However, even as a piano prodigy, Rubinstein had his reckless years in his youth. He once said in an interview, "When I was young, I was lazy. At that time, I thought there were some things in life more important than practicing the piano—good food, fine cigars, good wine, and women." In 1932, at the age of 45, Rubinstein married Annelie, the daughter of the conductor Mynarski of the Polish Symphony Orchestra, and this famous dandy finally settled down. At this moment, feeling the pressure of family, Rubinstein began another self-searching journey. He vowed to become a true great pianist for the sake of his wife and children, so he took his family and retreated to a small cabin in the mountains in the southeast of France. Every night, by candlelight, he practiced the piano tirelessly in the stable. Three years later, upon his return, Rubinstein had clearly become a piano giant. In 1936, he returned to the United States, where he had repeatedly faced setbacks, and finally gained recognition, officially entering the realm of world-class pianists. He became a U.S. citizen in 1946.
At the peak of his career, Rubinstein shifted his focus from Europe to the United States during World War II. In 1941, he formed a piano trio with violinist Heifetz and cellist Feuerman, recording Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms' piano trios. This collaboration was known as the "Million Trio" or the "Living Casals Golden Trio." Unfortunately, the following year, Feuerman passed away in the United States, and the trio had to temporarily stop performing or recording. After World War II, Pyatigorsk continued to play the cello part, maintaining the "Million Trio" reputation.
What is admirable about such a group is not that its members are all contemporary masters, but that the three masters were able to set aside their personal opinions and take time out of their busy schedules to practice together. After mutual communication, they concealed their own brilliance and individual characteristics in their performances, striving for perfect overall expression. Perhaps at this point, what they expressed was no longer just mutual understanding but a higher level of insight into the works themselves.