Anton Rubinstein
Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein was born to Jewish parents in the village of Vikhvatinets, located within the Podolia Governorate of the Russian Empire. This place now exists as Ofatinți in Transnistria, Republic of Moldova, situated about northwest of Odessa on the Dniestr River. Before he reached five years of age, his paternal grandfather ordered every member of the Rubinstein family to convert from Judaism to Russian Orthodoxy. Although raised as a Christian throughout his early life, Rubinstein would later become an atheist. His father opened a pencil factory in Moscow while his mother, a competent musician, began giving him piano lessons at the age of five. A teacher heard him play and accepted Rubinstein as a non-paying student. He made his first public appearance at a charity benefit concert when he was nine years old.
In spring 1844, Rubinstein traveled to Berlin with his mother, sister Luba, and brother Nikolai. There he met Felix Mendelssohn and Giacomo Meyerbeer, who supported his developing career. Mendelssohn stated that Rubinstein needed no further piano study but sent Nikolai to Theodor Kullak for instruction. Meyerbeer directed both boys to Siegfried Dehn for work in composition and theory. By 1854, Rubinstein began a four-year concert tour of Europe after a decade-long break. Ignaz Moscheles wrote in 1855 that Rubinstein was inferior to no one in power and execution. He reestablished his reputation as a virtuoso by alternating between conducting his orchestral works and playing solo in his own piano concertos. One high point occurred on the 16th of November 1854 when he led the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra in his Ocean Symphony. Reviews were mixed regarding his merits as a composer but more favorable about him as a performer during a solo recital weeks later.
The opening of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory followed in 1862 as the first music school in Russia. It developed from the Russian Musical Society per its charter. Rubinstein founded it and served as its first director while recruiting an imposing pool of talent for its faculty. Some in Russian society expressed surprise that a Russian music school would attempt to be Russian. A fashionable lady exclaimed upon hearing classes would be taught in Russian rather than a foreign language. She asked what music in Russian could possibly mean since theory had previously been taught only by foreigners or in Germany. Others feared the school would not be Russian enough, drawing tremendous criticism from the nationalist group known as The Five. Mikhail Tsetlin noted that the idea of a conservatory implied academism which could turn it into a stronghold of routine. Yet Balakirev and his friends chose an unconventional way that was not necessarily right for everybody else. Rubinstein drew his greatest success as a composer beginning with his Fourth Piano Concerto in 1864 and culminating with his opera The Demon in 1871.
At the behest of the Steinway & Sons piano company, Rubinstein toured the United States during the 1872, 73 season. Steinway's contract called on him to give 200 concerts at the then unheard-of rate of 200 dollars per concert payable in gold. Rubinstein distrusted both United States banks and United States paper money. He stayed in America for 239 days giving 215 concerts sometimes two and three times daily in as many cities. He wrote May Heaven preserve us from such slavery under these conditions there is no chance for art one simply grows into an automaton performing mechanical work. No dignity remains to the artist he is lost according to his own account. Despite his misery Rubinstein made enough money from this American tour to provide financial security for the rest of his life. Upon returning to Russia he hastened to invest in real estate purchasing a dacha in Peterhof not far from Saint Petersburg for himself and his family. When asked years later to repeat the tour he refused pointblank due to profound dissatisfaction with the experience.
Many contemporaries felt Rubinstein bore a striking resemblance to Ludwig van Beethoven. Ignaz Moscheles who had known Beethoven intimately noted that Rubinstein's features and short irrepressible hair reminded him of the master. Liszt referred to Rubinstein as Van II suggesting a physical likeness to the earlier composer. Under his hands the piano erupted volcanically according to audience members who went home limp after recitals knowing they had witnessed a force of nature. Sometimes Rubinstein's playing was too much for listeners to handle. American pianist Amy Fay admitted while he has a gigantic spirit in him and is extremely poetic and original for an entire evening he is too much. She heard him play a terrific piece by Schubert reportedly the Wanderer Fantasie which gave her such a violent headache that the rest of the recital was ruined for her. Clara Schumann proved especially vehement after hearing him play the Mendelssohn C minor Trio in 1857 writing that he so rattled it off she did not know how to control herself. Nor had things improved in Clara's view when Rubinstein gave a concert in Breslau noting in her diary that either there was a perfectly wild noise or else a whisper with the soft pedal down.
By 1850 Rubinstein decided he did not want to be known solely as a pianist but as a composer performing symphonies concertos operas trios and other works. He wrote no fewer than twenty operas notably The Demon written after Lermontov's Romantic poem and its successor The Merchant Kalashnikov. He also composed five piano concertos six symphonies many solo piano works along with substantial output for chamber ensemble including two cello concertos and one violin concerto. Edward Garden writes in the New Grove that Rubinstein composed assiduously during all periods of his life able to dash off half a dozen songs or an album of piano pieces with fluent ease. Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn were the strongest influences on Rubinstein's music resulting in compositions demonstrating none of the nationalism found in The Five. After Rubinstein's death his works began losing popularity though his piano concerti remained in the repertoire in Europe until the First World War. His principal works have retained a toehold in the Russian concert repertoire while perhaps somewhat lacking in individuality unable to compete with established classics or new styles like Stravinsky and Prokofiev. Amongst his better known works remain the opera The Demon his Piano Concerto No. 4 and Symphony No. 2 known as The Ocean.
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Common questions
Where was Anton Rubinstein born and what is the modern location of that place?
Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein was born in the village of Vikhvatinets within the Podolia Governorate of the Russian Empire. This location now exists as Ofatinți in Transnistria, Republic of Moldova, situated about northwest of Odessa on the Dniestr River.
When did Anton Rubinstein open his first public appearance at a charity concert?
Anton Rubinstein made his first public appearance at a charity benefit concert when he was nine years old. He traveled to Berlin with his mother and siblings in spring 1844 where he met Felix Mendelssohn and Giacomo Meyerbeer who supported his developing career.
What year did Anton Rubinstein found the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and why was it controversial?
The opening of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory followed in 1862 as the first music school in Russia under its charter from the Russian Musical Society. It drew criticism from nationalist groups like The Five because some feared the school would not be Russian enough or turn into a stronghold of routine academism.
How many concerts did Anton Rubinstein perform during his United States tour in 1872 and 1873?
Rubinstein stayed in America for 239 days giving 215 concerts sometimes two and three times daily in as many cities. Steinway & Sons contracted him to give 200 concerts at the rate of 200 dollars per concert payable in gold which provided financial security for the rest of his life.
Which contemporaries compared Anton Rubinstein to Ludwig van Beethoven and what were their observations?
Ignaz Moscheles noted that Rubinstein's features and short irrepressible hair reminded him of Beethoven while Liszt referred to Rubinstein as Van II suggesting a physical likeness. Clara Schumann wrote about his playing being too much for listeners to handle after hearing him play the Mendelssohn C minor Trio in 1857.