Rubinstein, Artur
(January 28, 1889 - 1982)
Concert Pianist
Artur Rubinstein was a child prodigy who made a phenomenal debut in Berlin at the age of 12 as soloist with a symphony orchestra. Rubinstein, a native son of Lodz, Poland was immediately engaged to appear with major orchestras in Dresden, Hamburg, and Warsaw.
After a period of study with Paderewski, he made major appearances in Paris and London. In 1906 he made his American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, followed by a tour in which he gave 75 concerts. After returning to Europe he went into temporary retirement to devote himself to additional study. When he returned to the concert stage he further enhanced his reputation as one of the foremost living virtuosos of the piano.
In 1919 he appeared again in the United States. Since then he was heard in all parts of the civilized world. He established permanent residence in the United States and became an American citizen after World War II.
A memorable, moving confirmation of Rubinstein's Polishness occurred in 1945 in San Francisco at a concert marking the inaugural of the United Nations. As he entered the hall with its long line of national flags, he noted that Poland's was missing. A friend told him casually - "There is no Polish flag because no one is sure what kind of government will take over in Poland." Rubinstein reacted with "blind fury." After playing the Star-Spangled Banner, he stood up and said in a loud, angry voice: "In this hall where the great nations gather to make a better world, I miss the flag of Poland, for which this cruel war was fought ... I shall play the Polish national anthem." He then played the Polish anthem, not in the usual bouncy manner of a mazurka, but very slowly and majestically, repeating the last phrase with a resounding forte. The audience stood and applauded wildly.
From: Wally West
Artur Rubinstein was born January 28, 1889 in Lodz, Poland, the youngest of seven children by nine years. He was, to quote him, "the Benjamin of his father," who owned a hand-loom factory.
Artur displayed musical talent at the age of three. Two years later, Artur gave a concert for charity in Warsaw and at eight studied in that city with Prof. Rozycki. In a few months, however, he had absorbed all that teacher could provide.
By a stroke of luck, Artur's sister was going to Berlin to prepare for her marriage and took her prodigy brother to be presented to Joseph Joachim, the great Hungarian violinist and friend of Brahms. The venerable pedagogue was so impressed that he assumed responsibility for young Artur's musical future.
At eleven, he made his formal debut in Berlin, playing the Mozart Concerto in A major, with his musical godfather, Joachim, conducting the orchestra.
By the time he was fifteen, young Rubinstein had spread his talents to encompass most of Germany and Poland, playing once in Warsaw with the orchestra under the direction of Emil Mlynarski, whose daughter Aniela, as yet unborn, was in later years to marry the brilliant soloist.
Rubinstein's first American appearance was in Philadelphia with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the beginning of 1906 and his New York debut in Carnegie Hall was made on January 8th, with the same orchestra under the direction, of Fritz Scheel. In Philadelphia Rubinstein played the E Minor Concerto of Chopin; in New York he chose the G Minor Concerto of Saint Saens.
By 1914, he had finished a tour of all the major cities on the Continent, winding up in London just as the war started. Although he wanted to join the Polish legion, his knowledge of languages (he speaks eight fluently -- English, Polish, German, Russian, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese) made him more valuable at headquarters as an interpreter.
He remained there for several months until he undertook to play for the Allies a series of thirty joint concerts with the celebrated violinist Eugene Ysaye.
Tn 1916 he made his first entry into Spain, where his mastery of De Falla and Albeniz evoked national acclaim. Scheduled for four recitals, he remained to give 120. He became the adopted son of all Spanish-speaking countries, and one of the foremost interpreters of their music. Rubinstein becomes emotional beyond his customary animation when he speaks of his experience in Spain, and readily admits his debt of gratitude. He has a house near Malaga.
He followed this success with an extensive tour of South America so that he did not reach the United States again until the 1919 season.
Though Rubinstein appeared in the United States up to 1927, he did not visit this country again for a decade thereafter when impresario S. Hurok persuaded him to return.
Meanwhile in 1932 he had married Aniela Mlynarski at a fairy-tale wedding in London attended by celebrities in music, art, literature, and diplomacy. His, daughter, Eva, was born in Buenos Aires in 1933; his son Paul, in Warsaw in 1935; Alina and John Arthur arrived in Hollywood in 1945 and 1946 respectively.
During his return American season in 1937 Rubinstein was presented by Hurok in seventeen concerts in nine weeks, appearing with seven major symphony orchestras, the initial one being with the New York Philharmonic Symphony Society broadcasting that historic rendition of Tchaikovsky's Concerto in B-Flat. Minor on Sunday afternoon, November 21, 1937.
When war came and the Germans entered Paris to take over his lovely new home on the Avenue Foch, the European chapter of his life was closed temporarily. Shortly thereafter, he removed his family to America and settled in Hollywood.
With Hollywood studios close by, it was not long before motion picture companies were knocking at Rubinstein's door. For his first film he received the record sum of $85,000, for three days' work for putting Rachmaninoff's Second Concerto on the sound track of Republic's I've Always Loved You.
Rubinstein scored a personal triumph in the star-studded picture, Carnegie Hall in which he appeared on the screen for the first time. Since then he has sat before the cameras and recorded the Leith Stevens Concerto for RKO's Night Song, and played all the piano solo parts in the sound track for MGM's Song of Love, based on the lite of Robert Schumann, including Schumann, his wife, Clara, Johannes Brahms, and Franz Liszt.
In 1950, he became associated with a group of artists interested in bringing good music neighborhood movie houses. The firm, called World Artists, produced several films, providing an off-stage glimpse of the artist unfamiliar to concert audiences. The first full-length feature,Of Men and Music, starred Rubinstein, Heifetz, Piatigorsky and Peerce.
In 1946, the most international of all living artists, friend of royalty and toast of their courts, Rubinstein became a U.S. citizen.
Among Mr. Rubinstein's most recent honors is the French Government's Order of Arts and Letters. He is also a Commander of the Legion d'Honneur, a Commander of the Order of Chile, Grand Officer of Alfonso XII of Spain, Benemerenti of Roumania, Officer of Santiago of Portugal, oldest military order on the continent, Officer of Pologna Restituta, Correspondent Member of the Academy of Arts of Brazil, Honorary Member of the famous Accademia di Sanita Cecilia in Rome and possessor of Honorary Doctorates from Northwestern, Yale, Brown and Rutgers Universities, Bronze Medal of the City of New York, Honorary Citizen of Philadelphia and Honorary Member of Romani di Roma.
Soon after the war, Rubinstein became the founder-president of the Frederic Chopin Fund, which sponsored concerts to raise money for needy artists in postwar Europe, providing musical instruments, books and scores to musicians deprived of the tools of their profession.
In the fall of 1947, he returned to Europe to concertize for the first time since 1939. An idol before he left the continent, his return was the signal for one of the greatest tributes ever awarded an artist. He played more than thirty-five times to sold-out houses which had to install stage seats and permit standees.
In recent seasons, Rubinstein often played more than 100 times on three continents. In 1952, besides his European and South American engagements, the pianist played in Israel for the first time since 1935. He appeared twenty times in that country in twenty days, his eight recitals in Tel Aviv being sold out two days after the tickets went on sale.
In June, 1958 Rubinstein returned to his native Poland after a twenty-year absence and won from a weeping audience in Warsaw the second standing ovation in Polish history (The first went to Paderewski.)
Currently on his thirty-second tour of the U.S. and Canada, under the management of S. Hurok, Rubinstein has been seen on television in the Hurok-Producers' Showcase spectaculars, Festival of Music. He was also seen on such shows as Small World where he discussed censorship behind the iron curtain with Archibald MacLeish, and the Polish poet, Anton Slominski.
In September, 1964, Rubinstein, after an absence of nearly thirty years, returned to the Soviet Union to play a series of six recitals in Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev. Received by wildly applauding throngs, including all the leading figures in Soviet musical and cultural circles, the pianist scored one of the greatest triumphs of his career. When admirers in his dressing room after the concert told him that they had heard him during his last concert tour there in 1935, Rubinstein said, "I have made progress since then I have the Americans to thank for that, they want perfection."
Rubinstein has over fifty recording in the current RCA Victor list, covering the most important music written for the piano. He has, for many years, been among the world's best sellers; and has been awarded a golden record for selling his millionth record.
Source: Official Biography (1970)