Arthur Rubinstein plays Chopin’s Polonaise in F-sharp minor
Arthur Rubinstein plays Chopin’s Polonaise in F-sharp minor
August 26, 2013.Arthur Rubinstein plays Chopin’s Polonaise in F-sharp minor.Shortly after Arthur Rubinstein’s death in December of 1982, WFMT, the classical music radio station in Chicago, ran a series of programs in which they played recordings made by Rubinstein on different stages of his phenomenal career. This was one of the most fascinating programming features ever produced by WFMT.While Rubinstein’s repertoire was broad, many of the recordings were of Chopin; after all, Rubinstein was, without a doubt, the greatest interpreter of Chopin in the 20th century, and recorded many of his works multiple times, from the late 1920s till well into the 1970s.Recently, on the same WFMT, we caught a recording of Rubinstein playing Chopin’s Polonaise in F-sharp minor, op. 44.Rubinstein "owned" this Polonaise, even though it was part of the repertoire of practically every major pianist of the last century (Vladimir Horowitz was another famous interpreter).We thought that it would be interesting to present recordings of the piece made by Arthur Rubinstein through the years, as it would help us to understand both his mastery and the piece itself.Thanks to YouTube we found three of these: one from the 30s, another made in the 50s, and the last one – in the 1960s.
The first recording was made in 1935 (hence the relative low quality).Rubinstein was 48 at the time (he was born in the Polish city of Łódź, which back then belonged to the Russian Empire, on January 28, 1887). Just three years earlier, in 1932, Rubinstein, a complete natural who never practiced a lot, decided that he needed to work on his technique and withdrew from the concert scene for several month.He practiced many hours a day, something he had not done either before or after that time..In this recording he still misses notes but somehow it doesn’t matter (what an innocent time it was: today sound engineers would’ve spliced and diced several takes and made it technically perfect).At 9 minutes and 25 seconds this is the fastest of the three, and for all its brilliance, nuance, and lyricism of the middle part, probably the least impressive of them.
The second recording was made in 1951.Rubinstein, at 64, was in his prime.This recording is much darker than the one he made 16 years earlier and also slower (it runs 10 minutes and 37 seconds).This Polonaise is known as “Tragic” and that’s how Rubinstein plays it; the repeating figure at the end of the first section sounds practically brutal.The central section, a mazurka, also sounds more wistful than in the earlier recording.One of the miraculous qualities of Rubinstein’s playing was the rhythm, very free but absolutely natural, breathing with the development of the piece.The way he moves the final section forward, stately, almost imperiously, is truly a wonder.The quality of this recording is, unfortunately, rather poor.We think that it still is very much worth listening to: piano playing rarely get any better than this.
The third recording was made in 1964 and the quality of the recording is the best of the three.Rubinstein was 77 but still extremely active.One can hear some very minor technical problems but as is so often with Rubinstein, they make no difference (one may recall Hans von Bulow’s complaints that the public ignores Liszt’s “fistfuls of wrong notes” while noticing every single one of his).This is the slowest recording (11 minutes and 15 seconds) but not because of the technical difficulties preventing Rubinstein from playing faster: he needed time to develop a “story.”This time the story is softer than in ’51, but still terrible, poignant and at times heartbreaking.This is probably the deepest interpretation, although many listeners may disagree and “vote” for the ’51 recording.
Rubinstein continued to perform and record for another 12 years, giving his last concert in London in May of 1976.He died on December 20, 1982, aged 95.
Arthur Rubinstein plays Chopin’s Polonaise in F-sharp minor
August 26, 2013. Arthur Rubinstein plays Chopin’s Polonaise in F-sharp minor. Shortly after Arthur Rubinstein’s death in December of 1982, WFMT, the classical music radio station in Chicago,
ran a series of programs in which they played recordings made by Rubinstein on different stages of his phenomenal career. This was one of the most fascinating programming features ever produced by WFMT. While Rubinstein’s repertoire was broad, many of the recordings were of Chopin; after all, Rubinstein was, without a doubt, the greatest interpreter of Chopin in the 20th century, and recorded many of his works multiple times, from the late 1920s till well into the 1970s. Recently, on the same WFMT, we caught a recording of Rubinstein playing Chopin’s Polonaise in F-sharp minor, op. 44. Rubinstein "owned" this Polonaise, even though it was part of the repertoire of practically every major pianist of the last century (Vladimir Horowitz was another famous interpreter). We thought that it would be interesting to present recordings of the piece made by Arthur Rubinstein through the years, as it would help us to understand both his mastery and the piece itself. Thanks to YouTube we found three of these: one from the 30s, another made in the 50s, and the last one – in the 1960s.
The first recording was made in 1935 (hence the relative low quality). Rubinstein was 48 at the time (he was born in the Polish city of Łódź, which back then belonged to the Russian Empire, on January 28, 1887). Just three years earlier, in 1932, Rubinstein, a complete natural who never practiced a lot, decided that he needed to work on his technique and withdrew from the concert scene for several month. He practiced many hours a day, something he had not done either before or after that time.. In this recording he still misses notes but somehow it doesn’t matter (what an innocent time it was: today sound engineers would’ve spliced and diced several takes and made it technically perfect). At 9 minutes and 25 seconds this is the fastest of the three, and for all its brilliance, nuance, and lyricism of the middle part, probably the least impressive of them.
The second recording was made in 1951. Rubinstein, at 64, was in his prime. This recording is much darker than the one he made 16 years earlier and also slower (it runs 10 minutes and 37 seconds). This Polonaise is known as “Tragic” and that’s how Rubinstein plays it; the repeating figure at the end of the first section sounds practically brutal. The central section, a mazurka, also sounds more wistful than in the earlier recording. One of the miraculous qualities of Rubinstein’s playing was the rhythm, very free but absolutely natural, breathing with the development of the piece. The way he moves the final section forward, stately, almost imperiously, is truly a wonder. The quality of this recording is, unfortunately, rather poor. We think that it still is very much worth listening to: piano playing rarely get any better than this.
The third recording was made in 1964 and the quality of the recording is the best of the three. Rubinstein was 77 but still extremely active. One can hear some very minor technical problems but as is so often with Rubinstein, they make no difference (one may recall Hans von Bulow’s complaints that the public ignores Liszt’s “fistfuls of wrong notes” while noticing every single one of his). This is the slowest recording (11 minutes and 15 seconds) but not because of the technical difficulties preventing Rubinstein from playing faster: he needed time to develop a “story.” This time the story is softer than in ’51, but still terrible, poignant and at times heartbreaking. This is probably the deepest interpretation, although many listeners may disagree and “vote” for the ’51 recording.
Rubinstein continued to perform and record for another 12 years, giving his last concert in London in May of 1976. He died on December 20, 1982, aged 95.