Previous posts for November 28th are here: Jean-Baptiste Lully (2019), Anton Rubinstein (2020), Paul Shaffer; Ferdinand Ries (2021), Jean-Baptiste Lully (2022), and Anton Rubinstein (2023)
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Anton Rubinstein (28 November [O.S. 16 November] 1829 – 20 November [O.S. 8 November] 1894) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor, whose pianism was said to rival Liszt's.
We Beg To Differ
American pianist Amy Fay admitted that while Rubinstein "has a gigantic spirit in him, and is extremely poetic and original ... for an entire evening he is too much.” - Wikipedia
"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!" – Clara Schumann on Rubenstein, qtd. in Wikipedia
Rubenstein, we know, was great,
But earned, we read, both love and hate.
Some there were in any crowd
Who liked their virtuosos loud,
While others thought his thundering touch
Was, for an evening, just too much;
Or said his playing was injurious
To the scores… and they were furious.
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