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Artur Rubinstein - Piano Concertos (2006) [DVD9 NTSC]
Actors: Artur Rubinstein, London Symphony Orchestra, Andre Previn
Format: Widescreen, DVD, NTSC
Audio: PCM Stereo, DTS 5.1
Subtitles: German, Spanish, French
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
DVD Release Date: September 12, 2006
Run Time: 92 minutes
Rubinstein was the ultimate concert pianist. He played 100-plus engagements a year for some seven decades. Even as an old man he had ten recital programs and twenty concertos at his fingertips. For half a century he maintained a busy recording schedule, ranging from Mozart to Villa-Lobos and including a full dose of chamber music. He was the Caruso of the keyboard, the Babe Ruth of the 88s.
Sure enough, back in the early 1940s American critic/composer Virgil Thomson headlined him as the "King of Pianists," and Rubinstein wore that crown for the next 35 years. Other big names made periodic splashes (Gilels, Richter, Cliburn, Gould) or emerged briefly from hiding (Horowitz, Michelangeli), but when the dust settled Rubinstein still sat on the throne. "Nobody will put up much of an argument," the N.Y. Times' Harold C. Schonberg once wrote, "when he's called the greatest living pianist." Yet in his day he was such a familiar and accessible commodity, listeners seldom pondered exactly where his superiority lay.
It was simple enough. As Lauritz Melchior was the greatest of heldentenors, Rubinstein was the preeminent "heldenpianist." Boasting both an enormous dynamic range and phenomenal stamina, he could play not only long seasons but heavy heroic programs (e.g., both Brahms concertos at one sitting). He was renowned for his deep full tone, his cataclysmic volume, his velvet cantilenas, his huge declamatory octaves. Rubinstein came honestly by it all: after a youthful brush with repetitive stress syndrome, he adopted a temperate practice regimen and developed one of the most efficient virtuoso mechanisms in the history of his instrument. Its foundation was a centered posture, participation of the entire torso, and exceptional lateral mobility; working strictly with moderate-action instruments, he could dig deep into the keys.
It's significant, then, that the end came for him not from fading fingers but failing eyesight--macular degeneration. His frontal vision suddenly went, and it was enough to take the edge off his accuracy and reliability. He prudently retired. At age 89.
Luckily the present video (three Rubinstein blockbusters--the Grieg concerto, Chopin's Concerto No. 2, Saint-Saens' Concerto No. 2) had been taped some months earlier on April 22-24, 1975. Of the assorted Rubinstein DVDs currently on the market, this is easily the most cherishable. Not surprisingly, picture and sound are far superior to the 1990 VHS release, and by any criteria this is first-rate analog stereo--though the piano is appreciably forward, sometimes upstaging the string tremolos in the Chopin middle movement. As for the picture, it's in plush technicolor: the camera favors both left and right profiles as Rubinstein digs in, close-ups of his hands ditto, head shots are framed by the piano lid. Previn and individual deskmen enjoy occasional close-ups as well, but the full orchestra is on view only from the rear of the hall.
With Previn and the LSO providing elegantly phrased backup, the performances themselves are invaluable. These, literally, are Rubinstein's final thoughts on a trio of audience favorites he'd performed over many decades (three-quarters of a century in the case of the Saint-Saens). Even at 88 he's easily equal to the stiff technical demands (cleaner and firmer with Chopin's passagework than in his Philadelphia recording seven years before). Unforgettable moments abound in each of these performances: tempos are generally more spacious than earlier, with the expected gains in precision and clarity; he's more economical, too, with half tints and pedal washes in cantabile passages, but the arching phrases and tapered cadences are as eloquent as ever. Astonishingly, his fortissimos are still colossal in the big Grieg cadenza, and the old man can still burn up the tracks in the finale of the Saint-Saens.
Further, and maybe even more affecting, Rubinstein was still reconsidering, still revising, still working on things. Here, for instance, you'll find the most intensely operatic of all his readings of the Chopin Larghetto--sharply phrased, stinging in the filigree, downright ferocious in the central recitative, ultimately turning gentle and nocturnal in the recap.
Finally there's a splendid bonus: a 29-minute conversation with PBS newscaster Bob MacNeil, recorded in the late 1970s after Rubinstein's retirement. The pianist tackles a range of material with humor and shrewdness: communicating with popular audiences, producing his famous sound, his concept of God, life after death. It's easily the most articulate and stimulating interview I've heard him give.
So this DVD paints the regal close of a colossal reign: as indicated, the bonus is a delight, and you'll never hear more opulent, more exhilarating performances of these three pet concertos. Heartily recommended for all viewers. Including folks who normally avoid classical music.
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