Pianists Anton and Nicholas Rubinstein
Famous Russian Concert Pianists of the Nineteenth Century
Sep 21, 2008
Nicholas Rubinstein, the younger brother of the celebrated Anton, was born in Moscow in 1835, and received his early training at the piano from his mother. Later he went to Berlin at study with Theodore Kullak (1818-1882) and Siegfried Wilhelm Dehn (1799-1858). He stayed only two years and returned to Russia with his mother while his older brother Anton continued his studies in Berlin.
Moscow Conservatory
Nicholas Rubinstein began his musical organizing about 1859 when he founded a branch of the Imperial Musical Society in Moscow, where he conducted the Symphony Orchestra in concerts presented by the society. In 1866 that organization brought into being the Moscow Conservatory, which Nicholas directed until his death in 1881. Two of his famous pupils were Alexander Siloti and Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev.
As to the playing of Nicholas, many said he was the equal of his brother...and his Russian concerts were enjoyed as much as those of his brother. He gave a series of four concerts at the Trocadero in Paris in 1865 and remained there for the rest of his life, which ended on March 23, 1881.
Anton Rubinstein
The older brother of Nicholas, Anton was born on November 30, 1929, and received his first piano lessons with his mother, later going to Alexander Ivanovich Villoing (1808-1878), who took Anton to Paris in 1840 where he created a stir among the musicians there. His first public appearance was at the age of eight, and after removing to Paris he was noted by Franz Liszt who suggested that he should complete the courses at a German music school.
Rublinstein undertook a concert tour instead and visited Scandinavia, Holland and Germany. In 1844 he was in Berlin with Nicholas, where he studied with Siegfried Dehn. However, the death of his father in 1846 forced Anton to leave his studies for lack of funds.He travelled to Vienna where he gave many concerts with flutist Heindl.
He was in St.Petersburg in 1858, where he was appointed court pianist, and later became musical director and conductor of the Imperial Russian Opera. In 1861 he became director of the Russian Philharmonic Society, and a year later founded the Conservatory at St. Petersburg.
In 1867 he traveled to America, a trip which he refused to make again because he suffered quite badly from seasickness.He was a prolific composer but his works are seldom played today with the exception of two or three. He died of heart disease at Peterhof, on November 20,1894, and was accorded a state funeral.
Source
Celebrated Pianists of the Past and Present A.Ehrlich Theodore Presser Philadelphia 1894
For further reading about pianists see Famous Concert Pianist Sophie Menter
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