Victor Ryabchikov - Rubinstein: Piano Music (2010)

Anton Rubinstein was born in a village on the border between the Ukraine and Moldavia, but his family moved to Moscow as early as 1831, where his brother Nikolai was born. The two brothers received their first music lessons from their mother, but in 1837, Anton began to study with the best music teacher in Moscow. By the age of five, Nikolai had produced his first composition. By the age of nine, Anton was giving concerts in Moscow. From 1840-1843, he traveled throughout Europe, giving concerts and playing for Liszt and Chopin. For all his life he would remember how Chopin played for him at his home. Later in life they established and became directors of the first music conservatories in Russia; Anton in St. Petersburg in 1862 and Nikolai in Moscow in 1866. Anton's first pupil was Tchaikovsky and his last Josef Hoffman. The most important characteristic of Anton's compositions is the precedence given to melody, combined with concentrated chordal writing. Neither of the brothers treated the piano like a pounding percussion instrument; they strove instead to imitate the human voice. The principal difference between them was that Anton's style was more sketch-like (it has been compared with Rembrandt's manner of bringing out individual details), whilst Nikolai aimed to produce a complete, unified work.