Arthur Rubinstein

Arthur Rubinstein was a Polish-American pianist who is considered by many as Arthur Rubinsteinthe greatest piano virtuoso of the 20th Century, and one of the greatest classical pianists of all time.

Born on January 28, 1887 in Łódź, Poland, he was the youngest of 8 children born to a family of assimilated Jews. His father was a factory owner, and was wealthy for his time.

Arthur Rubinstein also received international praise for his performances of the music of a variety of composers. Many people regard him as the greates Chopin interpreter of the century.

At the age of two years old, Rubinstein had a fascination with music, the piano in particular while watching his older sister's piano lessons. When he began playing the piano himself, he showed perfect pitch. By the age of four he was recognized as a child prodigy. The great Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim, on hearing four-year-old Rubinstein play piano, was very impressed and began to mentor him.

Rubinstein first studied piano in Warsaw, Poland, and by age ten he had moved to Berlin to continue his studies. In 1900, at thirteen years old, Arthur made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic. This was followed by performances in Germany and Poland and more study with Karl Heinrich Barth (an associate of Liszt, von Bülow, Joachim and Brahms; Barth also taught Wilhelm Kempff). As Barth's student, Rubinstein inherited a very impressive pedagogical lineage: Barth was himself a pupil of Liszt, who had been taught by Czerny, who had in turn been a pupil of Beethoven.

Rubinstein believed that one of the biggest dangers for young pianists is too much practice. He would advise young piano students that they should practice no more than three hours a day. "It is not so good, in a musical way, to overpractice. When you do, the music seems to come out of your pocket. If you play with a feeling of 'Oh, I know this,' you play without that little drop of fresh blood that is necessary – and the audience feels it." Of Rubinstein's own practice methods he said, "At every concert I leave a lot to the moment. I must have the unexpected, the unforeseen. I want to risk, to dare. I want to be surprised by what comes out. I want to enjoy it more than the audience. That way the music can bloom anew. It's like making love. The act is always the same, but each time it's different."