Customer Reviews

The Last Recital for Israel

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I cannot imagine Artur Rubinstein ever consenting to the release of this disc, considering how selective the pianist was about his recordings (fans would eat their hearts out if they knew what remains unreleased in the RCA vaults).

The concert begins with Beethoven's "Appassionata" Sonata in a performance so sloppy, disjointed, and filled with memory lapses that one wonders how Rubinstein didn't just give up and go home then. Naturally, the audience goes berserk at the finale's end which is, frankly, banged. Things go downhill from there, including monocrhome Schumann, and unatmospheric Debussy. As he usually did during the last ten years of his career, Rubinstein consistently plays too loudly - a sign of his failing hearing. There is gusto and fire in plenty here, but little in the way of Rubinstein's natural musicality or even technical control. The video has the saving grace of allowing the viewer to actually SEE Rubinstein in action, but the CD lacks that. The CD also lacks the encores - Chopin's Waltz in C-sharp minor and Mendelssohn's Spinning Song - which were, ironically, Rubinstein's best playing that day.

The sound, taken from a videotape (made without Rubinstein's knowledge) of a 1975 recital in Pasadena, California, is very poor mono. RCA has done a grave disservice to Rubinstein's memory by releasing this disc.

One has to listen to the last concert for Israel a few times to fully grasp the intensity that Artur Rubinstein put into this album. The frailty of old age doesn't slow him down at all and it is one of his true "live" recordings. You can tell the audience was an awe of the greatest pianist that ever lived.

I marvel at the insensitivity and arrogance of reviewers who make sport of the technical limitations of a great pianist in his late 80s. True, this was not Arthur Rubinstein's best recital. True, he makes a mess of the conclusion of the first movement of the Appassionata. But this dvd is a treasure, not a disservice. What is remarkable is not that there are a few mistakes, but that he was still capable of playing the piano at all. Audiences loved him and this one did too. Attending a Rubinstein recital was always a special event. When I was growing up, my father took me to Carnegie Hall every time Rubinstein gave a solo recital, and every one of them was memorable. I still have the programs. His stage presence was magnetic. His technique was awesome. His posture at the piano was mesmerizing. His programs were long and difficult. He was generous with encores. He truly loved playing the piano. For these reasons, we should be grateful for all of his live performances, however flawed, rather than try to show what sophisticated critics we are.