Anton Rubinstein: a possible recording?



This entry is a little unusual, as it is about a musician rather than an individual piece. Anton Rubinstein is a hugely significant figure in the development of Russian music; he founded the St Petersburg Conservatory in 1862 and became its first Director. His brother, Nikolai, founded the Moscow Conservatory in 1866. Anton Rubinstein was famous in the nineteenth century for his bravura performances at the piano, and was a prolific composer of operas, piano concertos and symphonies.

This recording was the focus of a presentation by Christoph Flamm at the recent Early Recordings: Methodologies in Research and Practice online conference. It comes from Julius Block's collection of wax cylinders, and while the pianist hasn't been definitively identified, it is very likely to be Rubinstein accompanying the tenor Vasily Samus . There are two short songs here, with a fragment of speech in between; the first, 'Yearning', is by Rubinstein and the second, 'Don Juan's Seranade' is by Tchaikovsky.

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