Memorable Concert By Rubinstein

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30497, 20 July 1964, Page 10

Memorable Concert By Rubinstein

On Saturday evening, to an audience that filled the Theatre Royal, including all the spare room on the ample stage, Artur Rubinstein played a concert which will surely remain a treasured memory for all who were privileged to hear it. The tumultuous reception he received was ■ unmistakable proof of his artistic and technical omnipotence. His ges-ture-free demeanour also •won him many friends. In this programme were heard Bach; Beethoven, Debussy, Villa-Lobos and, finally, Chopin.

Mr Rubinstein’s art Is so completely integrated as to ■defy analysis but there can be no doubt that his preeminent single virtue is the clarity of structure he conveys to the listener, as in Busoni’s transcription of the Bach ■ Chaconne. Allied to this is a clarity of texture which enables him to “bring out” inner phrases, interesting counter-melodies and, in general, sounds hitherto unsuspected in such familiar pieces as Chopin’s F sharp Nocturne and Falla’s "Ritual Fire Dance.”

If this pellucidity of utterance can be attributed to one feature of technique, it surely must be the comparatively restrained use Mr Rubinstein makes of the sustaining pedal. Only occasionally were we offered the immense power of great physical force combined with the “wash” of sound that this device produces; and what an effect resulted! The climactic passages of Beethoven’s “Appassionata” Sonata were especially memorable ip this regard. Eloquence in works such as the Opus 57 is not surprising in a man of Rubinstein’s long experience. But to remain capable of producing an evergreen freshness is something we may not have expected. The rhythmic precision,- which gives to the outer movements their impetus, was as lively as though he had recently discovered this music. The tonal colouring, seemingly inexhaustable in its variation, appeared to possess a hidden orchestral source.

After the interval and with a “before Debussy was, I am” type of authority, Mr Rubinstein offered “Ondine,” and “La Plus Que Lente.” From feathery ornamentation to weighted melodic significance, a balanced proportion

was servant to his; poetic imagination. Lively humour inspired Villa-Lobos’s “0 Prole Do Bebe,” a threemovement suite of great charm and originality. Finally, from an immense conception of Chopin’s Ballade in G minor, we were taken to the elegant simplicity of the Nocturne and hence to the A flat Polonaise, victim of many past digital “bashings”. One can only wonder . why thdse pianists who insist on rushing the first passage, do not examine the meaning of the title or, better still, listen to Artur Rubinstein. What has been a war horse became, on Saturday, a convincing tonal picture of noble heroism and a vehicle of ■ considerable pianistic worth.-

Perhaps the most unexpected characterstic of this man of genius is his youthfulness. Not only is this evidenced in his mental and technical approach to his work, but also in his possession, of a physique which belies the age of an artist who straddles eras as though they were decades. —J.A.R.