Arthur Rubinstein - Complete Album Collection

I was thrilled to receive this massive CD box that includes an impressive hardcover book and a literal treasure trove of piano recordings.But that thrill is slightly tempered by the fact that Sony/BMG has opted for some pretty stupid packaging choices here.First, the pink color they picked for the box cover is just awful. It was obviously chosen to match the pink color of the inside cover of the enclosed book. Bad choice, especially as Sony could have opted for ANY OTHER COLOR in the PMS scale and done just fine. What's wrong with a deep red (as in Red Seal) or a deep blue or even black? Any of them would look fine on the shelf. The pink is just plain ugly. Worse, it looks cheap.Then, there's the multi-disc sleeves used to house the earliest recordings and any sets that are comprised of 3 or more CDs. Sony/BMG opted for gatefold sleeves that open up flat and accommodate up to 6 CDs. Unfortunately, rather than have spindles on which to place each CD, the gatefolds use a paper sleeve system with a slit on either side of the inner-held CDs. The problem comes in dislodging the CDs that are not positioned in the end positions on the gatefold. The inner discs are removed through a cumbersome - and potentially disastrous - process of trying to push a CD out from one side of the sleeve, getting it over the top of the sleeve next to it, then using your fingers to pull the disc out the rest of the way. If that sounds ridiculous, it is. It is THE worst design I have ever seen to house multiple CDs. I'm sure that Sony/BMG didn't come up with this on their own. Most likely they found the option at some printer and went with it. Mistake #2.The solution here is to remove the CDs ONCE from these gatefold sleeves and place them in those individual CD-R sleeves you buy at Staples. I think there's enough extra room in the box to house those and hold onto the poorly designed sleeves that do at least have the track listings on them.Another thing that I found bothersome (rather than annoying) concerns the CDs and the CD sleeves themselves. The cover art is nice - Sony has gone back and used the original LP art in most cases. But the CD labels themselves are half-assed. Sony has copied the DG "Originals" look by making the CD labels look like old LPs, complete with an old LP-style label. Unfortunately, CDs have only one playing side, whereas LPs had two playing sides. DG realizes this and prints the contents of BOTH sides of the old LP on their CD labels so you know what's on the WHOLE CD. Sony/BMG, however, prints only the info that was on Side A of the LP! That means that you have no listing on the CD for what was on the B Side of the LP. Not a big deal IF the CD holds a single piece, like the "Emperor Concerto," but quite a problem if the CD holds an LP of multiple works by multiple composers.As relayed in the accompanying book, this was a VERY conscious decision on Sony's part. The decision was made to include all of the track listing info in the hardcover book, rather than on the CDs or CD sleeves themselves. I can understand this decision, especially as the book is a model of its kind, including all kinds of info - matrix numbers, recording dates, etc - that add a great dimension to the book and to the set itself. There's more info here than has ever been made available on these recordings, and that's to be appreciated. But one can quibble with Sony's decision to list only the Side A contents of each LP on the CD label, rather than updating them to the CD-era standard, because these are - after all - CDS, and NOT LPs. Just because you decided to design the CDs to look like LPs doesn't mean you have to follow LP conventions, does it? At the end of the day, you'll need to reference the book to see the track listing for each CD. Not horrible, but a bit bothersome, as I said.The above caveats are noted because it wouldn't have cost Sony an extra dime to make the set look attractive (ie: NOT pink) or to use packaging for the multi-CD sets that made sense to the end user. The decision to include complete track listings only in the book is something I can live with as the book is so wonderful.I've spent my time knocking the packaging, because the music and the recordings themselves are pure gold. I've just listened to the stereo version of the Chopin Nocturnes and the sound is *incredible.* It sounds almost as if Rubinstein is in the room with you. And there's no distortion on the top end as there was in the brown "Complete Chopin" box RCA issued back in the early 90s! It's also nice to finally have many of Rubinstein's concerto recordings with Boston/Leinsdorf in refurbished sound, though they provide confirmation (once again!) that the recorded sound in Rubinstein's earlier "Living Stereo" recordings was more open and more realistic than these recordings made during the "Dynawarp" era.I must admit that it is nice to have all of those original LP covers adorning each CD. What a trip down memory lane! I find myself conjuring up mental images of the first time I encountered these recordings on LP back in my high school and college days (particularly the Beethoven Concerti with Leinsdorf, which I owned in an LP box set that I played to death).Even with the above caveats noted, this set is highly recommended, especially at the $107 I spent to acquire the set in December, 2013.

Searched for this for my father-in law.. He plays the piano, used to teach piano, has read Arthur Rubinstein's two books (and lost them, so they have recently been replaced by copies bought via amazon). I came across this collection while finding copies of the books. He had an old VHS tape with Rubinstein playing, and was interested in this collection when I mentioned it had the Israel concert DVD, the documentary DVD, hard bound book, and of course the ultimate collection of his recordings.After reading reviews I was careful to have the collection sent to me so I could check the quality and completeness before giving it to him. I checked every disc to ensure there was no double ups or missing disc's. As far as I could tell, every disc is properly labelled and numbered. No discs missing. Package looks great. CD jackets are hard to read (get a magnifying glass like my father in-law) but the printing and images are stunning, so are the CD's themselves - all looking like vinyl records. The Hard bound book looks and feels good quality. I watched both DVD's to ensure they worked here in Australia. Sound and vision is fine, concert playing is great and the documentary interesting. I randomly played half a dozen discs in a portable CD player...they all worked... would have sounded better in a player with a graphic equaliser...but were still worthy of listening to. I played the same discs through my home entertainment system....turned the volume up... sounds fantastic..I personally was very impressed.. the quality and what you get for the price is mind blowing... I can not imagine buying a Beatles, Pink Floyd or Fleetwood Mac box collection with every album and single recorded remastered, enhanced, old tracks, B-sides, every major concert recording, previously unreleased tracks, plus a concert DVD, documentary DVD, plus a quality hardbound book.. for anywhere near the cost of this collection. This collection is fantastic value for money!My father in-law took one look at the box when I gave it to him and he said "WOW!.. This really is something special.. this is a collector item..." and is wondering "...who would appreciate it the most..." meaning who should inherit it. He is keeping the Collections box in the shipping box...so as to keep it...in collector condition. He loves the quality of the book, I left him happily planning when to watch the DVDs and start listening to the CDs. He has a portable CD player and a DVD player to listen to the discs with. I told him when I delivered the collection to him.. that he might want to go out and buy a better player...

It seems to me that of the remaining big classical labels, Sony/BMG, Warner/EMI and Universal, Sony/BMG offers the greatest bang for the buck. I started by listening to Perahia's first Beethoven Sonata recording (#4 and 11). This was never released on CD until now. The CD sounds a lot better than the LP from what I remember. The sforzando passages are not clangorous as I remember from the LP. In addition to the 68 CDs, there are 5 DVDs and I watched the DVD of Mozart's 21st and 27th piano concerti with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. The insights Perahia shares with Sir Denis Forman are very interesting indeed. I ended my first day with this set by listening to Chopin's B minor piano sonata and the Schumann Symphonic Etudes. You can't beat Perahia with Schumann, Chopin, Brahms, Beethoven and Mozart. The last CD Perahia has recorded (Brahms Handel Variations) is also included and that is self-recommending! I am very lucky that Murray Perahia is performing during my time. I think he can be regarded with the same adulation I accord Annie Fisher and Clara Haskil!

This Goliath of a set was released by Sony back in 2012 and it represents the monumental piano output recorded by Rubinstein in the studio for His Master's Voice between 1928 and 1940 and for RCA Victor between 1940 and 1976. Its vital stats? 142 cds mastered and produced in glorious sound with the original sleeve reproduction whenever possible+ 2 dvds housed in a very strong beautifully designed box . Also included is a magnificent book giving key facts about his life in three different languages as well as exhaustive details of all the recordings found here. It has to be the most comprehensive cd box set ever compiled for any solo artist and it certainly dwarfs all the other box sets in my cd library!One may marvel at the extraordinarily prolific recorded legacy Rubinstein left us. The reasons for such a plethora of recordings are down to two factors: firstly his exceptional musical longevity ,secondly the fact that Rubinstein unlike many other artists ( Clifford Curzon's name springs to mind here) loved making records . He used to say: "I absolutely love it as it gives me a feeling of perpetuation" but by the same token,he did not like listening to his old recordings because "new ideas,new tempi rendered the previous interpretations obsolete" ( quoted from his conversation on cd 139).Rubinstein's name will for ever be associated with Chopin in the same way as Schnabel's with Beethoven, Gould's with JS Bach and Haskil's with WA Mozart. It would be no exaggeration to say that ahead of his time,he created a specific but not necessarily idiosyncratic style of playing for this composer . His style was based on a strict adherence to the score,an apparent simplicity and emotional directness devoid of any artificial sentimentality, a style which no doubt influenced generations of pianists to the present day. For example, his account of the F minor concerto and the waltz in C sharp minor on cd 2 gives ample evidence of this modern style of playing with no excessive use of rubato ,no gimmicks , which gives that sense of timelessness and eternity to the music. Something that only the very greatest artists such as Lipatti, Haskil or Callas manage to convey. Amazingly, the 1928 recording faithfully reproduces his tone and depth of playing with hardly any distortion of any kind, resulting in that respect in a sound which is as good as the recordings he made in the 60's. However,if a large portion of his recorded output is dedicated to Chopin's music, one should not overlook the huge breadth of his repertoire which ranged from Bach to modern composers such as Prokofiev. Oddly enough though,he never played any Bartok music. When singling out the very best of all these recordings, a special mention ought to be made of his reading of the Brahms solo works and concertos which are simply in a class of their own. In particular, his rendering of the second piano concerto with Albert Coates conducting is one of the most electrifying ever committed on record.Also,his interpretations of Albeniz, Granados and De Falla are as Spanish and as colourful as one could wish for,comparing more than favourably with the likes of De Larrocha's or Del Puyo's.Furthermore, Rubinstein was an exceptional chamber music player. Back in 1949 he teamed up with Piatigorsky and Heifetz to form what was to be nicknamed by the press, the Million Dollar Trio, the perfect American ploy to the celebrated Casals ,Thibault and Cortot formation from the other side of the Atlantic. We are very lucky indeed to have in this box set the mythical recordings that this legendary musical team left to posterity. After all these years, their reading of the Ravel, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky trios still remain unsurpassed in terms of sheer artistry, technical perfection, depth of understanding and total musical symbioses( see cds 29 and 30).Rubinstein also teamed up with other legendary artists such as Henryk Szeryng ( cds 79 and 80) and members of of the Guarneri Quartet ( cds 107, 108 and 109) to produce benchmark recordings which still have to be bettered.Faced with such prodigious perfect recordings , one may wonder whether the box set hides any weaknesses. Well, there is no such thing as absolute perfection. For instance,compared to the very best, his 1963 Appassionata, his 1965 Liszt sonata, his 3rd Brahms sonata accounts will sound somehow slightly below par, but this is a very minor quibble compared to the consistently exhalted high level of music making and artistry on offer in the whole box set.Another aspect of his playing which might call for a critical appraisal is how he evolved artistically and technically over the years. Although there is no denying that Rubinstein's artistic insight and technical ability remained intact until he died, his style of playing did change somehow over the years.From being spontaneous, liberated in a virtuoso manner and technically assured to the point of taking great risks when the music demanded it, in the later years there was a tendency on his part to sound more cautious and more deliberately calculated. Some might say he was more searching, a bit like Brendel in his later years if you will.So,how do you like your Rubinstein?Spontaneous or searching ? Well, it will depend on how discriminating listeners and dedicated music lovers will view the music.There is however,something in his playing which never changed and remained a constant feature throughout his whole career. He always played from the heart and with great humanity,always giving his public an insight into his experience of life and music. These traits give a kind of unity,coherence and consistency to the whole box set.The famous 1961 Carnegie Hall recitals, the memorable 1963 Nimègue recital currently available from the French review Diapason, the mythical 1964 Moscow recital as well as the moving benefit recital for Israel bear witness to the enduring aspects of his playing which never disappeared over time.Incidentally, these concerts are in the same league as Horowitz's Carnegie Hall concerts and Moscow recital. Both pianists had that special magnetism and both had the same ability to communicate and share with their public what they loved best: Music, except that Horowitz seemed to hypnotise his public as it were to force it to listen to him playing whilst Rubinstein gently coaxed his public into sharing his music making with him.Inevitably, the two giants of the keyboard are bound to be put under scrutiny here for comparison. Who was the greater pianist? Horowitz or Rubinstein? the latter seems to have given part of the answer when he was once famously quoted as saying that Horowitz was the better pianist but he himself was the better artist! The rest of the answer will lie with the various opinions emanating from the community of music lovers.I for one love them both but if hard pressed I would choose Artur over Vladimir for sheer musical enjoyment and enrichment. I greatly admire Horowitz but I am deeply moved by Rubinstein.Looking now at material and practical considerations , if you are remotely interested in acquiring this truly exceptional box set, I would urge you to do so asap whilst it can still be obtained for a reasonable price if you shop around. I bought my own set for £170 + £ 1.26 for p&p. It will command stratospheric prices before long. So ,do not shilly shally , get it now!

Comme dans toute intégrale, on y trouvera bien entendu de l'exceptionnel et du moins bon, des doublons et ... des ratages. Mais il est fascinant de suivre chronologiquement le parcours de cet artiste, depuis ses premiers 78 tours, où il manque pas mal de notes, mais pas cet enthousiasme communicatif qui restera sa marque, les premiers microsillons du début des années 50, où il affiche une technique remarquable (j'assume, et que celui qui n'a jamais fait une fausse note lui jette la première pierre ...) et les enregistrements plus tardifs, aux tempi plus mesurés, d'expression plus contemplative, parfois plus distante.Mais, depuis le début, on retrouve cette sonorité de bronze, homogène, jamais brutale, et surtout ce sens du cantabile et de la respiration de chaque phrase musicale. Quel pianiste a-t-il jamais aussi bien chanté avec son instrument ?Au sommet des réussites, je mettrais toute la musique de chambre, surtout avec les Guarneri (les Brahms !). La célébrité (méritée) de ses interprétations de Chopin, qu'il a eu le mérite de débarrasser de tout mièvrerie sentimentale, a peut être occulté les mérites de ses Brahms (Concerto 1 avec Reiner et 2 avec Krips, Ballades op.10, sonate 3) Schumann (Carnaval, Fantasiestücke op.12) Beethoven (Concertos avec Krips, sonates 14,21,23,26) Rachmaninov (Concerto 2 et Variations Paganini avec Reiner) ...Au niveau des déceptions, les Préludes de Chopin (Prise de son épouvantable !) et surtout ... le peu de musique du XXème siècle !Il connaissait pourtant tout le piano de Szymanowski, mais n'enregistre que 4 Mazurkas et la Symphonie Concertante, qui lui avait été dédiée, comme plusieurs autres oeuvres (Rude Poema de Villa Lobos, Fantasia Bética de Falla, Piano Rag Music de Stravinsky...) également absentes. A propos de Stravinsky, on retrouve un enregistrement public à Carnegie Hall de Petrouchka (qui lui avait aussi été dédié) dans le coffret: le premier mouvement est catastrophique ...(les octaves !) mais ça s'arrange par la suite. Dommage aussi qu'on ne dispose pas de tout Iberia. Avec le prestige qu'il avait acquis, il aurait pu imposer toutes ces pièces ... Pour être objectif, on rappellera qu'au début de sa carrière (avant la première guerre mondiale !) il se faisait siffler quand il interprétait Ravel ou Debussy (des "contemporains", dont il nous a laissé quelques beaux témoignages). Bien plus tard, il regrettait de ne pas avoir pris le temps de travailler les sonates de Prokofiev.Sur le plan technique, il faut signaler que la plupart des enregistrements de ce coffret ont bénéficié d'un remastering, très réussi, comme le coffret lui-même, assorti d'un luxueux livret trilingue.Alors, "Pianiste en Technicolor" ? "Roi des fausses notes" ? Oublions l'aspect public du personnage, et laissons nous porter par ses interprétations, sincères, évidentes, chantantes, émouvantes...

...für diesen Spottpreis einen solchen Klavierschatz erstehen zu können. Die editorisch sehr sorgfältige Edition inklusive DVDs und sehenswertem Begleitbuch (allein das Foto, auf dem Rubinstein Richters Hände hält, wäre die Anschaffung wert)ist mit unter einem Euro pro Tonträger eigentlich viel zu billig. Es ist eine Reise durch Rubinsteins Leben, die Entwicklung der Aufnahmetechnik und last but not least durch die Musik- und Interpretationsgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Vor allem die frühen Mono-Aufnahmen sind technisch sehr gut restauriert worden und absolut hörenswert. Gerade die Chopin- und Brahms-Aufnahmen sind spannend zu vergleichen mit den späteren Aufnahmen, natürlich finden sich auch viele Virtuosenstücke, die damals den Zeitgeschmack besonders gut trafen, und heute kaum mehr gespielt werden- und insofern ebenfalls wichtige Dokumente sind. Besonders spannend sind natürlich auch die Aufnahmen, die Rubinstein als sehr einfühlsamen Kammermusikpartner zeigen, etwa mit Heifetz ,Feuermann oder Piatigorsky, auch im Schumann Quintett mit dem Paganini-Quartett fungiert Rubinstein als ausgezeichnter Team-Player.Auch die beiden Aufnahmen der B-Dur-Sonate D 960 von Schubert, die nur im Abstand von vier Jahren entstanden, machen den Hörvergleich zwingend.Bei der schieren Menge an Material macht ein chronologisches Hören durchaus Sinn. Da die CDs oft meist das Programm der entsprechenden Original-LP enthalten (und deren charmante Originalcover), schaffe ich es meist morgens oder in der Mittagspause eine CD zu hören. Dabei wird einem bewusst, wie dramaturgisch und hörphysiologisch sinnvoll die kürzere Spielzeit einer LP gegenüber einer CD war- wann hört man schon einmal ununterbrochen und konzentriert 80 Minuten am Stück durch !? Insgesamt eine ganz dicke Empfehlung, um mit einem der bedeutendsten und begabtesten Pianisten des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts eine lange und sehr bereichernde Klangreise durch dessen Gesamtschaffen zu unternehmen.

Nell'epoca dei Cloud e della musica "liquida", dove le due alternative sembrano essere la mancanza totale dell'oggetto (mp3, etc) e il ritorno al feticcio del vinile, iniziative come questa mantengono in vita, in modo originale, la forma "intermedia" del CD. La raccolta, che ripropone in CD tutti gli album di Rubinstein in ordine cronologico, con riproduzione della copertina e delle note degli LP originali, è innanzitutto "bella" visivamente, e indispensabile per un collezionista che, pur avendo sentito e risentito queste incisioni nelle varie riedizioni precedenti, voglia ripercorrere la carriera di Rubinstein in una prospettiva storica. Mentre con il jazz e il pop siamo abituati a ragionare secondo la logica dell'"album", con la musica classica tendiamo sempre all'accumulo: tutto-Chopin-Rubinstein, tutto-Bach-Gould, tutto-Bruckner-Karajan, e così via, ignorando che anche qui, originariamente, si procede per "dischi", e che ogni uscita ha la sua storia e il suo ruolo nella vicenda dell'artista, e nel suo modo di incidere sulla cultura del tempo. Con questa presentazione, ad esempio, possiamo apprezzare come le (giustamente) amatissime incisioni degli Scherzi e delle Ballate di Chopin fatte da Rubinstein nel 1959 non siano, come si pensava, parte di un fantomatico "ciclo" in stereo, ma costituiscano piuttosto un interessante momento di passaggio tra la vivacità delle incisioni mono degli anni '50 e la rivelatoria riflessività di quelle stereo degli anni '60. Allo stesso modo, possiamo rivalutare, storicamente, alcune delle prove meno interessanti del Rubinstein maturo, come il disco con la Wanderer di Schubert e la Sonata di Liszt, che prima d'ora si segnalavano unicamente per la loro convenzionalità in un panorama discografico ricco di valide alternative, mentre ora - considerando come "opera" il disco originale - riscoprono una logica interpretativa magari non del tutto condivisibile, ma sicuramente legittima. E possiamo poi apprezzare, isolati dall'accumulo di brani delle precedenti edizioni, autentici gioielli (nella scelta del programma e nella coerenza delle interpretazioni) come il disco "The Brahms I Love", autentico testamento intimo del Rubinstein interprete di Brahms.A tutto ciò si aggiunga la presenza, in coda alla collezione, di una serie di incisioni inedite tratte dalla celebre maratona di concerti per beneficenza tenuti alla Carnegie Hall nel 1961; accanto a nuove scoperte nel repertorio di Rubinstein (Petroushka di Stravinsky, L'Isle joyeuse di Debussy e altro), sono proposti brani già presenti in discografia, che ci permettono di comprendere la differenza tra il Rubinstein più misurato delle incisioni in studio e il magnifico kamikaze (con tanto di stecche anche clamorose, ma incapaci di inficiare l'emozionante bellezza del "tutto") delle performance dal vivo. Credo che l'applauso liberatorio alla fine della zoppicante ma eccitante esecuzione di Petroushka sia il miglior commento a una raccolta che mi sento di consigliare a due categorie di persone fortunate: quelle che hanno la fortuna di scoprire Rubinstein per la prima volta, e quelle che hanno la fortuna di averlo conosciuto per tutta la vita.