Search - Felix [1] Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, Artur Rubinstein :: Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 24

Performances with Individual and Collective Personality

Hank Drake | Cleveland, OH United States | 04/22/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Volume 24 of RCA's complete Arthur Rubinstein Collection features the pianist in collaboration with violinist Jascha Heifetz and cellists Emanual Feuermann and Gregor Piatigorsky.



With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, many of Europe's finest musicians took refuge in the United States. Rubinstein settled in Southern California, where he remained until the 1950s. The pianist came into frequent contact with fellow Californian Jascha Heifetz, where both were persuaded by RCA to return to the recording studio and build on the success of their earlier collaboration, the Franck Violin Sonata, recorded in 1937 (Volume 7).



Rubinstein disliked Heifetz, and his distaste for the violinist's domineering personality (which clashed with Rubinstein's own need to be the center of attention) grew with the passage of time. All the more surprising then, that they managed to obtain excellent results.



The Mendelssohn Trio was recorded in 1941, in collaboration with Emanuel Feuermann. The performance is more boldly expressive and intense than is usually heard today, and played on a larger dynamic scale. One of the tricks with performing chamber music is the expression of the individual personalities of the players, while still achieving unanimity of interpretation. Rubinstein, Heifetz, and Feuermann meet and surpass this goal superbly. One never forgets the fact that these are three top rate instrumentalists playing - particularly with Heifetz - but they never unduly overshadow each other.



Feuermann died in 1942. Russian cellist Gregor Piatigorsky signed on, and the three became known as the Millian Dollar Trio, a name which amused Heifetz and disgusted Rubinstein. Many of the same attributes heard in the Mendelssohn are also present here. Heifetz is a bit more dominant in this performance, and is accorded the closest microphone balance. Still, this performance is far superior to Rubinstein's 1972 stereo remake with violinist Henryk Szeryng and cellist Pierre Fournier (Volume 72). Tempos are brisker here, with the first movement being played as a true Allegro con brio. In the Scherzo, Heifetz phrases the stacatto passages in a manner which gives the piece more character than in the later version, lthough it seems at times that Rubinstein is scrambling just to keep up.



The mono sound is fine here, although there are the inevitable balance problems (Heifetz is rumored to have manuvered himself closer and closer to the microphone when recording). Surface noise has been refuced without excessive filtering. However, there is an annoying pitch change during the first movement of the Mendelssohn."

In Front of the Greatests, Even Rubinstein was Dwarfed

BLee | HK | 03/05/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Heifetz was not an easy going man, as could be seen from the immaculate perfection he demanded of himself. All the great violinists of his time, including Jan, Kreisler, Elman, Milstein... all were suffering from the so-called "Heifetz disease". Consciously or unconsciously, Heifetz might have displayed some disapproval of Rubinstein. But on that score, Heifetz was not alone: Moriz Rosenthal as well as Ignaz Friedman, two of the top 5 or 6 pianists of the century, took the same stance and the latter two was even more open...and there came a time when Rubinstein himself was so troubled of his own deficiency that he undertook a seclusion tying himself to the piano for months before going before the public again. Among the trio, Feuermenn was rare in the sense that Heifetz "liked" him, calling him "his fireman". Naturally, Heifetz recognised him -- well, Toscanini saw him as the greatest cellist and Casals saw him as the greatest artist of the century! That Feuermenn was a better and more worthy partner is undoubted.In any event, when we listen to Rubinstein, we need to take a different standard than the modern one-- one aiming at precise rendition of the notes like Horowitz (or even Serkin ) somehthing which is not exactly his strength. However, his playing and his music is natural and very easy to listen to. In any event, Paderewski also sounded more or less like Rubinstein ( or even Horszowski ) and like Rubinstein, he was also hailed as the most popular pianist of his time. But whether he was up the the standard of the other two or whether the three mixed well is a different matter."

My 2¢

G. Engler | The Frigid Northeast | 06/29/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I am not fond of the recordings made by The Million Dollar Trio. Rubinstein hated the name, probably for the same reasons I dislike the performances - the musicians are an unnatural match made in Hollywood heaven.



Let me admit right off the bat that I am a Rubinstein admirer, though I am not a Heifitz admirer. Another reviewer questions "whether (Rubinstein) was up the the standard of the other two or whether the three mixed well is a different matter." The fact is he was, and they didn't. When Rubinstein played his humanity shone through. The playing may not have been perfect, but the musicianship most oftentimes was. In the case of Heifitz, the playing was perfect, but the humanity was lost. Sorry - but I listen to Heifitz, and all I see is that stony countenance scrunched into the violin. It's joyless, technically perfect playing.



Hank Drake - amazon's premier Rubinstein reviewer - has written that the Mendellsohn "performance is more boldly expressive and intense then is usually heard today, and played on a larger dynamic scale." I agree. To the point where it sounds rushed and loses some of its charm.



Drake goes on to suggest that the Brahms performance here is far superior to Rubinstein 1972 performance with Szeryng and Fournier. Here I must respectfully disagree. In sheer musical terms - musicanship and tempi - I agree with him wholeheartedly. But I must say that I find the later performance to have more heart. True, it is not a young man's Brahms, in fact it sounds elegiac in character. But the warmth that is communicated transcends any of the quibles one may have regarding the slight flaws in musicianship. The performance of the Brahms Trios are characterized by the warmth of the musicians' friendship, camaraderie, and heart - all of which are the essence of chamber music played on an "ad hoc" basis, whether in someones home or in the recording studio. I recommend this latter disc highly! Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 72



Million Dollar Trio? Feh! I'll give them to you wholesale......"