Biography
Anton Rubinstein is a famous pianist, a conductor and composer, became famous in Russian culture as the founder of the St. Petersburg Conservatory and the teacher of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The virtuoso execution of the series of 7 piano concerts at the end of the XIX century earned worldwide recognition and introduced listeners with a centuries-old music history. The talent of the writer manifested itself in hundreds of works, among which the opera "Demon" was most popular, the ballet "Vine" and the oratorious "Sullaif."Childhood and youth
The biography of Anton Grigorievich Rubinstein began on November 28, 1829 in the small Transnistrian village, the library of the Baltsky County of the Podolsk province. Parents, Jews by nationality, came from the Right Bank of Ukraine and Prussian Silesia. In 1833, all members of the Name Rubinstein headed by Father Grigory Romanovich and Mother Kalery Christophorec adopted Orthodoxy and got the right to move to Moscow and open their own business.
In addition to Anton, the family had other children who became famous in different fields of science and culture. The older brother of the future pianist Yakov became a doctor, and the sisters love and Sofia gained the fame of the music teacher and chamber singer. Nikolai Rubinstein's younger child dedicated life to art and after his brother in 1866 founded the second Russian conservatory in Moscow and worked there until the death.
Having arranged life in a spacious house on Ordyanka, his father took up the affairs on a pencil-pin factory, and on the shoulders of the mother there was care for the upbringing and education of offspring. Being a good pianist, she taught Anton to play the instrument and prepared for admission to the class of the famous teacher Alexander Ivanovich Villawan.
7-year-old Rubinstein demonstrated outstanding abilities, and since 1839 the teacher has allowed him to speak publicly. A year later, the tagged with concerts went to Europe and visited the English Queen of Victoria and the Great Composers of Ferenz Leaf and Frederic Chopin.
In 1844, Anton returned to Russia for a short time, and then, accompanied by Mother and Brother Nikolai, went to Berlin to study the music from the famous foreign teachers of Theodore Kullaka and Siegfried Dena and raise dating in a European cultural environment.
In the second year of stay in Germany, the family received news about the death of Gregory Rubinstein. Kalery Christoforovna with Nikolai left for Moscow to organize the funeral, and Anton went to the Austrian capital to improve the performing skills of the piano.
However, independent life did not fall to taste a young man, and private lessons did not bring profits. For these reasons in 1849, the musician returned to his homeland and thanks to the patronage of the wife of the Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich Donkey in St. Petersburg and took up teaching and creative career.
Music
In the Russian cultural society Rubinstein immediately noticed. The talent of the pianist was estimated during regular speeches to the imperial family and representatives of noble names. Such success allowed a mature musician to get acquainted with the famous Russian colleagues, among whom were members of the mug "Mighty hand" Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka and Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky, as well as glorified performers Matvey Yuryevich Vilygorsky and Karl Bagdanovich Schubert.
Under their influence, Rubinstein made his debut in the role of the conductor and in 1852 introduced the public "Dmitry Donskoy", which became the first major work of his own essay. The short opera "Siberian hunters", "revenge" and "fomka-fool", in which the novice composer used the topics and melodies of the peoples of Russia, giving tribute to the fashionable musical trends of our time.
In the mid-1850s, Anton Grigorievich attempted the foundation in the capital of a specialized academy, but, not having support, surrendered and left this idea to better times.
The works of the composer turned out to be unclaimed, and no Russian theater was taken for their production. As a result, Rubinstein went abroad and with the help of an old familiar Fens Leaf presented the one-act opera "Siberian hunters" with the public. In addition, the musician gave a solo piano concert in the German city of Leipzig, after whom he was successful in a long tour of Europe.
Tours, labored for 4 years, made Anton Grigorievich by world celebrity and awakened thirst for further work. Being on the rise, Pianist persuaded the Great Princess Elena Pavlovna to allocate funds for the creation of a Russian music society, which began regular speeches of the Symphony Orchestra under the control of Rubinstein.
The next step of the musician and the conductor was the organization of musical training classes, where the gifted young people could hone the skills of performing arts. When the number of students increased by the autumn of 1861, the first Russian conservatory was opened in St. Petersburg, and Anton Grigorievich began to fulfill the duties of the director, conductor and instructor tools and piano.
The creative elite led by representatives of the "mighty bunch" did not immediately adopted the idea of creating an academic music institution. Only in 1871, after one of the first students of Rubinstein became Tchaikovsky, Composer Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov agreed to join the professorship.
At the courtyard, the conservatory also caused negative opinions, and after the conflict with the ruling surname, the director was forced to resign. True, in 1887, Anton Grigorievich returned and led the next few years to the educational institution. It is during this period that the famous Russian artist Ilya Repin painted a portrait depicting a conductor for his beloved occupation.
During teaching Rubinstein wanted to teach students to be true artists who are constantly seeking to excellence. In order to develop their own skills, the pianist continued to concert and comprise songs, romances, symphonies and other works. In the early 1970s, the composer composed Opera "Demon", based on the work of Mikhail Yurevich Lermontov, and then 3 years waited for the decision of the Mariinsky Theater about the formulation.
Immediately after the premiere, a lyrical drama with heartfelt melodies left the public and critics indifferent, but after the death of the author, when the famous Fedor Chaliapin sang the main game, the opera became famous and for several seasons collected alloclands in different countries.
Other successful creations of the composer became the Symphony "Ocean", the Oratoria "Christ" and "Sullamife" and the historical operas "Nero", "Maccavea" and "Framors". The rest of the works could not exceed the glory of the creator, who did not stop to please the public with a piano game for a minute.
In 1872-1873, the musician in the company Skripacha Gerhritis Venophsky gave 215 concerts in North America for 8 months, and after 10 years, he was triumphantly in all European capitals. A cycle consisting of 8 performances in each city entered the history of music and is still considered an unsurpassed record of that time.
The last time the public saw a pianist at a charitable event in St. Petersburg shortly before death, in 1893.
Personal life
About the personal life of Anton Rubinstein is known quite a bit. The main facts are connected with Peterhof, where the pianist with the young wife of faith Alexandrovna Chikuanova first appeared in 1866.In the future, the family in which three children appeared, acquired a house in this picturesque town near St. Petersburg and was located in a wooden building with a tower, a terrace and a fruit garden.
Rubinstein's office was on the 2nd floor and was equipped according to its modest taste. There were a black piano, a sofa and shelf with notes, and on the walls hung photos of his wife and children: Jacob, Anna and Alexander. It was there that the composer composed a melody "Distribution of Cycad" and other works filled with the sounds of nature.
The hospitable hostess Vera Aleksandrovna surrounded her husband comfort and did not let me be bored, inviting members of the cultural society of Russia. In the country of Rubinsteins, the Moscow head of S. M. Tretyakov, artist E. K. Lipgart, musician K. Yu. Davydov and the poet Ya Polyonsky.
Death
In 1893, Rubinstein lost the younger son of Yakov Antonovich, who died at the 20th age. The loss, aggravated by a serious cold, picked up on tour in Dresden, mans the health of the pianist.
Returning to the country in May 1894, Anton Grigorievich plunged into the work and finally "finished" the exhausted organism. Doctors and relatives asked him to change the lifestyle and pay the time to rest, but the musician did not listen to anyone.
As a result, by the end of the autumn, Ruberstein was constantly in an extensive state and began to suffer from insomnia and pain in his left hand. On the evening of November 19, the pianist spent behind the cards in the company of friends and loved ones, and at night he had difficulty breathing, barely allowed to live before the arrival of doctors.
The rubbing and supply of oxygen did not save the Great Musician, and the cause of his death on November 20, 1894 was an acute heart attack.
During the week, the coffin with the body of Rubinstein was standing in the hall of the Peterhofovaya dacha, and then he was transported to the Trinity Cathedral of the capital and after the funeral buried the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Work
- 1849-1850 - Dmitry Donskoy
- 1850 - Concerto for Piano with Orchestra No. 1 minor
- 1851 - Symphony No. 2 to Major "Ocean"
- 1852 - "Siberian Hunters"
- 1857 - Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2 Salt Major
- 1861 - "Mermaid" (Cantata for solo, female choir and orchestra)
- 1862 - "Fera Master"
- 1869 - Symphonic poem "Ivan Grozny"
- 1871 - "Demon"
- 1875-1876 - "Nero"
- 1880 - "Kalashnikov merchant"
- 1884 - "Parrot"
- 1888 - "Gorusha"