Arthur Rubinstein
Mazurkas, and Final Thoughts on Rubinstein’s Original Jacket Collection
By Daniel Felsenfeld
Like any artist, Chopin had many sides—the accomplished fantasist of the nocturnes, the grandstander of the concertos, the wheezing pessimist (and long-range composer) of the Preludes, the rangy classicist of the sonatas, the droll wit of the impromptus and baccaroles, the macho and maudlin technician of the etudes and fantasies, and the chamber [...]
Facing The Night
By Daniel Felsenfeld
I cannot agree more with Alan Rich, who, in his liner notes to Rubinstein’s rcording of Chopin’s Nocturnes (dutifully and tantalizingly reprinted as part of one of these Original Jacket Collections I’ve been so in love with), calls this sequence of remarkable music “…strange and wonderful music.” As a chronic insomniac myself, I [...]
Chopin’s Preludes, from Arthur Rubinstein Original Jacket Collection
By Daniel Felsenfeld
The jacket notes for Arthur Rubinstein’s recording of the Chopin Preludes commence “Although the collected works of Frederic Chopin do not bulk large in physical size, it is doubtful if any other composer left behind him music of such consistently high standards.” In other words, it is indeed quality not quantity that [...]