Rubinstein Chamber Music

[Alan Howe]

Recommendations, please!
Which of A. Rubinstein's chamber compositions would friends say are his best?
(Recommended recordings would be a help too!)

[Kriton]

I love the viola sonata and can recommend the recording on Disques Pierre Verany - although the other recording I have isn't bad, either. Furthermore, his quintet for piano & winds is really catchy - it doesn't plunge any great depths, but is well worth listening to. Of this work you might want get the Orfeo recording, while I don't think the old Dynamic CD is still available.

On the Orfeo CD, you will find his octet for piano, string & winds as well. It's more serious Rubinstein, like his later piano quintet and the cello sonatas. Speaking of which, perhaps someone in the room can tell us something about last year's Hyperion recording of these sonatas? In any case, you'll find fine recordings on Etcetera, Praga, Zig Zag Territoires and, again, Dynamic. Try and go for the latter, if it's still in print!

Avoid: the only recording of one of his piano trios I have on Melodyia (horrible recording) and the string quartets on Etcetera (downright boring - perhaps because there's no piano participating?).

[eschiss1]

I've midified a movement from his last string quartet and another from his string quintet but may be the only person in the old Raff forum who liked them (which is tangential anyhow- sorry.) The Etcetera recording of the cello sonatas is quite good. If you compare it with the IMSLP-available score of one of the sonatas you'll find a different edition with different movement headings, incidentally.  I forget if that is also the case with the (of course nla, but also enjoyable) recording of one of the Rubinstein sonatas that was on a Genesis LP coupled with Gernsheim's 1st cello sonata.
Eric

[john_boyer]

Duos:  All the duo sonatas are worth a shot.  The violin sonatas were done by the same team for Nuova Era (1+2) and Tizano (3).  The sound is very dry, but realistic.  The best of the viola sonata recordings was coupled with Brahms on Calliope.  Of the several cello recordings, I've heard good things about the new Hyperion.  The Dynamic is good, too.  The Etcetera suffers from a feeble cello.

Trios: So far only trios 1-3 have been recorded.  All are worth hearing.   #1 is coupled with 3 on a Russian Disc recording that is a strain to listen to (all the instruments are miked point-blank), but it's your only bet for #1.  Trio di Torino have done 2 and 3 for Real Sound on  two separate discs, coupled with the Smetana and the Taneyev.  Very good sound for both.  There is a Melodiya disc of #3 along with the Op. 11 cello pieces.  Of the three recordings of #3, this is by far the best.   A very vivid and exciting performance that illustrates why Von Bulow was so fond of it.

String Quartets:  So far only 1+2 have made it to disc, on Etcetera.  If you like Mendelssohn,  you'll find these charming.  And enterprising quartet has posted performances of three of the four movements of the 3rd quartet on YouTube.  It makes you wish for a commercial recording,

Piano Quintets:  Of the several recordings of Op. 55, only the Orfeo is complete.  All the others take substantial cuts in the finale.  It's your best bet, but they damage the final reprise of the theme in the slow movement by taking it too fast.  A better performance of that movement (and better horn playing) can be found on the old Vox LP.  This quintet is full of charm and pleasant surprises.  It ranks among his more sure footed works.

There is only one recording of the Op. 99.  It's not one of his best, being rather episodic (like the 4th Symphony).  Also, the composer is at a loss  as to what to do with this quartet.  They play in unison or octaves for page after page, or he pairs them such that 1st violin doubles the viola and the 2nd violin doubles the cello.  50 minutes of this is a bit much, but the work has many beautiful moments.  It's on the Eda Abseits label.

[Mark Thomas]

The Quintet for Piano & Winds is an absolute stunner. Full of perky life. The Piano Quintet is totally dominated by the piano (wasn't the material originally for a concerto?). If you don't mind that it's an enjoyable work, if not his best. Like much of Rubinstein it's rather loosely written, but the melody carries you along. Like Kriton I find the String Quartets recorded on Etcetera (Nos.1 and 2 of seven altogether) very dry stuff, despite them being early works. All three Piano Trios are mellifluously lovely - the Russian Trio play Nos.1 & 3 on a Russian Disc CD. I have a download of the Trio di Torino playing No.2 - I don't know the original label. The Violin Sonatas (three of them played by Lazari & Gibellato on a pair of Italian labels) are a mixed bag. I can't remember without listening to them, but one of them is a stand out - attractively dramatic and meltingly lyrical. The Viola Sonata is a lovely work, appropriately dark hued and not too dominated by the piano. I too have the Russian Disc recordings of the Cello Sonatas Nos.1 & 2, but can't remember a note of them.

[Kriton]

The Piano Quintet is totally dominated by the piano (wasn't the material originally for a concerto?).

I think I read this about his piano octet - and we might very well both be right...

[eschiss1]

The Quintet for Piano & Winds is an absolute stunner. Full of perky life. The Piano Quintet is totally dominated by the piano (wasn't the material originally for a concerto?). If you don't mind that it's an enjoyable work, if not his best. Like much of Rubinstein it's rather loosely written, but the melody carries you along. Like Kriton I find the String Quartets recorded on Etcetera (Nos.1 and 2 of seven altogether) very dry stuff, despite them being early works. All three Piano Trios are mellifluously lovely - the Russian Trio play Nos.1 & 3 on a Russian Disc CD. I have a download of the Trio di Torino playing No.2 - I don't know the original label. The Violin Sonatas (three of them played by Lazari & Gibellato on a pair of Italian labels) are a mixed bag. I can't remember without listening to them, but one of them is a stand out - attractively dramatic and meltingly lyrical. The Viola Sonata is a lovely work, appropriately dark hued and not too dominated by the piano. I too have the Russian Disc recordings of the Cello Sonatas Nos.1 & 2, but can't remember a note of them.

I believe the work whose material was originally for a concerto is the octet.
(There are 10 quartets. 7?)
Eric

[Alan Howe]

Thank you, one and all, for such a cornucopia of information and recommendations!

[Mark Thomas]

I bow to Kriton and Eric for correcting my memory on the Octet/Piano Quintet and to Eric for putting me right on the number of String Quartets. I shall now crawl away into a corner and weep, quietly...

[giles.enders]

I can confirm that it is the octet that was originally written as a piano concerto in C in 1849.  This was Rubinstein's third attempt at a piano concerto, the manuscripts of all three early attempts seem to have dissapeared.

[Jonathan]

I read recently that there is a complete recording of the piano trios played the Edlian Trio which will be released on the Metronome label, it is billed as a world premier recording...
As to where to get it from, I found no trace at my usual sources but I can't say that i have looked exhaustively for it!

[eschiss1]

hrm. recordings I can find out about easily of Rubinstein trios so far:

*nos. 1 op.15/1 in G minor and 3 (much-loved in its day I seem to recall) in B-flat op52, on Russian Disc, played by the Romantic Trio (released 1995)
*no.3 and some various pieces, on Melodiya (1990/3?) (Marat Bisengaliev; Yuri Semenov; Eleonora Teplukhina)
*no. 3 with Taneyev's trio in D op.22 (Trio di Torino, on RealSound, 2002.)

Might be others. But it does seem that the Metronome recording will probably be a premiere recording of trios 2, 4 and 5...
Eric

[Mark Thomas]

Piano Trio No.2 op.15/2 is played by Trio di Torino on a RealSound CD, coupled with the Smetana Piano Trio op.15. It's downloadable via iTunes.

[john_boyer]

I read recently that there is a complete recording of the piano trios played the Edlian Trio which will be released on the Metronome label, it is billed as a world premier recording...
As to where to get it from, I found no trace at my usual sources but I can't say that i have looked exhaustively for it!

Jonathan,

Where did you read this?  The Edlian has already released their recording of #2 (which makes two recordings so far).  I wrote to them in 2005.  They said that they hoped to record the other four by the end of that year.  Nothing ever materialized, so I recently wrote them again to see if the project had ever gotten off the ground.  I received no reply, so I decided to let it go at that.  In any case, there is nothing at the Edlian or Metronome sites that even hint at this.

Leslie Howard has performed (but not recorded) the Piano Quartet in C, Op. 66.  I wonder if he could ever be persuaded to put it in the can?

[Jonathan]

Hi John,
It's actually on the outside back cover of my girlfriends August/September edition of "Pianist" along with an advert for 2 Cds of works by Richard Rodney Bennett.

As I said, I've had no joy in locating the CD yet either!

I'd really like to hear Leslie Howard in more Rubinstein but at the moment I would assume he's busy preparing for another addendum to the Hyperion Liszt edition which is due to be released to coincide with Liszt's 200th birthday next year.  For those who are interested, two of the works which hopefully will be on that disc are an early version of Scherzo and March (entitled Wilde Jagd) and another Fantasy on Spanish themes (both published in the Liszt society journal from last year).