Anton Rubinstein's sacred opera Moses Op112

[Gareth Vaughan]

I want to like Rubinstein - and there are plenty of his compositions (and parts of his compositions) that I like very much. I enjoy "The Demon" and I just wonder if his other non-sacred stage works contain anything like the inspiration found in the best pages of that opera. But Tchaikovsky did not think highly of "Nero", alas. Apparently, after playing through the score, he wrote in his diary: "It infuriates me [...] The reason I play this loathsome thing is the consciousness of my own superiority - and that keeps up my strength. You think you are writing abominably, but then you look at this drivel which people have performed in all seriousness, and your soul feels lighter." Poor Rubinstein...

[Alan Howe]

Moses, like most of Rubinstein's larger-scale works contains impressive passages, but long stretches of meandering or huffing and puffing. I want to like his music too, but for me he's among the most disappointing of oft-touted great forgotten composers. Having started CD3, I'm off to check the paint on my back door again...

[adriano]

My copy will arrive next week, but I am prepared not to receive a major Rubinstein. Just wonder what will be of "Christus", if this will ever be recorded. Can we therefore still consider "Daemon" as his best vocal piece?

[kolaboy]

Love that old quote from the R. Allen Lott book (From Paris to Peoria) about Rubinstein "As a composer he was the world's greatest pianist, and as a pianist he was the world's greatest composer..."

[Alan Howe]

I just think he had an inflated view of his ability - especially when he composed at length. And Moses is loooong.

[gene schiller]

I haven't received my shipment yet, so I decided to 'treat' myself with the snippets available from prestoclassical.  It doesn't sound boring to me, but then, I like Rubinstein. As for the length, I got through all 24 pieces of "Kammeniy-Ostrov" in one sitting, so I don't find three hours of "Moses" at all intimidating.
Tchaikovsky made some snippy comments about "Neron" but the ballet music, as well as the various excerpts recorded by Caruso and Hvorostovsky, tell a different story.                              Best regards,     Gene Schiller

[Alan Howe]

I found the snippets intriguing too. But that's precisely the point: perhaps if Rubinstein had 'snipped' a large chunk of his material, he might have ended up with a better piece. Or not: because the material's not interesting enough in the first place. IMHO, of course.

Sorry, but to be blunt: the ability to 'get through' a piece in one sitting may say more about the listener's capacity to endure than Rubinstein's capacity to compose...

[adriano]

 

[Alan Howe]

My own favourite unsung, Felix Draeseke, also committed the crime of over-ambitious gigantism in composing his Christus. Now I think Draeseke was a fine composer who achieved genuine greatness in certain of his compositions, but in all honesty Christus, like Rubinstein's Moses, is a monumental bore. And at 4 hours 54 mins there's even more to get through...

[adriano]

You are perfectly right, Alan - I once had that Draeseke 5CD set and listened to it once. Then a friend, who absolutely wanted to have this in his collection, inherited it from me :-)

[Alan Howe]

If only the Draeseke had received a performance of the quality of Moses; but it probably wouldn't have made much difference.

[adriano]

@Alan: Sacheverell Sitwell's opinion of Rubinstein (in his 1934 biography of Liszt): "A fountain of bad music"...
Some biographical details, just coming to my mind, regarding Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein - besides the more famous ones.
1: Tchaikovsky, in a letter to Mme von Meck (after she had engaged Debussy as a private "holiday" pianist and piano teacher - to join her, her family and her entourage to travel in Switzerland and Italy),  thanks her for a photo of "Mr. Bussy" and finds that his hands and face (!) are similar to Anton Rubinstein's. He also expresses his hopes that one day the young Frenchman will become as famous as Rubinstein...
2: There is a duet in Tchaikosky's "Yolanta", whose theme is borrowed from a song in the Italian style by Rubinstein.
3: In Tchaikovsky's home in Klin (if I remember well; I was there in 1995), there is a big Beethoven portrait hanging on the same wall just under a bigger one of Rubinstein... Perhaps he placed them near to eachother to show face similarities.

[Alan Howe]

Interesting - thanks.

A thought: is Rubinstein's best music to be found among his chamber compositions?

[adriano]

Last night I just re-listened (after many years!) to Rubinstein's "Ocean" Symphony - and really enjoyed it. An excellent work, it could stand alongside with every single Raff and Bruch Symphony. And 72 minutes of TT should not diminish this work's qualities!
Would have nothing against re-recording it myself (Utopia Unlimited), but this old Marco Polo version is excellent; they used the Slovak Philharmonic, the country's best ensemble.

[Alan Howe]

I've always thought that expanding his Symphony No.2 from four to seven movements was a mistake on Rubinstein's part, but I'm going to give Gunzenhauser's recording another listen...