Musician Immigrants

Welcome to the fourth piece in our Musician Immigrant series, a developing collection of articles talking about those who left their homelands to experience a culture outside their own, making musical contributions that serve to enrich and inspire us.

Spotlight on Arthur Rubinstein

We are running out of time, since there are only a few weeks left in this year, or decade, or century or millennium, depending on how important you think all this counting is, to honor those who so richly deserve to have their contributions rejoiced. I want to use this opportunity to talk about an incredible artist, a great man, a notable immigrant, and the virtue (among several), which he so clearly stood for: that of romance.

A Polish refugee who made his golden mark in musical history worldwide, Rubinstein's unique approach to both his music and his instrument, the piano, is rooted in the previous century, the time when the term "romantic" experienced a new boom in popularity.

But let me make one thing clear: he wasn't a sentimental artist who indulged in the excesses of romanticism; on the contrary, he was well aware of the exaggerations often associated with that sentiment and tastefully left those aside in his playing. In order to avoid the romantic clichés, it is more accurate to say that he was a man full of life who loved to play music and to make audiences happy around the globe. His unconditional love of life is reflected in his unique warm tone and his ability to make a piece of music sound so natural. He and the piano were one; he was born to play. To some of us, these characteristics may sound universal to all musicians, but in a time where a brilliant technique often replaces the personal expression and statement of a musician, we cannot be reminded enough of the true human value of music, which lies in the communication between musician and listener. The technique is integral part of a musician's playing. If isolated, it becomes a demonstration of acquired skills and has no artistic value. Rubinstein's natural way of playing and his extroverted, but not egocentric energy could be compared to Mozart's natural and serene style of composing.

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