Theme and Variations, for piano in G major, Op. 88
Akrostichon No. 2, pieces (5) for piano, Op. 114
The Naxos label's recordings of music by Anton Rubinstein fit in with its more general effort to revive late Romantic music that fell out of favor thanks to people who believed dogmatically in progress, or in nationalism, for Rubinstein was the most Western-oriented of Russian composers of the period, and some musicians have never forgiven him for it. Hard as it may seem to believe for a composer once so well loved, both the pieces included receive their premiere recordings here. The major one is the Theme and Variations, ...
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The Naxos label's recordings of music by Anton Rubinstein fit in with its more general effort to revive late Romantic music that fell out of favor thanks to people who believed dogmatically in progress, or in nationalism, for Rubinstein was the most Western-oriented of Russian composers of the period, and some musicians have never forgiven him for it. Hard as it may seem to believe for a composer once so well loved, both the pieces included receive their premiere recordings here. The major one is the Theme and Variations, Op. 88, composed in 1871. Both Liszt and Busoni (who may indeed have been influenced by it) admired this work, and it is hard to understand how pianists could have let it fall into disuse. Although most of the variations are of a fairly conventional sort, the structure of the work is innovative. There are two large variations, the eighth (track 9) and the concluding twelfth (track 13), where the virtuosity that has been bubbling under the surface of the more straightforward variations...
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