Rubinstein was born in the Polish city of Łódź on January 28, 1887 and took his first piano lessons there.
He went to Berlin at the age of 10 to continue his musical education. He settled abroad early in his life, and developed a spectacular concert career.
During his career, he recorded more than 200 LPs.
A Polish patriot, Rubinstein lobbied for the Polish cause during the signing ceremony of the Charter of the United Nations in San Francisco on June 26, 1945.
As the Polish government-in-exile, which signed the 1942 Declaration of the United Nations, was not recognized by the Soviet Union, and Western politicians did not want to harm relations with Josef Stalin, there were no Polish delegates present, nor even was the Polish flag displayed in the hall.
Rubinstein, who was asked to grace the ceremony with his performance, stopped playing after a few bars and, to the surprise of many, addressed the audience with the following words: "In this hall where the great nations gather to make a better world, I miss the flag of Poland, for which this cruel war was fought.”
Then he asked everyone to stand up and played the Polish national anthem.
When he finished, the public gave him a long ovation.
According to historical accounts, the Soviet delegation appeared to be furious to have been forced to stand up during this outburst of applause for Poland.
Rubinstein made his first visit to Poland in 1958. In 1975, he performed in Łódź during events marking the 60th anniversary of the city’s Philharmonic Orchestra.
Music critics and fans remember that concert as a major event. Rubinstein, who was 88 years old at the time, performed two concertos, Chopin’s Concerto in F Minor and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, followed by Chopin’s Polonaise in A-Flat Major as an encore.
His last visit to his native town was in 1979, three years before his death, in Geneva, at the age of 92.
![Pianist Arthur Rubinstein in concert in 1962. Photo: Rossem, Wim van / Anefo [CC BY-SA 3.0 nl (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nl/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons](//static.prsa.pl/images/d913a11b-ed0a-4a47-b84e-a0bbddc4c434.jpg)
Pianist Arthur Rubinstein in concert in 1962. Photo: Rossem, Wim van / Anefo [CC BY-SA 3.0 nl (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nl/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
In a recent ranking of the 20 greatest pianists in the era of recorded sound, compiled by the BBC Music Magazine, Rubinstein finished runner-up.
The British monthly wrote: “If there was an award for the pianist who came closest to the artistic ideal in the widest repertoire, it would almost certainly go to Rubinstein.”
It added that Rubinstein "is most celebrated for his Chopin, whose aristocratic poise and elegance found a perfect match in Rubinstein’s own interpretative genius.”
(mk/gs)