Piano Concerto No. 4 (Rubinstein)
The Piano Concerto No. 4 in D minor, Op. 70, by Anton Rubinstein is a Romantic concerto that was once highly esteemed and was in the repertoire of the Russian and Polish piano virtuosos Sergei Rachmaninoff and Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
Anton Rubinstein, himself a renowned pianist, left five numbered piano concertos. (He wrote three earlier piano concertos; two were lost and the third was transformed into Octet, Op. 9.) Rubinstein composed the Fourth Concerto in 1864. He published two revisions of it and then a final revision in 1872. He dedicated the concerto to the violinist Ferdinand David.
The concerto is in the traditional three movements:
- The first movement, marked Moderato assai, is in sonata form and has a solo piano cadenza inserted at the end.
- The second movement, marked Andante, is quintessentially romantic with lush lyrical melodies surrounding an agitated middle section.
- The third movement, marked Allegro, is dance-like and reminiscent of a cracovienne (Krakowiak), a dance from the region of Krakow. The concerto concludes with a fiery coda.
Read more about Piano Concerto No. 4 (Rubinstein): Selected Discography, Source
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