Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein (14 June [O.S. 2 June] 1835 – 23 March [O.S. 11 March] 1881) was a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. He was the younger brother of Anton Rubinstein and a close friend of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Born to Jewish parents in Moscow, where his father had just opened a small factory, Rubinstein showed talent at the keyboard early on. He studied piano first with his mother, and while the family was in Berlin betwe...
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Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein (14 June [O.S. 2 June] 1835 – 23 March [O.S. 11 March] 1881) was a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. He was the younger brother of Anton Rubinstein and a close friend of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Born to Jewish parents in Moscow, where his father had just opened a small factory, Rubinstein showed talent at the keyboard early on. He studied piano first with his mother, and while the family was in Berlin between 1844 and 1846, he studied piano with Theodor Kullak and harmony and counterpoint with Siegfried Dehn; during this time both he and his brother Anton attracted the interest and support of Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer. When the family returned to Moscow, Nikolai studied with Alexander Villoing, who also toured with him. He studied medicine to avoid army conscription, graduating from Moscow University in 1855.
Despite obscure social origins, Rubinstein was welcomed in all the fashionable artistocratic houses in Moscow. He founded the Moscow...
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