Artur Rubinstein bol poľský klavirista, ktorý je považovaný za jedného z najväčších klavírnych virtuózov 20. storočia. Medzinárodné uznanie si získal svojimi interpretáciami diel Frédérica Chopina a Johannesa Brahmsa a svojou podporou španielskej hudby. Jeho technická zdatnosť a hlboké porozumenie hudbe mu umožnili sprostredkovať poslucháčom plný emocionálny rozsah skladieb. Rubinsteinov odkaz žije ďalej v jeho nahrávkach, ktoré inšpirujú súčasné aj budúce generácie hudobníkov a poslucháčov.
Interesantně napsané vzpomínky jedno z největších novodobých pianistů, který proslul nejen svým virtuózním uměním, ale i "bohatýrským" životem, v němž nechyběla četná milostná dobrodružství a nevázané pijatiky, končící nočním flámem. Tato kniha mapuje počáteční fázi jeho života, kterou končí rokem 1916.
Rubinstein's memoir is the continuation of his first earlier work which dealt with his childhood and early adult years. This work covers the year 1917 to 1980. It opens with an account of his South American tour, then goes on to tell of his brief time in New York. It then gives much space to his years in Paris in the 1920's and 1930's. It goes on to tell of his meeting his future wife Nela, their feeling the Gestapo in France and settling in Hollywood. As in Paris Rubinstein rapidly establishes himself as desired social figure and mingles with the social elite.Above all of course Rubinstein is a great master pianist. And he has much to say about the way an artist must use the gift which he has been given. This is a rich work and one most highly recommended.
The personal recollections of the piano virtuoso provide a record of his life and creative development from his childhood days in Poland to the years of the First World War.