"Today Rubinstein is best remembered as the ideal Chopin interpreter. He recorded much of the composer’s output several times over, first for EMI in the 1930s, in recordings many still treasure for their spontaneity and verve. For RCA, his monophonic Chopin recordings from the 1940s and their stereo remakes remain the standards by which other pianists are judged. And yet despite that identification with Chopin, Rubinstein always claimed Brahms was his favorite composer, and his golden-toned RCA recordings of the Op. 5 Sonata, the Ballades, and selected samples of Brahms’ autumnal late works retain their primacy, as do his Brahms recordings in partnership with chamber groups and outstanding soloists like Heifetz and Henryk Szeryng."
