Editing Nikolai Rubinstein (section)

==Life==
Born to [[Russian Jews|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 Rubinstein|Anton]] attracted the interest and support of [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]] and [[Giacomo Meyerbeer|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.<ref name="garden21850"/>
 
[[File:Rubinstein N & A Postcard-1910.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Brothers Rubinstein: Nikolai (''left'') and [[Anton Rubinstein|Anton]], 1862]]
As a result of his playing, Rubinstein was welcomed in all the fashionable artistocratic houses in Moscow. He co-founded the Moscow branch of the [[Russian Musical Society]] in 1859 and the [[Moscow Conservatory]] in 1866 with [[Nikolai Petrovitch Troubetzkoy|Prince Nikolai Petrovitch Troubetzkoy]], serving as director of the latter until his death in 1881. He hired [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]], then newly graduated from the [[Saint Petersburg Conservatory]], to teach harmony at Moscow Conservatory. He actively encouraged Tchaikovsky's creative efforts and performed his compositions. Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky had a well-known falling-out over the latter's [[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)|First Piano Concerto]], but Rubinstein later revised his position and became an ardent champion of the work. Rubinstein conducted the premiere of Tchaikovsky's opera ''[[Eugene Onegin (opera)|Eugene Onegin]]'' in 1879.  Tchaikovsky wrote his [[Piano Trio (Tchaikovsky)|Piano Trio in A minor]] in Rubinstein's memory after he died from [[tuberculosis]]<ref>[http://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Nikolay_Rubinstein Nikolay Rubinstein]. Tchaikovsky Research</ref> in [[Paris]].<ref name="garden21850"/>

Rubinstein also conducted and performed music of the nationalistic music group "[[The Five (composers)|The Five]]" to a much greater degree than his brother. In 1869, when the group's leader, [[Mily Balakirev]], was forced to resign as conductor of the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Musical Society, Rubinstein gave Balakirev his support,<ref name="garden21850"/> playing at concerts of the Free Music School as Balakirev's guest.<ref>Maes, 45.</ref> He also gave the first performance of Balakirev's piano work ''[[Islamey: an Oriental Fantasy|Islamey]]'', the work for which he is best known today.<ref name="garden21850"/>