Editing Nikolai Rubinstein (section)

==Pianism==
Nikolai Rubinstein was generally regarded as one of the greatest pianists of his time, although now his reputation is overshadowed by that of his brother Anton. His pianistic style was quite at odds with that of his fiery brother. He instead opted for a restrained classicism more in line with the musical values of [[Clara Schumann]] than [[Franz Liszt]]. [[Edward Garden]] writes in the ''New Grove'' (2001), "His performances emphasized salient details of the structure of a piece and revealed great clarity of detail."<ref name="garden21850">Garden, ''New Grove (2001)'', 21:850.</ref>

According to [[Harold C. Schonberg]], Anton Rubinstein is reported to have said that "if Nikolai had really worked on it, he could have been the better pianist of the two."<ref name="schonberg279">Schonberg, 279.</ref> One of Nikolai's pupils, [[Emil von Sauer]], wrote a comparison of the two brothers' playing styles in 1895:

<blockquote>It is difficult to say which was the better pianist. In every way as different as the brothers were in personal appearance—the one dark, almost to blackness; the other very fair — so different was their playing. The playing of Nicholas was more like that of [[Carl Tausig|Tausig]], only warmer and more impulsive. Perhaps Anton Rubinstein was the more inspired player of the two, but he was unequal. Nicholas never varied; his playing both in private and in public was always the same, and he kept up the same standard of excellence.<ref>As quoted in Schonberg, 279.</ref></blockquote>