Rubinstein’s Demon

Anton Rubinstein, the celebrated Russian composer, pianist-virtuoso, conductor, educator and in general one of the key figures in the culture of Russia, composed an avalanche of music masterpieces that are widely performed at the world music stage up to now. Among them, the 20 great operas, some of which are well-known today but not so recognized when written. One of them, as surprising as it may seem, is The Demon, premiered in 1871. When the composition was ready Rubinstein gathered the so-called The Five that consisted of Mussorgsky, Cui, Stasov, Rimsky-Korsakov for a private listening. But the critics gave it a very low assessment. Moreover, about 100 opera performances were also evaluated quite unfavorably being called old-fashioned. The music West didn’t accept it at all, so the opera was not a rarity only in Russia. Now The Demon is regarded differently, it may even be considered Rubinstein’s most popular opera. In such a way, it took this wonderful work based on Lermontov’s poem much more than a dozen years to become deservedly acknowledged.