Friday Historical: Rubinstein meets an old friend...

A real "look what turned up on Youtube" moment: this wonderful footage, from 1966, shows Arthur Rubinstein visiting the Steinway factory in Hamburg to test out his favourite piano after it has been repaired. He plays extracts of Szymanowski, some Chopin Etudes and Ballades, Ravel Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, and the Schubert B flat Sonata, among other things. The swathes of fascinating interview material include a story about the manuscript of the Chopin Fantasie-Impromptu, which he found inside the album of the Baroness d'Este after buying it at an auction - Rubinstein was a passionate collector...

The film, about 27 mins long, is in German, but if you want subtitles you can find them by clicking the 'cc' box in the video box's bottom menu bar.