Heritage Michael Rabin - The Early Years - Paganini, Et Al
Sony Masterworks
CD
$11.98Jun 29, 1999
The musical world lost one of its greatest virtuosos when violinist Michael Rabin died at the age of 36 in 1972. Rabin initially studied the violin with his father, a violinist with the New York Philharmonic. Young Michael moved on to intense study with legendary violinist Ivan Galamian and made his public debut at the age of 10. By the time he was 13 he had made his Carnegie Hall debut and he'd caught the attention of the famous conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos. Mitropoulos called him 'the genius violinist of tomorrow already equipped with all that is necessary to be a great artist.' This disc is another entry in the Masterworks Heritage series and features recordings Rabin made in the 1950s. The centerpiece of the recording is Rabin's astounding interpretation of the Op. 1 Caprices of Nicolò Paganini. Rabin's technique is stunning and features furious double stopping and rapid-fire runs. Equally breathtaking are his performances of music by Dvorak, Wieniawski, Kreisler and Bizet. The recording, like other Masterworks Heritage discs, includes photos of the artist and the original artwork from the 1950s LPs.
This recording is another one of those gimmick" discs that Tacet is constantly throwing our way, with the end result being some seriously good listening for everyone. The concept here has the violinist, Saschko Gawriloff, playing seven different violins, of different vintages, in a kind of "show-down." All seven violins are used to play the Sarabande movement from Bach's Partita No. 2 in D, and then several of the individual violins are used for a variety of pieces including works from Veracini, Kreisler, Dvorak, Paganini and Webern. It's much more than just an exercise, hearing the seven instruments back-to-back playing Bach, and really interesting how very different they all do sound, indeed! The remaining tracks are all accompanied by Kira Ratner on piano, and all tracks are recorded using vintage tube microphones. The sound quality is uniformly superb, regardless of which layer you choose to listen to, though the SACD tracks get my nod for best overall sound. As with the Bach disc above, the multichannel layer uses the surround channels for additional ambience, which does help provide an improved perception of image depth. The supplied booklet has numerous photos, along with a brief history of each violin's maker. So which of the seven violins is the big winner? That's hard to say ? they all have their own uniquely impressive musical qualities ? but I don't think it's a coincidence that soloist Saschko Gawriloff chose three of the Cremona violins for use in three of the five additional works found on the disc. Whether the Guarneri, Stradivari or Amati was in use, each sang with a beauty and purity of tone that was just unmatched by the rest of the competition. Maybe there was something in the water, or the soil that the trees grew in that provided the wood for these incredible instruments ? whatever, nothing in modern times comes even close. Highly recommended." Tom Gibbs Total playing time: 52'40
