Michael Rabin - The Unpublished Recordings 1947 - 1971
3CD set
CD1 - Total running time 76.06 (1947 - 1949 MONO)
1-4. Edouard Lalo - Symphonie espagnole, Op.21
5-8. Nicolo Paganini - 24 Caprices, Op.1 Nos 11, 17, 24 & 5
9. Camille Saint-Saens - Introduction and Rhondo Capriccioso, Op.28
10. Fritz Kreisler - Schon Rosmarin
11. Heinrich Schalit - Serenade after a Jewish folk song.
12. Johannes Brahms - violin concerto in D Op.77 - (excerpt)
13-15. Johann Sebastian Bach - Partita no.2 in D minor, BWV.1004-I, II & IV
16. William Kroll - Banjo & Fiddle
17. Nicolo Paganini - 24 Caprices, Op.1 - No.5 in A minor
CD2 - Total Running time 63.57 (1961 - 1964 STEREO / *MONO)
1. Antonin Dvorak - Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op.72, No. 2
2. Fritz Kreisler - Tambourin Chinois, Op.3
3. Claude Debussey - Preludes, Bk.1 -No.8 La fille aux cheveux de lin
4. William Kroll - Banjo & fiddle
5. Pablo Sarasate - Introduction and Tarantelle, Op.43
6. Manuel de Falla - La vida breve - Spanish Dance No.1
7. Robert Schumann - Waldszenen, Op.82 - No.7, Vogel als Prophet
8. Fritz Kreisler - La Chasse
9. Fryderyk Chopin - Nocturne in E flat, Op.9, No.2
10. Henryk Wienawski - Polonaise No. 1 in D, Op.4
11-14. John Alden Carpenter - Violin sonata*
CD3 - Total Running time 69.46 (1970 - 1971 STEREO)
1-3. Johannes Brahms - Violin concerto in D, Op.77
4-7. Max Bruch - Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46
8. Max Bruch - Presentation
Michael Rabin: The first, last and hidden recordings. The release of these recordings in 2011 coincides with the 75th anniversary of Michael Rabin's birth. His musical voice may have been quiet the past forty years, but to violin aficionados his star still shines brightly, his virtuosity and unique sound as electrifying today as they were when he first began performing as the next, great wunderkind.
Rabin's discography is small, reflecting not only his premature death at the age of 35 years, but also the fact that for the last decade of his life, he never had a recording contract.
All of which adds to the importance of this recently discovered trove of recordings. For here we have Rabin as never heard before, across his lifespan, from the earliest extant recording when he was 11 years of age, through his golden middle period as captured in a Capitol-EMI studio recording with Brooks Smith (a recording that was never released commercially), to one of his final live performances in 1971, the year before he died. The span of these recordings, bookends to a remarkable life and career, therefore gives the listener an unique opportunity to revisit not only the beauty of his playing, but also to follow his transition from boy wonder revelling in high speed pyrotechnics, to the mature artist bringing depth and due gravitas to the concerto masterpieces of Brahms and Bruch. The journey, no less than the playing, is deeply moving for we, the listeners, know what ending is in store for the artist.
Extract from the booklet note - Anthony Feinstein, 2012.
