In Memoriam Peared on Television
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: oo : | — : STEREO S-6019 og aint-S aens: Introduction and Rondo capriccioso « Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen - Dyitete s(aliaes Hora staccato ° Kreisler: Caprice viennois & he O d Refrain - Massenet: Meditation from “Thais”: Paganini-Kreisler: Moto perpetuo - Rimsky-Korsakov: The Flight of the Bumblebee oe The greatest violin talent that has come to my attention during the past two or three decades. George Szell Mendelssohn-Achron “On Wings of Michael play the Paganini Violin Con- Massenet: Méditation from “Thais” S-60199 Song” and the 17th Caprice by Paga- certo No. 1 in D cried: “We have an- (Band 3, 5:11) STEREO MICHAEL RABIN nini. Thereafter, he was a frequent other Paganini!” Yet with all his fame Massenet’s opera “Thais” was premiéred at the guest on the broadcast and also ap- and notoriety, Michael Rabin re- Paris Opéra on March 16, 1894. Adapted from the novel by Anatole France, the opera tells the In Memoriam peared on television. mained an unassuming and likeable story of the violent conflict in the soul of the When Michael made his official con- young virtuoso, mature in his art, and monk Athanaél, who has fallen in love with the (May 2, 1936-January 19, 1972) cert debut in a Carnegie Hall recital, as Mitropoulos had already observed famous courtesan of Alexandria, Thais. This November 24, 1950, Dmitri Mitropou- “completely devoted to his mission?’ Meditation, actually the second-act intermezzo, Hollywood Bowl is played here as originally scored, for solo vio- Symphony Orchestra los, then conductor of the New York In 1958, Michael Rabin made his first lin and orchestra. Philharmonic, said of him: “‘He is recording for Capitol Records. Pro- Felix Slatkin cond. really the genius violinist of tomorrow, ducer Richard C. Jones, who had Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen (Band 4, 9:15) “Hear Rabin and know the gods have equipped with all that is necessary to known Michael and his family for In Rabin’s interpretation of “Zigeunerweisen” not forgotten the violin ... His isa be a great artist and to give great thrills many years, recalled recently that prodigious talent, inborn and (“Gypsy Airs”), all the excitement of Pablo instinctive, and age has nothing to do to the musical world. He is a blessed working with the young violinist had Sarasate’s tribute to Hungarian gypsy music with such talent, except in the time boy and already completely devoted to always been a pleasant experience, par- has been captured. The piece bristles with dif- it allows for expansion and his mission:’ Mitropoulos’ faith in ticularly the recording of this program ficult passages and every technical possibility is exploited, yet the excitement is perfectly bal- development. Rabin is essentially what Rabin was well founded, for in subse- of violin favorites with Felix Slatkin he always will be, and that is the anced by the beautiful Hungarian folk song: mark of the artist. It is the indefinable quent performances over the next few and the Hollywood Bowl Symphony “Csak Egy Kis Lany? years with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded in a phenomen- stamp of individual quality... .” SIDE ‘I'wo CLAUDIA CAssipY, CHICAGO TRIBUNE as well as with the great orchestras of ally congenial atmosphere (Slatkin and (17:55) Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia, Chi- “A remarkable purity and beauty of most of the orchestral players were Paganini-Kreisler: Moto perpetuo, tone, supported by a splendid technique cago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and friends of the Rabin family and fol- Op. 11 that embraces impeccable intonation’ many others, in the United States, lowed Michael’s career closely), and in (Band 1, 3:12) ‘THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN South America and Europe, Michael three sessions at the Goldwyn Studios Paganint’s brilliant and potentially dangerous “A genius of the violin’? Rabin was always the incandescent so- in Hollywood. Mr. Jones remarked on “Moto perpetuo,; edited by Kreisler, took its inspiration from the English Industrial Revo- IL PAESE, ROME loist, the devoted and complete artist. the easy rapport that existed between At the age of 16, Michael logged soloist, conductor and orchestra. ‘‘Mi- lution, when the promise of perpetual motion “An extraordinary violinist ...he has — and all its utopian potentials — had capti- already taken the step into the 31,000 miles in a concert tour of Aus- chael would play a few bars and Felix vated the minds of scientists and artists international master class of violinists’ tralia, sponsored by the Australian would bring the orchestra in. Within a throughout Europe. Fortunately for the violin- MORGEN- TIDNINGEN, STOCKHOLM Broadcasting Commission. And al- very brief time, a take would be or- ist, the music has a beginning and an ending, dered. Almost every piece was recorded unlike tts mechanical ideal. “When he starts to play you quit though more familiar with the concert thinking about his age ... The essential and recital platform, Michael easily in one or two takes, perhaps three, but Kreisler: The Old Refrain point is that he has a genuine, adapted himself to the challenges of the never more than that. Michael was (Band 2, 3:50) innate feeling for creating music, and Hollywood sound stage when he re- such a fine artist, seasoned and mature In Kreisler’s adaptation of an old Austrian folk what he says with his instrument corded the sound track for the violin — he made it so easy:’ Carson ‘Taylor, song, all the violinist’s sensitivity to the sweet speaks to the audience clearly and they sounds produced by his instrument conjures like it. So do music critics?’ music in the 1954 MGM film “Rhap- chief engineer of the sessions, recalled up a melody of profound beauty. NORMAN HOvukK, sody”’ in which Vittorio Gassman that Michael maintained a high stan- Rimsky-Korsahov-Heifetz: The Flight MINNEAPOLIS MORNING TRIBUNE played a violin virtuoso and Elizabeth dard of excellence throughout the re- of the Bumblebee ‘Taylor provided the romantic interest. cording sessions that was greatly ad- (Band 3, 1:09) The off-stage playing of Rabin and of mired. “Particularly memorable;’ said Such were the rave notices that ac- “The Flight of the Bumblebee” from Rimsky- pianist Claudio Arrau, whose film Mr. ‘Iaylor, “was Michael’s playing of Korsakov’s opera “Tsar Saltan” has become claimed Michael Rabin an interna- counterpart was actor John Ericson, the ‘Moto perpetuo’ which, believe it enormously popular as a showpiece for almost tional celebrity before his twenty-first was a delight for the music lovers. Ra- or not, was one take. Michael retained every instrument and orchestral ensemble. birthday and qualified him ‘as a violin bin played selections from Beethoven that difficult, driving tempo through- Jascha Heifetz’ arrangement, requiring a vir- tuoso control of spicatto bowing, keeps the bow virtuoso in the grand tradition of Gla- out the entire work and at the end, the to Brahms, to Mendelssohn, Sarasate, airborne for virtually half the time of per- zunov, Paganini, Wieniawski and, Debussy, Saint-Saéns and Paganini. orchestra — everybody — stood up and formance. more recently, Kreisler and Heifetz. During the 1954-55 concert season, cheered! It was absolutely thrilling!’’ Saint-Saéns: Introduction and Rondo Born in New York on May 2, 1936, Michael Rabin’s first tour of Europe As the listener will discover, Michael Rabin came by his musical heritage capriccioso was a series of unprecedented triumphs. Rabin’s interpretations of these favor- (Band 4, 9:29) naturally: his father, George, was a vio- He visited Norway, Sweden and Den- ite short pieces, played on his vintage The scheme of Saint-Saéns’ “Introduction and linist with the New York Philharmonic mark, moved on to Italy for a series of Guarnerius del Gest violin, are out- Rondo capricctoso;’ composed in 1909, rests for three decades and his mother, 15 concerts in 18 days, then appeared pourings of brilliant artistry in which upon the rhythmic base of a Spanish dance, the Jeanne, taught piano for many years at in Belgium, Portugal, England and technique and genius combine to bring Aragonese jota. After a serious, poised pro- Juilliard. Michael literally ‘‘took to the logue, the composer spins out bravura music France. In London he appeared with the music fully to life. whose themes imply the quality of a protago- violin” at the age of seven when a fam- Sir Malcolm Sargent and the BBC Or- nist and an antagonist. The interplay accumu- ily friend presented the lad with a chestra in Royal Albert Hall and made lates a tension which mounts continuously, small-sized violin. After a few lessons, the first of several distinguished record- despite the rondo form. Each return displays George Rabin realized that he had a SIDE ONE new, increasingly difficult elaborations, which ings for EMI-Angel Records. While this are resolved by the dazzling coda. child prodigy on his hands and en- enterprise undoubtedly pleased him, he (20:56) gaged Ivan Galamian of the Juilliard was perhaps even more ecstatic when a Kreisler: Caprice viennots and Curtis faculties as the boy’s teacher. member of the Philharmonia Orches (Band 1, 4:31) When this program was first released By the time Michael was 13, he had tra invited him to play first violin in an Michael Rabin, who was often compared to in an album in January 1960, by Capi- won the Edgar Stillman Kelley Scholar- Fritz Kreisler, paid homage to the venerable evening of chamber music, and when master in “Caprice viennots; Kreisler’s ode to tol Records, it was entitled “The Magic ship of the National! Federation of Mu- Rabin arrived he found that the second his native city. Kreisler, who enriched both the Bow.’ It was then, and is now, an ap- sic Clubs and had not only appeared fiddle in the quartet had been taken by literature of the violin and the manner of play- propriate title, inspired by a biography with the National Orchestral Associa- David Oistrakh.