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Michael RabinViolinists: Opinions of Michael Rabin
From Carl Fulbrook
Maybe this should have gone on the 'most accomplished violinist' thread.Posted on February 2, 2005 at 07:22 AM There was an interesting article on Rabin in the Strad a year or two back. He was an utterly tragic figure who played the violin with ease. So many great or would-have-been-great musicians seem to die young - Neveu, Hassid, Kogan, Lipatti. The musical world had been deprived of a lot over the years. Carl. From Tom Holzman
I know there are a number of people out there who think Rabin was among the greatest, if not the greatest. Unfortunately, we will never know because of his untimely death. As the previous poster said, there are a number of musicians like that. I think the greatest loss was probably cellist Emanuel Feuermann who died tragically at age 39 and was thought by many to be the greatest ever. I think his loss may have been even greater than some of the violinists.
Posted on February 2, 2005 at 03:29 PM From Kevin Jang
Rabin had the intensity of Heifetz but also had the sensitivity of Perlman - it's almost as if Rabin was the moderate between the right and left wing.
Posted on February 2, 2005 at 03:28 PM From Kannan Mahadevan
The violinist I'd have loved to hear more of would have to be Josef Hassid. All the pieces he recorded are the best recordings of the those works, in my opinion. His tone, and especially his vibrato are unlike any other violinist I've ever heard.
Posted on February 2, 2005 at 04:36 PM From Amy F.
Carl, I wouldn't place Kogan on your list of might-have-beens. He had quite a good career, although perhaps he might have had a better one had he lived longer. He made many recordings, and those who listen to them tend to agree that he was one of the greats.
Posted on February 2, 2005 at 05:14 PM From David Lillis
Rabin was one of the greatest violinists, close to Heifetz' superlative playing. I think of him in the same bracket as Kogan and Yulian Sitkovetsky, because there are certain similarities in the playing of these three.Posted on February 2, 2005 at 06:39 PM In technique he was very close to Kogan, though Kogan did have a slight edge (in my opinion) as a Soviet-trained player, specialising in spectacular virtuosics. Rabin's playing was lush and sentimental, a perfect complement to Kogan's muscular playing. I understand that Heifetz respected Rabin's playing very much and that the young Rabin considered himself the best player in the world. My own assessment of the quality of violin playing of the greats is as follows (accepting that each had his particular strengths): 1. Heifetz From Carl Fulbrook
Amy,Posted on February 2, 2005 at 07:23 PM Very true. The list was not so much a 'might-have-beens' list as a 'a-shame-they-died-before-their-time' list - Ginette Neveu and Dinu Lipatti I would certainly rank as some of the greatest performing musicians of the last century, and I think both had realised their potential. While it's true Kogan did record a fair amount, some gaps in his recorded repertoire might have been filled had he lived longer (if only he had been persuaded to perform/record the Sibelius!). Carl. From Fernando Flores
My reason of starting this thread was to honor Michael Rabin. I feel that he sometimes too underated.
Posted on February 2, 2005 at 08:46 PM From Scott 68
rabin is my favorite violin player of all time, tied for first place with kogan and oistrakh
Posted on February 3, 2005 at 08:05 PM From Inge S
Must we waste our precious stars on ill considered demotions? Carl, you're remoted though not necessarily remote.
Posted on February 3, 2005 at 08:38 PM From Carl Fulbrook
"Carl, you're remoted though not necessarily remote."Posted on February 3, 2005 at 08:42 PM Huh? Carl. From Tom Holzman
Carl -- must be some Canadian expression.
Posted on February 3, 2005 at 08:48 PM From Stephen Brivati
Greetings,Posted on February 4, 2005 at 12:22 AM what else is there to say after making love in a kayak? Cheers, Buri From Thomas McEvilley
Kogan struggled hard for 20 years before achieving his level of mastery ( which some find a bit mechanical); Rabins'early teenage recordings are still high watermarks.
Posted on February 4, 2005 at 09:06 AM From Michael Waiblinger
Michael Rabin was blessed with the most natural technique (according to Jaime Laredo) and a hurricane of melancholic temperament (according to Nathan Milstein) and the last virtuoso violinist (according to Ruggiero Ricci), it was just the perfect synthesis of lush, tonal beauty, with the absolute most awesome technique ever recorded. No other violinists display Michael Rabin's ability to draw a listener into his performance. Almost everything is unique, very personal, and (expectedly) individual. Although Heifetz is generally regarded as the greatest violinist of the 20th century, Michael Rabin was fully equal to him in technical prowess and surpassed him in artistry. There are so many never published recordings that will prove one day these facts. Posted on February 4, 2005 at 06:34 PM MICHAEL RABIN - The 20th century's greatest violinists !!! From Michael Waiblinger
Isaac Stern spoke of Michael Rabin in May 1995 on France Musique.Posted on February 4, 2005 at 06:19 PM “Rabin to me was the greatest American talent in 50 years. Extraordinary control of the violin and a rare musical perception. George Szell considered him beyond compare as the greatest violin talent he had encountered in thirty years. I heard him [Rabin] two years after his debut. His stage presence was tremendous. We are greatly unaware of the circumstances of his death. This was a great loss because there were very few like him. He was much more precocious than I. His teacher Ivan Galamian taught him a lot about sound production, vibrato and bow technique. He had an absolutely perfect intonation; he played into the string with the bow but also with his [left-hand] fingers. I had ever heard such perfection since Heifetz. His playing was thrilling, not remote. He was very famous very young, no doubt too quickly pushed in his career by his parents or by his teachers. That is why he encountered personal problems. He was not happy, but one did not sense that in his playing.” From Michael Waiblinger
Important article to understand Michael Rabin from June 6, 1971 "The Rise, Fall and Rise of Rabin By BEATRICE BERG ":Posted on February 4, 2005 at 10:08 PM When he was 27, the cockiness was cone. He had a nervous breakdown. Now he is 35 and slimmed down, and I am asking him about the crackup that has been gossiped about in the music world since 1963. He says: "I was lucky I came out of it. It was really just dumb luck that I somehow knew how to find people to help me, to talk to. The first doctor I went to an analyst - was right for me. I found him through an old family friend who is a lawyer. I only stopped playing concerts for seven months. The first year of therapy is the most difficult, so I thought it would be wise to stop playing for half a season and see what would happen., Even during the 1963-64 season I had 21 concerts, By 1965-66 I was back to a full load of 50 or 60, and have been ever since. I can't understand how people got the impression that I didn't play for three or four years. I was never in a straitjacket. I never went crazy. I was never in a mental institution. Could you believe it, after eight years I still hear about out-of-town symphony managers who say they've heard I was sick for such a long time that they want to wait a little longer before I play with their orchestras to be sure I'm okay? How long do you have to go on playing for not feeling well?" For a while he gazed silently at the Hudson River and New Jersey through the wall-to-wall windows of his studio apartment in the vast complex of buildings west or Lincoln Center. Then like started to talk again about grappling with the emotional and musical problems of his post-prodigy days. "It was a difficult and sad time. I call it my Blue Period." He now seems to be in his Rose Period. "I'm functioning better than ever. I feel today that as a musician and as a person I'm starting another period of growth. I'm getting the kind of kick out of music that I never did before. I want to go on stage and try to convey to the people my feelings through music. I want to try to give them the joy I'm getting from music." And audiences and critics are responding to his brilliance as they did when he first burst into prominence. Reviewing his New York recital last February, The Times's critic spoke of it as "a performance that glittered all the way through." As a cooperative venture of the Philharmonic Society and the New York City Central Labor Council AFL-CIO, the series marks the first time the two organizations have joined to bring orchestral concerts to communities and union halls. With Aaron Copland conducting, Rabin will play the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in the first of the programs on Thursday, June 17, in a community center at Co-Op City, a mass of apartment towers rising like obelisks in the Bronx flatlands on and beyond the former site of Freedom land, the amusement park where the only music heard in the past was the oom-pah-pah of calliopes. On June 18 this program will be repeated at the Electric Industries Center in Queens, and on June 23-for people who want to hear the music on its home grounds-at Philharmonic Hall. Rabin says. "It's going to be fun taking music to the neighborhoods. It gives the orchestra, the conductors and the soloists the feeling that besides just making music, we are perhaps also developing a future audience. I'm a natural to be in the project the first week. I'm a New Yorker and a Philharmonic baby. I used to play in the sandboxes in Riverside Park and ride my bike on Riverside Drive. My father, George Rabin, who is also a born New Yorker, was a violinist in the orchestra for 43 years. These will be my 82nd, 83rd and 84th appearances with the Philharmonic. With an orchestra like that, good God, it's such a pleasure!" The Philharmonic baby remembers that when he finished his debut performance of the Paganini First in 1951 and the applause came thundering in, he took his bow and turned to shake hands with the conductor. "But Mitropoulos ran off the podium to the third stand of the first violins where my father was sitting and he made him stand up and he shook my father's hand. Mitropoulos was a beautiful person. He was my god." To Rabin, the most astonishing thing about having been a child prodigy is that he managed to survive it. "In the prodigy years, the eyes aren't open because everyone else sees for you. In hindsight I can say it was a horrible time to go through. But when I was going through it, It was a ball. Everyone coddled me. I was spoiled rotten. "When you're no longer a child prodigy, you continue on because you're expected to. But then you have to shape up or ship out. In the years, say, from 16 to 26, everyone in the music field starts to pull you apart. They say 'He's not a mature artist. He plays fast and loud and Paganini all the time and he's too young to play Beethoven and Brahms.' In your mid-twenties you do play Beethoven and Brahms and some people say 'Better he should play Paganini.' There comes a point where your thoughts and soul and heart have to develop to the next stage. You're becoming a man and you're thinking about finishing high school and being called down for the army physical. And you get an awareness of the Internal Revenue department," he said with a rueful laugh. "For me the big change came when I was around 18. I started to question my teacher." Since Michael was 9 years old his teacher has been, and still is, the legendary Ivan Galamian of Juilliard, whose pupils include many of the most illustrious violin virtuosi playing today. "Galamian would say, 'I think you should do it this way,' and I'd say 'Why?' I have four private students now and they question me in the same way. It's a very difficult time in life whether one is a performer or not. Every kid at that age wants to run away, quit school, rebel and yell and scream." Michael didn't yell and scream, but he did develop a nervous stomach and a morbid fear about falling off the edge of the stage. He began withdrawing from people. "You think that perhaps people don't like you, and you become a semi-recluse. When you start to have problems like that, people don't want to know you, and this increases the loneliness." The psychiatric diagnosis was "disassociative reaction." I think that means you become so preoccupied with your new and incorrect reactions that you actually disassociate yourself from what's real. You get to the point where you either have to do something about it or quit the human race." Michael opted for staying with the human race. "I don't know win there's all this hush about people admitting they're seeing an analyst or a therapist. When you finally decide to go into therapy I think it's reason to celebrate, not to whisper about, You fall down and break your arm. You go to a doctor to have the bone set, right? Okay, you fall over an emotional problem and you have an emotional wound. You go to a doctor to have that set In addition to bandaging Michael's psychic wounds, his doctor bandaged his nervous stomach wounds with a drug called "Milpath," a specific for "the beginning of an ulcer." This led to several newspaper articles which used the dread phrases "drug addiction" and "accidental overdose." "I remember being absolutely wild when I read that. I called my lawyer and asked if I could sue, because they completely misrepresented what I said, but he advised me not to. What's the expression when you have a drug problem having 'a monkey on your back'? The drug problem isn't the monkey on my back. It's the people who still like to talk about it. The only drug in this house is Excedrin for the number 12 headache." The all-too-obvious question for a former child prodigy-especially a Jewish child prodigy-is what role his mother played In his rise, fall and rise. To this Rabin's answer is: "The idea that if you're not well emotionally, you must hate your mother, has been overdone to the point where it's a not very intelligent joke. I realize that my mother created problems for me that she was unaware of. So did my father and my older sister. But I created problems for them. When I started to play the violin at the age of 8, my father was in the Philharmonic. They didn't earn the kind of money they do today, and my parents gave up a lot for me. Jewish mothers-not only of sons, but of Jewish princesses are a special breed. They will kill themselves for their children. I don't have to go through the 'Portnoy's Complaint' thing. Philip Roth said it better than I can. But I can tell you very simply and honestly that if it hadn't been for my Jewish mother, with her pushing and cajoling and her knowledge of music, I wouldn't be a concert violinist today because I'm not as aggressive as she is. She's a pianist and a Juilliard graduate, and she taught there and played concerts, and in our house there was music from the day I was born. When I was learning repertory as a child she would play the concertos with me, so when I started to rehearse with symphony orchestras I already knew what was going on." I reminded him of an enthusiastic New York limes notice of his recital debut at Carnegie Hall on Nov. 24, 1950, a year before he soloed with the Philharmonic. The review ended with this caution: "... it is to be hoped that he will not be rushed into a concert career at the expense of his natural growth into artistry." Michael said unequivocally, "My parents did push me to practice but they never pushed me to play concerts too soon. Needless to say, before my therapy it was convenient to blame everything on my parents. But as a result of therapy, I see my emotional hang-ups and strengths in a much healthier light. I'm closer than ever to my parents and I have a real, true friendship with my sister. She used to he jealous because my mother looked after me more. I was jealous because she could go to school like normal kids - I had a tutor for the last two years of high school. We used to fight about petty nothings, but now I can talk to her about anything, and I feel more free with her - as well as with almost everyone else - than I ever did before." For Rabin, music is inextricably tied up with his feelings and what he describes as "awareness of one's reactions to people and even to inanimate objects." He said,“ To me, the violin is a singing, vocal instrument and music is basically an emotional experience. For example, I've played in Finland four times, and the last time in the dead of winter. The harbor was frozen over and the weather was gray and overcast. The Sibelius Violin Concerto starts with the strings tremolo and the violin has the first theme. It's a long and very dry theme. Suddenly, from my hotel room, I saw this vast, icy emptiness. And I realized, it's right there in the music! "Look at those tall apartments across the Hudson." He pointed with his long violinist's fingers. "They weren't there when I moved here in 1963. I watched them blast out the earth and trucks came and carried the earth away. I found that a very emotional thing. You can *hear it in the Beethoven Quartets-how the earth is being eaten up by the stupidity of the people living on it. I hear that sometimes in the music of Prokofiev and the Russians who killed themselves, like Tchaikovsky and Borodin." We're getting morose again. Then Rabin says, "To me, music is .a whole way of life. I feel very privileged that I'm a musician, and I believe a good one. Most people I know aren't doing what they want to do. I can't think of anything I'd rather do than be a musician. To take it even a step more beautifully, I can't think of any Instrument I'd rather play than the violin." We're upbeat again, so I ask him about love and marriage and whether he has a girl friend. 'Too many," he says. "I could get married tonight if I wanted to, but I'm still square or romantic enough to wait to meet the girl I'll get bopped on the head by. I hope it'll happen." Inevitably, we got back to music, and Rabin said, 'The thing I'm sorriest about today is that I'm not recording now. It's a shame, because I've hit a certain peak. I recorded for six years, between the ages of 19 and 25. I often say with bitterness that when I die at 70, they'll bring out these old Angel and Capitol records 'in memoriam.' From Rick Baccare
Hey Mike thanks for all the great info on Rabin!!
Posted on February 4, 2005 at 11:11 PM From Rita Livs
Michael, how interesting... Thank you for this information and take these stars from me:)
Posted on February 5, 2005 at 05:21 AM From Adam Smith
and me
Posted on February 5, 2005 at 05:29 AM From Rick Baccare
Mike I would of gave you a star, but for some reason I don't receive any stars to give out.
Posted on February 5, 2005 at 02:17 PM From Michael Waiblinger
15 Year Old VIOLIN GENIUS: OCTOBER, 1951Posted on February 5, 2005 at 10:44 PM FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD Michael Rabin is "a genius violinist," says Mitropoulos, conductor of the N.Y. Philharmonic! And George Szell, conductor of the Cleveland Symphony calls him "the greatest violin talent that has come to my attention during the past two or three decades." But what is this boy, who made such a nationwide impression, on the Telephone Hour last year, really like? Let us meet him for ourselves. At 7:30 sharp on an August morning the door of the large apartment house at 905 West End Avenue, New York City opened and a boy wheeled out a shiny new bicycle. His dark eyes sparkled. with excitement as he carefully wiped a small spot from the gleaming surface of his treasure. Then mounting to its seat, he rode gaily down the street, his jet black hair blowing in the breeze, his sturdy figure erect, his feet pedaling vigorously. A man coming out of an apartment a few doors down hailed the youngster. "That was a wonderful program you played last night on the Telephone Hour, Michael. If you keep on you're going to be another Heifetz." The boy laughed. "Thank you, sir, but I guess I'll have to go a long way before I'm that good. Say, what do you think of my new bicycle? Isn't it a dandy? I couldn't wait to get out on it this morning." From Michael Waiblinger
A concert in the cloudsPosted on February 5, 2005 at 10:47 PM October, 1955 "I shall always remember October 23, 1952 as one of the high points of my musical career—if not of my lifetime. That was the day I played my violin in an airplane more than 20,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean. I had been in Australia for five months, giving about fifty concerts. The people were wonderful—so anxious to hear good music and so friendly. Most of the concerts were scheduled for the larger cities. I soon found out that the smallest of the continents can still be a pretty big place. Actually, Australia is just about the size of the United States. And travelling from concert to concert meant flying 400 to 500 miles between cities. The major cities of Australia are scattered around the seacoast. The interior of the continent is pretty wild country—high, dry and generally flat, much like parts of our own Southwest. What we call "ranches," the Australians call "stations." Some of these are quite large. I saw one of them that was more than 17,000 acres! No wonder many ranchers "down-under" fly their own planes! I was surprised to find that the Australians have no concert halls, such as are found in our major American and European cities. Instead, concerts are given in the Town Halls. So it was that on this October day, after five wonderful months of concerts, I was preparing to return home. As I stepped from the airline car at the Sydney airport, I caught my first glimpse of the Pan American Stratocruiser that was to carry me home. What a thrill it was to see that beautiful airplane of gleaming silvery metal! I have always loved airplanes and flying, but this was my first experience with the giant four-engined Boeing Stratocruiser. The plane is so large that when it is at rest on the ground, the vertical stabilizer stands as high in the air as a three-story building! It proudly flies the American flag. The cabin is roomier and more comfortable than I had ever dreamed any airplane could be. Our seats were on the upper deck. And there was a lounge deck below where refreshments were to be served in flight. When we were all checked aboard and comfortably seated, signs lighted up in the forward part of the cabin. "Please fasten seat belts," they said. And as we obeyed, the airplane began to come alive with the noises that meant preparations for flight. Generators and other equipment started to hum and whine. In a few moments the great engines began to bark, one by one. Through my window I could see the blades of the giant propellers beginning to turn. Slowly the Stratocruiser moved down the taxi strip and into position at the end of the runway, ready for the takeoff. We paused there while each engine was individually run at full power for a final check. Then, after an instant's hush, all four engines thundered together. Faster we roared down the runway. Suddenly the ground began to fall away. We were air-borne! In a moment we were over the ocean, climbing on course, on the first leg of our trip back to the United States. I had been sitting idly for some time, looking out the window at the blue Pacific some four miles below and wishing I could go forward to see the flight deck where the crew was located. All at once the stewardess appeared at my elbow. She smiled and said, "Mr. Rabin, the Captain wants to know if you would like to come forward and see the flight deck?" As I started to get up, she pointed to my violin which I had placed on the seat next to mine. "Would you bring your violin?" she added. "You'll find the Captain is a music lover." There were five men on the flight deck—the pilot, co-pilot, the navigator, flight engineer and radio operator. Each of them was surrounded by the many dials, switches, levers and gauges that are the "tools" of his profession. Yet there was plenty of room for a visitor like myself to walk around without getting in their way. Their friendly smiles made me feel welcome. As the stewardess led me forward to the pilots' stations, I saw that the nose of the plane was almost entirely made up of transparent plexiglas. Through this the pilots had a view that was unlimited in practically all directions. The stewardess introduced me to the Captain, or first pilot. After he had signaled to the co-pilot to take over, we shook hands. He told me that flying and music were the two great interests of his life. "Would you do me a great favor and play for us?" he asked. "Let's go back to the cabin. How about the Bach Chaconne?" Of course I was delighted to play for the Captain. And that is how I happened to be playing my violin in an airplane more than four miles above the Pacific Ocean on October 23, 1952. What a thrill it was! I never dreamed such a thing would happen to me when I began to study music as a small boy. I started on the piano and had no idea that one day I would be touring the world as a concert violinist. But my travels arc only a part of the story. Here at home in New York I study with my teacher, Mr. Ivan Galamian, just as you study with yours. Under his direction I practice four to five hours every day and I do everything I can to become a better musician. For music has been good to me and has given me many wonderful things. I would be ungrateful if I did not give it the very best that is in me in return. WHO has not at some time wished to fly, to soar, to be as free as a bird? Even before airplanes were thought of, many people must have felt that way. From Gon Zo
Very interesting articles, thank you!Posted on February 6, 2005 at 02:30 PM On a side note is it true that all good violinists are also good in ping pong? I never heard of that. Should we all start taking ping pong lessons or it comes naturally when you practice the violin enough? :) From Sander Marcus
Fascinating discussion of Michael Rabin. I really didn't know that much about him. However, I know a violinist who knew Rabin when he was younger and who thinks that Rabin was inconsistent and not that great a violinist in the most exalted parts of the repertoire. However, when I was in college I heard Rabin play with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Dell. I think he was about 20 or 21 (maybe a year older). He played the Paganini 1st concerto, and it was so spectacularly better than his own recording and anyone else's I've ever heard, that the particular way he played certain passages are still with me, even after all these years. He was, I think, an incredible talent, and it is a tragedy that he did not get to have a second half to his career.
Posted on May 23, 2005 at 06:07 PM From James Kim
Everyone here should obtain his box set on EMI. Among my many favorites from the set-- his second recording of St Saens Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (phrasing and the trills) and Sarasate Zigeunerwiesen (high drama).Posted on May 25, 2005 at 07:59 PM If not, then a single CD titled "Mosaics". Some of the most amazing playing ever recorded-- Chopin Nocture (beautiful tone and lyrical double-stops), Scriabin Etude (just crazy playing), Engel Sea Shell (where he demonstrates the greatest violin trills ever recorded), Elgar La Capricieuse (the best upbow staccato) and more. From Mike Harris
That is an absolute killer box set...trouble is, it's out of print. The last set listed on Amazon went for 595.00. Yes, that's right, 99.00 per disc for a 6-disc set. I think one might have sold on ebay recently for "only" four hundred or so. It's really good, but, sheesh...
Posted on May 25, 2005 at 09:05 PM From Nate R
I didn't know that about Rabin's recordings. That's absolutely disgraceful that they are out of print considering what else is out there being marketed. Same could be said about many Friedman recordings that are not in print..
Posted on May 25, 2005 at 11:22 PM From Alan Wittert
I have the Rabin 6-CD set. Great Bruch Scottish Fantasy; what a luscious tone! His solo Bach (C Major Sonata) is wonderous...
Posted on May 26, 2005 at 03:26 AM From Nate R
Yeah that collection is great. I particularly like the caprices, Wienwiawski 1st concerto, Glazunov concerto, and the Bach. He had the best trills and staccato I've ever heard.
Posted on May 26, 2005 at 04:23 AM From Heather Wilson
If the recordings are going for that much, then why don't they do another release of it?
Posted on May 26, 2005 at 06:08 PM From David Lee
who knows? luckily, i was able to borrow the collection from a friend geez it's amazing! Posted on May 26, 2005 at 06:30 PM another collection that should be rereleased is the heifetz collection. From Tom Holzman
David -- Naxos Historical has rereleased the Heifetz Collection at bargain prices.
Posted on May 26, 2005 at 06:44 PM From Mike Harris
I'm guessing that the usual reason for not re-printing is that it sold too slowly the first time. I think this set has already had two separate releases. Dealers in used recordings should be having a field day with this one. Apparently the guy I acquired my copy from this year (for 45 dollars) did not know the present market for this item--it made my day, needless to say!Posted on May 26, 2005 at 06:41 PM BTW, the more I listen to it the more impressed I am with this man's playing. Too bad there's no duo sonata material here, only unaccompanied sonatas, "concertpieces" and concertos. I've got to get some more of his recordings. From Christian Vachon
Hi,Posted on May 27, 2005 at 12:13 PM The reasons for not re-releasing is the 50 year copyright law. All the recordings released by Naxos are not from the Heifetz collection. They are from the original 78's albums for which the 50 year gap has expired. Once the 50 year gap from the original issue date has expired, the recording becomes public domain, hence the Naxos re-issues. EMI could put out the Rabin collection again. Why they don't do it is only for them to know. Cheers! From Peggy B.
Was his death accidental?
Posted on May 27, 2005 at 04:06 PM From Scott 68
The way i understand it is he was a perfectionist and his kitchen floor was no exception so of course he had to have it massively waxed, one day he slipped and his head either hit a table or a chair or something like that and had a concussion and that what killed himPosted on May 27, 2005 at 04:15 PM I think i remember someone saying if he was not alone at the time he could have been saved I also remeber reading they found barbituates in his system which probably had something to do with him loosing his balance Sad story From Christina Wilke
I heard that if you were in the same room with him while he was playing, the overtones would literally start to hurt your ears. He was that intune!Posted on May 28, 2005 at 02:53 AM I think he's a fantastic violinist. He definitely had a very beautiful sound- one that was truly his own. And I find no need to comment on his technique- it's very polished and wonderful. From Rosalie Lund Macmillan
Good news!Posted on July 13, 2005 at 05:57 PM I have it on good authority from the folks at EMI that the Michael Rabin collection will be reissued in October of this year! So get your pocketbooks ready. If you were hoping to sell your set on ebay for hundreds of dollars, you'd better hurry up. :) And for those of us who were hoping NOT to spend those hundreds of dollars, this is a bit of a relief! I'm glad to see Rabin's recordings getting more of the attention they deserve. From Rusanda Panfili
i have the Michael Rabin colection..it was one of my first cd`s!!! i think he is realy one of the best violinist ever!!! i love he`s intens wide sound...i hear all the time Paganini no1 and wieniawski no 1....also Introduction and rondo capriccioso and small pieces like Elgar-la capricieuse and hora staccato(with best staccato in the World!!!!) are magnificent!!
Posted on July 14, 2005 at 11:14 AM From Michael Waiblinger
Please find the following information from first hand:Posted on July 14, 2005 at 08:30 PM EMI is issuing the product using the original production parts supplied by EMI Germany many years ago. We are able to proceed because these production parts are in good working order and the only item requiring time to produce is the slipcase. We expect product to be available AND issued by the end of August - possibly earlier. I regret that it is now too late to start bringing in new notes at this stage. BTW; the existing liner notes from the previous CD box doesn't reflect the real truth about Rabin and would further create misinformation about Rabin with some serious factual errors. From Francis Browne
I agree that Rabin was one of the greats. I have him playing the Tchaik finale (one of my all time favorite pieces) on the Bell Telephone DVD, and it has to be (by far) the best performance of that movement I have ever heard (even beats Oistrakh and Elman, two of my other favorites IMHO). I have to get his whole Tchaik on audio, and his caprices, sometime. I've only heard bits of his playing but all have been stellar.
Posted on July 15, 2005 at 03:06 PM From Rusanda Panfili
Francis- a agree with the tschaikowski finale...is great...it`s too bad that we don`t have more video recordings of him...u cann learn so much only by looking on his right hand...his technique is immaculate!!!
Posted on July 15, 2005 at 03:12 PM From Brian Wall
:o...I didn't know he was big! I only have one song played by him...Paganini caprice no. four...I also have the same caprice played by perlman and heifetz...and some guy named salvatore accardo....but the rabin is my favorite by far! He ads character to the peice-its so pretty!
Posted on July 15, 2005 at 04:50 PM From Brian Wall
>.>...i just read that Kogan died...I didn't know that...I have a peice by him too...but I can't remember what it was or find it...but i remember that I liked it...thats sad T.T
Posted on July 15, 2005 at 04:52 PM From Enosh Kofler
I don't think Heifetz ever recorded the 4th Paganini Caprice.
Posted on July 15, 2005 at 06:03 PM From Brian Wall
yeah sorry koflner i meant accardo-but i think he did record it...then i could be thinking of someone else
Posted on July 15, 2005 at 09:57 PM From Ole Borneman Bull
I'm saving my lunch money for Rabin already. Now all they have to do is re-release the Kogan Box Set ( I forget what it is called), put the Heifetz, Kreisler, Elman and Oistrakh discographies on MP3 and I'll be almost happy. It would also be way past time for Sony to release Francescatti's French albums and his Kreisler album to CD. Quit sitting on them, Sony.
Posted on July 16, 2005 at 01:19 AM From Michael Waiblinger
Michael Rabin's 6 CD set is re-issued now. Posted on August 29, 2005 at 05:23 AM http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002S35/ref=pd_cps_m_6/102-0110324-0084176?v=glance&s=music No lover of violin music should omit this uniquely talented genius from his or her collection. A must for violin lovers! From George Philips
I just absolutely his adore his silky smooth tone and his crisp articulations. Though, I'm not sure I would consider him a master musician in terms of artistry. His interpretations always struck me as rather ordinary. His Paganini Caprices are something else all together. I would rank them up there with Ilya Kaler, and maybe put him a smidgin ahead. I enjoy his Bruch "Scottish Fantasy" because his warm round tone works well on it. I however don't care for his Paganini concerto. I prefer Vengerov on that.
Posted on August 29, 2005 at 02:43 PM From Scott 68
Thanks mikePosted on August 30, 2005 at 06:03 PM I just bumped into the rabin book, check it out Michael Rabin : America's Virtuoso Violinist (Hardcover) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/157467109X/qid=1125422030/sr=8-6/ref=pd_bbs_6/102-0650179-4691354?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 From J Ann
I absolutely LOVE Michael Rabin. Listen to his Zigeunerweisen. WAY better than Anne-Sophie Mutter IMO.
Posted on August 31, 2005 at 03:27 AM From rachel white
Hello,Posted on September 2, 2005 at 11:07 PM I just finished reading the new book about Michael Rabin and found it well written but very disturbing from the point of his Mother. She according to this book is the reason for Michael Rabin's problems. His drug dependency in my view is because of his Mother as is his not having any social skills with people his own age. It seems to be another case of the parent exploiting the child for their own needs and egos. What a shame that this happens so often in the world of the gifted. From Rick Baccare
Most people's problems stem from their subtle disturbed parents, some worse than others. It's a shame, it sounds like Rabin had a real winner for a mother. In my opinion, Menuhin suffered from this kind of manipulation also from his mother, but somehow Yehudi survived. If anyone is interested in this kind of similar parenting, not exact, check out the movie Suddenly Last Summer starring Elizabeth Taylor, a disturbing movie, but great!. To me, Rabin was a true genius of the violin. I will be definitely purchasing Rabin's book in the future.
Posted on September 3, 2005 at 12:35 AM From Mike Harris
I didn't know Rabin or his mother, but I know that different people respond differently to similar situations (such as siblings being brought up by the same parents. That is, it's not fair to put too much of the blame on his mom regardless.Posted on September 3, 2005 at 04:49 AM It's a shame he didn't have a long, happy life and career. We are lucky to have as many recordings of him as we do. From D Wright
rabin was my favourite when i was younger. to be honest i disliked perlman and zukerman for years because i thought they are nowhere near as good as rabin. now that i've come to terms with his death i recognize his place in the classical field.Posted on September 3, 2005 at 08:41 AM he had problems with a controlling mother. who knows? maybe she would have caused him to be another menuhin case: a brilliant child prodigy who grew up and lost his technique due to the interpersonal stress of living under a tyrant woman. From Ron Gorthuis
In a word: fantastic. Posted on September 5, 2005 at 11:41 PM Maybe the best so far. A normal life sacrificed for an instrument and music. Bittersweet it is for me to hear the music and the genius, while knowing the sacrifice. So very few things in life are so nobly offered for public enjoyment. From Alan Wittert
He is handy receptacle for the fantasies of anyone considering him or herself a tortured, victimized genius, for whom the notion of promise unfulfilled is a sentimental vision rather than the typical lot of most of us. Great talent does not make for great suffering. That's romantic claptrap. Yeah, he was a violinistic wunderkind who was messed up, and, minus the violinistic wunderkind part was no different from someone we all know in each of our extended families...or lucky youse. And I love many many of his recordings too, but do not place his Tchaikovsky, Glazunov and Mendelssohn on the same level as a good many other artists. That even goes for his Paganini. Personally, the assumption that he sacrificed for his art assumes that minus his art he would have been a happy camper. Don't buy that in the least. His so-called sacrifice as likely prolonged his life as shortened it. Personally, I'd rather my son was a happy insurance salesman than a tortured artist; or a tortured insurance salesman for that matter if his work gave him some respite. Was he the best that ever lived? He was the best Michael Rabin that ever lived, except maybe for the one I went to Chicago's South Shore High School with.
Posted on September 7, 2005 at 05:28 AM From Kenneth Kensek
Michael Rabin suffered from depression. Pressured by family and teachers, he spent far too much time practicing when he was young and sacrificed too much in pursuit of his professional career after his student days were over. A teacher I had remembered Rabin cutting an open rehearsal short, at a college he taught at previously. Rabin walked off stage after a few minutes, and told my teacher,"I am not worried about the concert, it will be fine. I was just looking at the coe-eds in the auditorium and was thinking how I would give ten years of my life just to be able to go on a date with just one of them."
Posted on September 7, 2005 at 10:30 AM From Tom Holzman
Amen, Alan! While Rabin was a great violinist, he did not walk on water. While his story is very sad, his ability to be great despite his suffering still does not make him the greatest ever.
Posted on September 7, 2005 at 12:44 PM From Jim W. Miller
The message I get from that is ignore stingy co-eds.
Posted on September 7, 2005 at 09:48 PM From Alan Wittert
Posted on September 8, 2005 at 03:40 AM From Alan Wittert
Why was he just looking? He coulda had his pick...Played Meditation from Thais and then spanked 'em with his bow. So to speak.
Posted on September 8, 2005 at 03:40 AM From Kenneth Kensek
You are right Alan. My guess is that Rabin had been conditioned to believe that any waking moment not spent praticing was one wasted.
Posted on September 8, 2005 at 04:10 AM From D Wright
let's put it this way: if mr. rabin had gotten one of them in the back seat of his car and ran his fingers down her back, he'd probably be bowing with the other hand.
Posted on September 8, 2005 at 04:31 AM From Jim W. Miller
Kenneth, your theory is hogwash. If he actually said he'd give ten years for a date with one of them, probably the reason he cut the rehearsal short was to have a date.Posted on September 8, 2005 at 05:13 AM From this thread: From Juan-Paolo Perre
The Feinstein book on Rabin is quite good and informative. I recommend reading it. I wish there were more books on Rabin - why there aren't is baffling to me...As far as an early poster wished there were recordings of Rabin doing duo material, there is a recording by DoReMi Records, "Legendary Recordings, Michael Rabin, Volume 1, where he plays the Fauré Sonata (A Maj.), a Beethoven Sonata and they've chucked in a Bell Telephone Hour recording of an orchestrated 17th Caprice (Paganini). One evening I had the Classic Arts Showcase on the TV and nearly had a heart attack: there was a video of Rabin playing the Schubert Duo Sonata at Carnegie Hall! This was around the time of his debut in his teens. I flipped but was calm enough to push the record button on the VCR. This is one of my most cherished items, needless to say. I'm also collecting the off-air (non-published/live) recordings but that is not so easy...about the Sibelius Concerto, he wanted to record it but the record company (and surprisingly Galamian, if I'm not mistaken, vetoed it). That was a great mistake and a shame.
Posted on November 6, 2005 at 11:47 PM From Tim Chi
Has anybody else read the new book on Michael Rabin? What do you think?
Posted on December 4, 2005 at 06:52 AM From Cheng Hooi Lee
Any comments on the Rabin DoReMi CD please? Posted on December 5, 2005 at 05:50 AM Appreciate your violinistic comments please? From Gennady Filimonov
Thanks Fernando for honoring his memory.Posted on December 6, 2005 at 02:38 AM I think he was truly a consummate artist. I also agree with some previous posts that Josef Hassid was stellar. He sounded like a combination of Heifetz and Kreisler. And those gems of recordings he left (age 15-16)are astounding. From Ryan Meehan
What kind of violin did Rabin use in his recordings for EMI? Specifically the two Wieniawski concertos and the Paganini?
Posted on February 25, 2006 at 06:37 PM From Oliver Steiner
My perspective on Rabin's playing is that he was a wonderful violinist. I feel most fortunate to have heard him live, most fortunate that I got to meet him (though I didn't at all know him well), and very grateful as well to have all of his recordings. That said, I differ with some who have posted here in that I wouldn't compare his playing to the exalted level attained by Heifetz. Rabin's facility, tone and expressive intensity were spectacular, but Heifetz had all of these plus a level of musical integrity, depth of expression, taste and subtlety far above that of his younger colleague, in my opinion.Posted on February 25, 2006 at 09:06 PM Ryan, The violin he used for the Wienawski #2/Paganini Concerto LP with Boult conducting, was a Guarneri del Gesu. From Pieter Viljoen
Where can I buy this recording of the Wienawskis?
Posted on February 26, 2006 at 12:20 AM From Mike Harris
It's in the Rabin EMI 6-disc box set. A must-have, IMO
Posted on February 26, 2006 at 04:43 AM From meir sinetar
in see that kogan got the honour he deserves not that heifets was not good(god forbid)or that mikle rabin's playing is superb .Posted on February 26, 2006 at 10:56 AM how ever i first heard about him from my teacher russion style teacher and after hearing some of his playing ;could not get him out of my mind especially the locatelli's sonatas so much magic in his playin i can't understand and dont want to... From Rick Baccare
Rabin's facility, tone and expressive intensity were spectacular, but Heifetz had all of these plus a level of musical integrity, depth of expression, taste and subtlety far above that of his younger colleague, in my opinion.Posted on February 26, 2006 at 06:20 PM I have to disagree with this entire comment. In my opinion, Heifetz had a more identifiable sound than Rabin, that's about it. If anything else, very little. As far as Rabin's tone, he had a bigger sound than Heifetzs', at least that's what I hear on recordings. Again just my opinion. From Peter Wilson
Hello friends! Great discussion on Michael Rabin.Posted on February 27, 2006 at 04:33 AM So much has been said by so many. Please allow me to add just a few thoughts. First, I highly recommend the "hot off the press" biography on Rabin entitled: "Michael Rabin: America's Virtuoso Violinist" (The first, authorized biography) It is quite an interesting read. As for the greatest violinist, whether you like him or not, the title has to be given to Heifetz for several reasons. Among them are: Heifetz set the standard in our modern world of violin playing that (again, whether you like him or not) is one by which all violinists are compared; Heifetz recorded more repertoire than any other violinist--much of it before anyone else; Heifetz was great as a live performer AND as a recording artist (not all can say this); and Heifetz was a "complete" musician in that he composed fantastic arrangements, was an accomplished pianist, and also taught. The only thing disappointing to me (and somewhat ironic) is that both Paganini and Ysaye are among the short list of great violinists who contributed profound violin compositions to the repertoire--who literally changed the violin landscape forever--yet, with all of Heifetz' technique and all that he recorded . . . he never recorded the Paganini Caprices (other than #24--accompanied) or any of the Ysaye Solo Sonatas. Michael Rabin, on the other hand, not only recorded Ysaye's 3rd and 4th Sonatas, but the entire Paganini Caprices--arguably THE DEFINITIVE RECORDING of these. Of course, Rabin recorded very little in the way of the violin/piano sonata literature and Heifetz was quite prolific in this area, to say nothing of his extraordinary output of Concertos. I think it would be safe to say that Michael Rabin was the finest American-born violinist. It IS a shame that we could not enjoy him in later years when he might have recorded more of the standard repertoire. Oistrakh and Kogan are at the top of the list along with Milstein. Perlman cannot be ignored as a great player and prolific recording artist; however, I believe history will treat him as somewhat one-dimensional. Josef Hassid has been mentioned several times. Here is a truly remarkable and unique voice among violinists. It could be said that he had the most promise of any violinist. What we have in the way of recordings is to be treasured. Of course, in the end, we must make the distinction between the 20th century recorded violinist and those that came before them. How, for example, could any list of great violinists exist without the mention of Wieniawski and Vieuxtemps? That said, everyone should have in their library Boris Schwarz' wonderful book "Great Masters of the Violin." This is an invaluable resource including information on Corelli and Vivaldi all the way to Perlman--and young "up and coming" fiddle players of around 1983. In addition, Henry Roth has contributed significantly to the books-on-great violinists library. Enjoy! |
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