"If you don't know who Michael Rabin is, this is a great place to start. Michael Rabin was a child prodigy who recorded 14 of the caprices at the age of 13(an astonishing achievement when his child recordings put many adult professionals to shame). This is his adult recording recorded in either 1958 or 1959(i forgot). Hearing this recording will astound you. While people like Ruggiero Ricci played the caprices as an etude, Rabin made these pieces into a masterpiece. Every caprice is lush and vibrant. His 5th is wonderful and so is his 9thMichael Rabin's recording is considered by many fanatics and critics to be one of the best recordings out there. After hearing him, try listening to Perlman or Midori. You'll laugh at their attempts to tackle this piece. If you liked Rabin's caprices, you'll probably like Sholmo Mintz or Kaler(or Kayler)If you really liked this recording and want to hear more of him, beg EMI or scour ebay daily for his almost-complete EMI 6 CD set recording of him(they stopped printing it). It has the caprices, a lot of show pieces, and various concertos. Michael Rabin was one of the greatest violinist that ever lived and the Caprices are a showcase of his immeasureable talent"
Rabin is as good as Heifetz
jonathan | Toronto,Ontario,Canada | 09/22/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"my first recording of the 24 caprices was Perlman's and I thought it was simply unbeatable,That was until I heard Rabin.After that I began to detect all the mistakes Perlman made.Let me say one thing, at the speed Rabin plays the 24 caprices and his unmistakable intonation combined is just unbelievable!The technical heights this violinist has achieved has been equaled by very few violinists.I also love the close up recording in this cd where you can hear every single sound as if he was playing live, right beside you.To say that Rabin is amazing,perfect, awesome,magnificent,outstanding would not be enough,this guy just ROCKS!"
This is it...there is no need to search further...
R. Taylor | louisville, ky USA | 09/28/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"...Ihave listened to many recorded performances of these caprices...none come close in recording quality...only a few come close in performance quality...Rabin's articulation and dynamics are incredible...a must have for violin aficionados."
Unparalleled perfomance
Anton Dam | San Jose, CA | 03/13/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is the ultimate complete recording of Paganini's 24 Caprices. This should not be mistken, however, for as the best recording of any single caprice, those were made by Kogan (he didn't record all). The playing here is a sort of a meld between the old Russian style, as was the giants of the time, and his teachers Franco-Belgian heritage. The result, perfect intonation, impeccable technique and a broad warm tone. The ninth and seventh caprices are particularly wonderful."
The best but...
Scott68 | Columbus, Ohio United States | 09/21/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Michael Rabin was a true prodigy who studied at Juilard and was the greatest exponent of Ivan Galamian who explained that Rabin had "..no weaknesses, not ever," high praise indeed by one of the greatest pedagogues of the 20th century.No one plays Paganini like Rabin. In the dictionary under Paganini Caprices it should say "see Michael Rabin", but...I CAN HEAR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS CD AND THE ORIGINAL EMI CD RELEASE, DONT BUY THIS CD BUY THE ORIGINAL CD THAT HAS HIS PHOTO ON THE COVER!Other recordings of the Paganini Caprices that deserve honorable mention include Markov, Mintz, Kaler, Gitils, Kogan, Heifetz (the early years before 1920), and Milstein's meticulously articulated variations of the 24th caprice titled "Paganiniana".If you love Paganini try the violin music of Wieniawski, Vieuxtemps, Saint-Saens, Sarasate, and the Concertos of Locatelli Op3.Apparently when I made this review a year ago I was right, this CD was recently remastered so someone out there mut agree with me."