Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Gabriel Faure, Niccolo Paganini :: Michael Rabin Collection

Michael Rabin

Nora | 09/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Michael Rabin was incredible! That should be enough said. I think that his recording of the 24 caprices by paganini is stunning. As I am a violinist myself, I live in awe of him. His tragic death before his 36th birthday stunned the music world and stold a great untouched pool of talent. A rising prodigy he was making an incredible impact on the recording world. He suddenly stopped recoding though after a ten year surge. Who knows if, had he lived he would have continued recording at all. His few recordings are treasures beyond measure. I would strongly recommend this album to anyone that appreciates the rigors of music such as paganini and sarasate. And to those who favor any artists such as Perlman, Stern, Chang, Heifetz, or Zucherman."

Pretty good, but Rabin fans will definitely want it

Matthew B. Tepper | Los Angeles, CA USA | 05/03/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's unfortunate that the sole previous review says nothing about this particular issue, because one of my long-standing qualms about Doremi has been with its often harsh and excessive filtering which robs instruments of their tonal coloration and provides a backdrop of eerie and unnatural silence. Anyone who would be reading about this item already knows about Rabin's troubled life and his extraordinary technique, and repeating what is already known without giving particulars on the CD at hand is, shall we say, less than optimally helpful.



So, first things first: The sound is quite listenable, the Beethoven most so, with considerably less filtering than I had feared. in the two duo numbers (Beehoven VS #8 and Fauré VS #1) Rabin is spot-on with only a few missteps typical of live performance, imaginative in his phrasing and full of energy. He misses the ecstasy in the Fauré, but not damagingly so. Pianist Lothar Broddack does nothing to harm the proceedings. The flash-dash of the Paganini Etude #17 (strangely and unnecessarily accompanied by the "Bell Telephone" Orchestra conducted by Donald Voorhees) is pretty much of a piece with the other Rabin performances of this music.



Now, if somebody who owns volume 2 in this series could give a point-by-point review, something more substantial than just saying he likes the Brahms Concerto, I'd be greatly obliged, and it might help me make up my mind whether to buy that set."