Michael Rabin In Memoriam Hollywood Bowl Symphony Slatkin Vinyl LP Record VG+

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Michael Rabin In Memoriam Hollywood Bowl Symphony Slatkin Vinyl LP Record VG+
Record Grade per Goldmine Standard: VG+
Michael Rabin, Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, Felix Slatkin – In Memoriam
MICHAEL RABIN In Memoriam (May 2, 1936-January 19, 1972) Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra Felix Slatkin cond. “Hear Rabin and know the gods have not forgotten the violin ... His is a prodigious talent, inborn and instinctive, and age has nothing to do with such talent, except in the time it allows for expansion and development. Rabin is essentially what he always will be, and that is the mark of the artist. It is the indefinable stamp of individual quality....’’ Claudia Cassidy, Chicago Tribune “A remarkable purity and beauty of tone, supported by a splendid technique that embraces impeccable intonation’.’ The Manchester Guardian “A genius of the violin’.’ Il Paese, Rome “An extraordinary violinist... he has already taken the step into the international master class of violinists'.’ Morgen-Tidningen, Stockholm “When he starts to play you quit thinking about his age .. .The essential point is that he has a genuine, innate feeling for creating music, and what he says with his instrument speaks to the audience clearly and they like it. So do music critics’.’ Norman Houk, Minneapolis Morning Tribune Such were the rave notices that ac- claimed Michael Rabin an interna- tional celebrity before his twenty-first birthday and qualified him as a violin virtuoso in the grand tradition of Gla- zunov, Paganini, Wieniawski and, more recently, Kreisler and Heifetz. Born in New York on May 2, 1936, Rabin came by his musical heritage naturally: his father, George, was a vio- linist with the New York Philharmonic for three decades and his mother, Jeanne, taught piano for many years at Juilliard. Michael literally “took to the violin” at the age of seven when a fam- ily friend presented the lad with a small-sized violin. After a few lessons, George Rabin realized that he had a child prodigy on his hands and en- gaged Ivan Galamian of the Juilliard and Curtis faculties as the boy’s teacher. By the time Michael was 13, he had won the Edgar Stillman Kelley Scholar- ship of the National Federation of Mu- sic Clubs and had not only appeared with the National Orchestral Associa- tion at Carnegie Hall, but had also per- formed the immensely difficult Wieni- awski Concerto in F sharp minor with the Havana Philharmonic in Cuba, under Artur Rodzinski who predicted “a tremendous future” for the young violinist. A nationwide American radio audience heard Michael for the first time on The Bell Telephone Hour on August 7, 1950, in a program which included the last movement of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, the Mendelssohn-A* hron “On Wings of Song” and the 17th Caprice by Paga- nini. Thereafter, he was a frequent guest on the broadcast and also ap- peared on television. When Michael made his official con- cert debut in a Carnegie Hall recital, November 24, 1950, Dmitri Mitropou- los, then conductor of the New York Philharmonic, said of him: “He is really the genius violinist of tomorrow, equipped with all that is necessary to be a great artist and to give great thrills to the musical world. He is a blessed boy and already completely devoted to his mission’’ Mitropoulos’ faith in Rabin was well founded, for in subse- quent performances over the next few years with the New York Philharmonic as well as with the great orchestras of Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia, Chi- cago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and many others, in the United States, South America and Europe, Michael Rabin was always the incandescent so- loist, the devoted and complete artist. At the age of 16, Michael logged 31,000 miles in a concert tour of Aus- tralia, sponsored by the Australian Broadcasting Commission And al- though more familiar with the concert and recital platform, Michael easily adapted himself to the challenges of the Hollywood sound stage when he re- corded the sound track for the violin music in the 1954 MGM film "Rhap- sody’’ in which Vittorio Gassman played a violin virtuoso and Elizabeth Taylor provided the romantic interest. The off-stage playing of Rabin and of pianist Claudio Arrau, whose film counterpart was actor John Ericson, was a delight for the music lovers. Ra- bin played selections from Beethoven to Brahms, to Mendelssohn, Sarasate, Debussy, Saint-Saens and Paganini. During the 1954-55 concert season, Michael Rabin’s first tour of Europe was a series of unprecedented triumphs. He visited Norway, Sweden and Den- mark, moved on to Italy for a series of 15 concerts in 18 days, then appeared in Belgium, Portugal, England and France. In London he appeared with Sir Malcolm Sargent and the BBC Or- chestra in Royal Albert Hall and made the first of several distinguished record- ings forEMLAngel Records. While this enterprise undoubtedly pleased him, he was perhaps even more ecstatic when a member of the Philharmonia Orches tra invited him to play first violin in an evening of chamber music, and when Rabin arrived he found that the second fiddle in the quartet had been taken by David Oistrakh. In December 1956, Rabin made a re- peat sold-out European tour, and in June 1957, he made his debut in Israel with a tour which included 23 perfor- mances with the Israel Philharmonic. Already Michael Rabin had accom- plished what many artists twice his age dream of; in short, he was making his- tory. Capacity audiences greeted him with near adulation and typical of their reaction was the response of an enrap- tured listener who after hearing Michael play the Pagam = Violin Con- certo No. 1 in D cried: “We have an- other Paganini!” Yet with all his fame and notoriety, Michael Rabin re- mained an unassuming and likeable young virtuoso, mature in his art, and as Mitropoulos had already observed “completely devoted to his mission’’ In 1958, Michael Rabin made his first recording for Capitol Records. Pro- ducer Richard C. Jones, who had known Michael and his family for many years, recalled recently that working with the young violinist had always been a pleasant experience, par- ticularly the recording of this program of violin favorites with Felix Slatkin and the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, recorded in a phenomen- ally congenial atmosphere (Slatkin and most of the orchestral players were friends of the Rabin family and fol- lowed Michael’s career closely), and in three sessions at the Goldwyn Studios in Hollywood. Mr. Jones remarked on the easy rapport that existed between soloist, conductor and orchestra. “Mi- chael would play a few bars and Felix would bring the orchestra in. Within a very brief time, a take would be or- dered. Almost every piece was recorded in one or two takes, perhaps three, but never more than that. Michael was such a fine artist, seasoned and mature — he made it so easy’’ Carson Taylor, chief engineer of the sessions, recalled that Michael maintained a high stan- dard of excellence throughout the re- cording sessions that was greatly ad- mired. “Particularly memorable’’ said Mr. Taylor, “was Michael's playing of the ‘Moto perpetuo’ which, believe it or not, was one take. Michael retained that difficult, driving tempo through- out the entire work and at the end, the orchestra — everybody — stood up and cheered! It was absolutely thrilling!” As the listener will discover, Michael Rabin’s interpretations of these favor- ite short pieces, played on his vintage Guarnerius del Gesii violin, are out- pourings of brilliant artistry in which technique and genius combine to bring the music fully to life. Side One (20:56) Kreisler: Caprice viennois (Band 1,4:31) Michael Rabin, who was often compared to Fritz Kreisler, paid homage to the venerable master in “Caprice viennois" Kreisler’s ode to his native city. Kreisler, who enriched both the literature of the violin and the manner of play- ing it more than anyone else in 20th century music, once remarked that the generating force behind this music was his love of beauty and of the violin itself. Dinicu-Heifetz: Hora staccato (Band 2, 1:44) Jascha Heifetz first included the “Hora stac- cato" in a recital in 1930 and since then it has been extremely popular with violinists. Legend has it that while dining in an Hungarian res- taurant, Heifetz heard the Rumanian gypsy violinist-composer Gheorghe Dinicu play it. Dinicu graciously gave Heifetz permission to notate trie lusty, earthy music and to use it in his recitals. Massenet: Meditation from “Thais” (Band 3, 5:11) Massenet’s opera “Thais" was premiered at the Paris Opera on March 16,1894. Adapted from the novel by Anatole France, the opera tells the story of the violent conflict in the soul of the monk Athanael, who has fallen in love with the famous courtesan of Alexandria, Thais. This Meditation, actually the second-act intermezzo, is played here as originally scored, for solo vio- lin and orchestra. Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen (Band 4,9:15) In Rabin’s interpretation of “Zigeunerweisen" (“Gypsy Airs"), all the excitement of Pablo Sarasate’s tribute to Hungarian gypsy music has been captured. The piece bristles with dif- ficult passages and every technical possibility is exploited, yet the excitement is perfectly bal- anced by the beautiful Hungarian folk song: “Csak Egy Kis Ldny” Side Two (17:55) Paganini-Kreisler: Moto perpetuo, Op. 11 (Band 1,3:12) Paganini’s brilliant and potentially dangerous “Moto perpetuo’,’ edited by Kreisler, took its inspiration from the English Industrial Revo- lution, when the promise of perpetual motion — and all its utopian potentials — had capti- vated the minds of scientists and artists throughout Europe. Fortunately for the violin- ist, the music has a beginning and an ending, unlike its mechanical ideal. Kreisler: The Old Refrain (Band 2, 3:50) In Kreisler’s adaptation of an old Austrian folk song, all the violinist’s sensitivity to the sweet sounds produced by his instrument conjures up a melody of profound beauty. Rimsky-Korsakov-Heifetz: The Flight of the Bumblebee (Band 3, 1:09) “The Flight of the Bumblebee” from Rimsky- Korsakov’s opera “Tsar Saltan” has become enormously popular as a showpiece for almost every instrument and orchestral ensemble. Jascha Heifetz’ arrangement, requiring a vir- tuoso control of spicatto bowing, keeps the bow airborne for virtually half the time of per- formance. Saint-Saens: Introduction and Rondo capriccioso (Band 4, 9:29) The scheme of Saint-Saens’ “Introduction and Rondo capriccioso’,’ composed in 1909, rests upon the rhythmic base of a Spanish dance, the Aragonese jota. After a serious, poised pro- logue, the composer spins out bravura music whose themes imply the quality of a protago- nist and an antagonist. The interplay accumu- lates a tension which mounts continuously, despite the rondo form. Each return displays new, increasingly difficult elaborations, which are resolved by the dazzling coda. When this program was first released in an album in January 1960, by Capi- tol Records, it was entitled “The Magic Bow’’ It was then, and is now, an ap- propriate title, inspired by a biography of Paganini written by Manuel Kom- roff called “The Magic Bow: A Ro- mance of Paganini/ for in a brief yet legendary career, Michael Rabin pro- vided the world of music with many of its rare and unforgettable moments of magic. His legacy of recordings elo- quently reaffirms his place among the world’s greatest violinists. — Karolynne Gee Producer: Richard C. Jones Engineer: Carson Taylor < Art Direction & Design: Marvin Schwartz cfSEF






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