Search - Michael Rabin, Pommers, Chopin :: Mosaics: Violin Miniatures

Michael Rabin streaked to fame as a teenager, touted as the inheritor of Heifetz's mantle. Alas, deep personal problems derailed his career and he died young in 1972. But his phenomenal recordings live on, sparking a cult following whose enthusiasm can be shared via this scintillating recital, made up of stereo bon-bons from 1959 and mono Bach and Ysaÿe sonatas from 1955. In an age inundated by adolescent fiddlers, its good to hear the real thing--a young man playing with technical wizardry and mature breadth unmatched by run-of-the-mill prodigies or, indeed, by seasoned veterans. For a taste of Rabin's unblemished virtuosity and infinitely varied coloristic sense, listen to the Mompou, played with languorously seductive wit, or the sentimental Engels piece, taken at a soulful wallow, or the blistering Sarasate "Zapatadeo," full of high-register hijinks, or, perhaps best of all, the Suk "Burleska," which features immaculate intonation at warp speeds. In the great Bach sonata, Rabin invests the opening Adagio with deep yearning and clarifies every strand of the big fugue that follows. This disc is 77 minutes of violinistic bliss. --Dan Davis