Michael Rabin, 1936-1972.(Sound recording review)

Michael Rabin, 1936-1972, Volumes 1 and 2. Michael Rabin, violin; various conductors and orchestras. EMI CMS 7 64123-2 (six-disc set)

Finally, finally, violinist Michael Rabin's stereo recording of the Paganini First Violin Concerto is easily available to American audiences. Recorded in 1960, it's a recording I long cherished on vinyl and assumed would appear quickly on CD. It didn't. EMI Germany issued on disc in the early nineties and EMI France some years later, but America never saw it except as an import.

Now, it's here. But it comes with a catch. If you want it, you have to buy it in a big, six-disc set, an expensive proposition, especially since many of the accompanying items are in monaural. A lot of audiophiles don't like to listen to mono, no matter how good the mono may be. Nor is all of Rabin's work up to the level of his Paganini. Still, this new set makes an intriguing proposition.

As I said in an earlier review of the Paganini French import, "in the opening movements, Rabin's violin sings lyrically and melancholically and plaintively, and in the final movement it struts and dances, the cock o' the walk. Never have I heard such verve, such exceptional vibrancy and wit and energy, as in Rabin's reading. Indeed, the only minor drawback for some listeners may be the traditional cuts Rabin makes in the score, but the very conciseness of the result for me works in its favor, rendering every note all the more succulently." What's interesting, too, is that this collection also includes Rabin's 1955 mono interpretation of the same concerto, this time with Sir Adrian Boult; it's more filled with youthful perkiness and enthusiasm than lyricism, but it comes off ...