J. S. BACH: Weihnachts-Oratarium (1734)
Ottorino RESPIGHI
MARIA YUDINA
DVD & Discoteca Die Zauberflöte (1791)
MACBETH (Verdi)
Macbeth(1) Abbado/1976
Macbeth (1998)
Programme ONP 1998
BIBLIOTECA
PIERRE MONTEUX
Pierre Monteux, nouvel Indispensable de Diapason
Pablo CASALS
DER FREISCHÜTZ (O Morcego)
Car Maria von Weber
Kubelik/1979*
DISCOTECA
Metzmacher (1999 DVD)
DVDTECA
BIBLIOTECA (1)
Nikolai RIMSKI-KORSAKOV
EIN DEUTSCHES REQUIEM (1869)
Herbert von Karajan/Berliner Philharmoniker (EMI, 1976)
Haitink/Wiener Philharmoniker 1980
Sawallisch (Orfeo 1984)
Sergiu Celibidache/OF Munique (EMI, 1998)
O CONCERTO (TCE, 2025)
Danièle Gatti, direction
Orchestre National de France
Rosalia Cid, soprano
Michael Volle. barítono
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, 5 avril 2025
Niccolò PAGANINI
Recorded at Studio A, Capitol 46th Street Studios, New York City, Sept 1958
This is an interesting inclusion in EMI’s GROC series. They have chosen the present recording over the other obvious contender from their archive, Itzhak Perlman’s highly praised version from 1972. Having listened through the disc, I can only applaud their choice, for whatever the Perlman’s merits, this is a very special document from a very special performer. To those of us keen on music generally, but not particularly violin aficionados, Michael Rabin was as much a name referred to by other violinists as anything. The fact that it was referred to with the utmost respect, not to say awe in certain quarters, always made me keen to hear what all the fuss was about, and this legendary recording of the Paganini Caprices is the best possible memorial to his art. It has been available before, but has surely now found its true home in this series. Rabin was born in 1936 into an intensely musical family. His father was a long-serving first desk violinist with the New York Philharmonic, and his mother a respected pianist who taught at the Juilliard. His talent was obvious from the start, and he had a lot of high profile early exposure, debuting at age 9 and even recording a number of these very Caprices at the tender age of 12. He went on a punishing schedule of tours in his twenties, embarked on a series of recordings for EMI in the 1950s (of which this is one) and was effectively burnt out by the 1960s. The critical acclaim cooled, the ill health that had dogged him got worse, and there were even allegations of drug abuse. The tragedy ended in 1972, when he died following a fall at his New York home. He was 36. Hearing him at the peak of his powers, in 1958, gives one an idea why so much was expected of him. The technical control is truly astonishing, and it is allied to a keen intellect and such a passion for the music that criticism is almost useless. He is incapable of producing an ugly tone, even in the most fiendishly difficult passages – and there are many in these works. When Rabin made his recording, playing the set as a whole was a fairly recent development. They were generally given in small groups, played as encores, or even spiced up with piano accompaniments. But they make excellent listening as a whole cycle, such is the variety and marvellously dare-devil invention on display. It needs a performance to match that invention, and Rabin revels in the virtuosity. Examples abound throughout; indeed, every single piece has something about it that makes you sit up and take notice, and Rabin’s tonal palette and bowing ensure that monotony never sets in. Listen to the fiery scale work of No. 5 in A minor and the way he copes with the difficult turns in No.14 in E flat. This is a true master at work. The set rounds off with another A minor, the most famous of the lot and the piece that inspired a whole generation of composers (Liszt, Brahms and Rachmaninov among them) to adapt it in various guises. It makes a fitting conclusion to a stunning recital. Recording quality is extremely good, with only a trace of tape rumble and faint pre-echo to show its age. Informative notes are by Tully Potter. There is much competition now in the catalogue, with the above-mentioned Perlman, as well as Salvatore Accardo, Leonidas Kavakos and Naxos’s excellent Ilya Kaler being highly praised. But Rabin is special, and there can be no better tribute to one of the century’s most gifted, and ultimately most tragic, musical prodigies.
By Tony Haywood
L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI (1813)
Gary Bertini, Dresden Statskapelle, Dresde 1978
VOZES Lucia Valentini-Terrani, Ugo Benelli, Sesto Bruscantini, Enzo Dara, Norma Palacius-Rossi, Gigliola Caputi, Alfredo Mariotti
Leos JANACEK
AIDA (1871)
LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN (1881)
Sergueï RACHMANINOV
DANÇAS SINFÓNICAS Op. 45 (1940)
Obra dedicada a Eugene Ormandy
RAPSÓDIA sobre um tema de Paganini, opus 43 (1934)
Piano & Orquestra sinfónica
CRIAÇÃO: Baltimore, 7 de novembro de 1934 por Sergueï Rachmaninov (piano), Leopold Stokowski & Philadelphia Orchestra
Concerto para piano nº 1, Opus 1 (revisto em 1917)
CRIAÇÃO: Moscovo 1892 Rachmaninov & Vassili Safonov
, *Earl Wild & Jascha Horenstein *Chandos 1966),
Concerto para piano nº 2, Opus 18
CRIAÇÃO: Moscovo 1901, Rachmaninov, piano & Alexander Siloti
, *Byron Janis & Antal Dorati *Living Presence 1961
Earl Wild & Jascha Horenstein *Chandos 1966
Martha Argerich & Riccardo Chailly *Philips 1982
Hélène Grimaud & Vladimir Askhenazy & Philharmonia *Teldec 2000)
Concerto para piano nº 3, Op. 30
CRIAÇÃO: NY 1909, Rachmaninov, piano & Walter Damrosch
Byron Janis & Antal Dorati *Living Presence 1961
Earl Wild & Jascha Horenstein *Chandos 1966
Tzimon Barto & Christoph Eschenbach & London Philharmonic *EMI 1989
Concerto para piano nº 4, Opus 40
CRIAÇÃO: Filadélfia 1927, Rachmaninov, piano & Leopold Stokowski
LA DAMNATION DE FAUST (1846)
Programme Opéra National de Paris
2005-2006
BIBLIOTECA F
Leituras 2025


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