Michael Rabin (musician)

Michael Rabin (born May 2, 1936 in New York City , † January 19, 1972 ibid) was an important American violinist . He died tragically at the age of 35.

Childhood and talent

Rabin's father was a violinist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra , his mother a pianist who studied at the Juilliard School in New York. It is reported that Rabin perfectly with one year could knock the clock and with three years of a perfect pitch revealed. At the age of five he began to learn to play the piano.

Shortly afterwards he got hold of a miniature violin from a doctor who was an amateur violinist, which he no longer wanted to give away. His father then began to teach him. When the great talent of Michael Rabin was revealed within a few lessons, he eventually became a student of violin teacher Ivan Galamian , who believed he was his most talented.

Artistic career

In 1947, at the age of 10, Rabin made his first public appearance with the Havana Symphony Orchestra under Artur Rodziński . The program of this debut included the highly virtuoso Violin Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor by Henryk Wieniawski . At the age of 13 he made his highly acclaimed debut at New York's Carnegie Hall with the Violin Concerto No. 5 by Henri Vieuxtemps . The first record was made in 1950, and in 1951 Columbia Masterworks released 11 caprices by Niccolò Paganini .

In the 1950s Rabin signed a recording contract with Capitol-EMI , for which he recorded the violin concerto No. 1 in D major by Paganini twice within a few years (once in mono , once in stereo ), as well as the two violin concertos by Henryk Wieniawski and those of Peter I. Tchaikovsky , Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Alexander Glasunow .

His complete recording of the 24 Caprices by Paganini, made in 1958, became famous , which is considered by many to be unsurpassed and which Itzhak Perlman avowedly inspired to his own, also famous complete recording from 1972:

"I would like to dedicate this album to the memory of my dear friend and colleague, Michael Rabin. In preparing for the recording, his influence was a constant source of inspiration for me. (Itzhak Perlman) "

For unknown reasons, Rabin did not enter a recording studio after 1959, while he initially continued his concert career unbroken. However, some television recordings were made in the 1960s that prove the high artistic level at which Rabin was still at that time.

Rabin played a violin by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù from 1735 ("ex-Kubelik").

Personal problems

In the early 1960s rumors arose of the musician's emotional instability, and later of chronic substance abuse. Rabin developed pronounced fears, such as falling off the stage. That is why the unsustainable hypothesis of his untimely death in 1972 circulated for a long time that the violinist had committed suicide out of desperation.

Circumstances of death

Michael Rabin was found dead in his apartment on January 19, 1972 by his girlfriend at the time, June LeBell, a singer, after he had not answered the phone several times that day. The two of them had arranged to have dinner out that morning by phone for the same evening. The singer found him dead in a pool of blood under a folding chair in boxer shorts and a T-shirt, bleeding from his nose and mouth. The violin was in the open case.

A can of tuna and its utensils indicated that he was about to have lunch. The floor was freshly waxed and very smooth. One slipper was in the kitchen, one in the bedroom. June LeBell got the impression that Rabin had tried to run to the phone from the kitchen, slipped and hit his head on the wooden seat of the chair.

An autopsy by the well-known pathologist Dr. Michael Baden revealed a fracture of the posterior surface of the skull with severe brain injuries. He ruled that Rabin's fall was unprotected, like a drunkard. In this context, it is important that a vial containing the barbiturate Tuinal was found in the apartment , the contents of which were detected in laboratory tests carried out by Rabin - but not in a dose that suggests consumption with suicidal intent.

In summary, from these evidence the picture emerges that Rabin slipped under the influence of barbiturates, hit his head against a chair and ultimately died as a result of a fractured skull .

Evaluation of his work

According to many contemporaries, Rabin was one of the great violin talents of his time. Possibly because he did not manage to cope with the difficult transition from being a child prodigy to adulthood, the world lost this talented violinist at an early age, who, with all his technical and tonal perfection and great musicality, would certainly have had an enormous development ahead of him. The fact that Rabin had to complete an unbelievable number of concerts with a mostly virtuoso repertoire that was limited in every respect and that he evidently did not succeed in creating vital freedom for himself played a major role in this.

Quotes

• We soloists are all slaves to our instrument.
• Another thing is the bullying system of the programs. Why should one stick to this tradition? Why shouldn't arrangements be imaginable that the artist likes?

Web links

• Works by and about Michael Rabin in the catalog of the German National Library
• (Incomplete) list of recordings
• Short biography and discography (Sony Classical)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A meticulously researched log of all available evidence can be found in Anthony Feinstein, Michael Rabin - America's Virtuoso Violinist, AMADEUS PRESS 2005