Performing Arts : Recordings

“Michael Rabin: The Early Years”

Michael Rabin, violin; Ossy Renardy, violin; various pianists; Columbia Symphony Orchestra

Masterworks Heritage/Sony Classical

* * 1/2

The cover indicates these are recordings of Rabin, but another, slightly older prodigy of the time, Ossy Renardy, shares the space. Of course, musical prodigies we have always with us. Yet the field was notably uncrowded at the time--the 1940s and ‘50s--when New Yorker Rabin (born in 1936) and Austrian Renardy (born in 1920) dominated the prodigy scene. At 12, Rabin made his Carnegie Hall debut and was thereafter a major figure until his untimely death in 1972. His remarkable musical playing is documented here, revealing stunning technique and charm. In a monaural format, some of Rabin’s unaccompanied performances emerge scratchy, though bracingly virtuosic. The bonus is Renardy’s silken tone and integrated musicianship--a most satisfactory rediscovery.