Benno and Sylvia Rabinof were a violin and piano duo. They extensively toured the U.S., Europe, Asia and Africa throughout their career together performing a mix of classical and contemporary pieces. The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ...

Benno Rabinof

Benno Rabinof (1902-1975), a violinist, was the last of Leopold Auer's famous students, who also included Efrem Zimbalist, Mischa Elman, and Jascha Heifetz. In 1927, Benno made his Carnegie Hall debut playing the Elgar and Tchaikovsky concertos, with Auer conducting. Benno then performed throughout America and Europe, in solo recitals and with orchestras. In the late thirties and early forties, Benno played 28 different concertos in a series of 28 weekly WOR broadcasts under the baton of Alfred Wallenstein. Leopold Auer. ... Efrem Zimbalist, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1933 Efrem Zimbalist (9/21 April 1889 - February 22, 1985) was one of the worlds most prominent concert violinists, as well as a composer, teacher and conductor. ... Mischa Elman Mischa Elman (January 20, 1891 – April 5, 1967) was a Ukrainian-born violinist, famed for his passionate style and the beauty of his tone. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street. ... Sir Edward Elgar Sir Edward Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO (2 June 1857 â€“ 23 February 1934) was an English Romantic composer. ... Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr (Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильич Чайкoвский, Pëtr Il’ič ÄŒajkovskij;  )[1] (7 May [O.S. 25 April] 1840 – 6 November [O.S. 25 October] 1893), was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... Alfred Wallenstein (born October 7, 1898, Chicago, died February 8, 1983, New York) was a cellist and conductor. ...

Sylvia Rabinof

Sylvia Rabinof, a pianist, teacher, and composer, was born Sylvia Smith in New York on October 10, 1913. As a child and teenager, Sylvia attended the Third Street Music Settlement school, later continuing her piano studies with Paderewski, Simon Barere, and Rudolph Serkin. Sylvia made her European debut in Paris in 1937; and in 1938, she gave a recital at Town Hall in New York. Sylvia died in Florida on January 20, 2001. Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (November 6, 1860 – June 29, 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer, diplomat and politician, the third Prime Minister of Poland. ... Simon Barere (September 1, 1896 - April 2, 1951) was a Russian-born American pianist. ... Rudolph Serkin(pianist; born March 28, 1903, Eger, Bohemia; died May 9, 1991) - also spelled as Rudolf Serkin. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... NY redirects here. ...

Rabinof Collaborations and Life After Benno

A week after Sylvia and Benno met, they got together for their first date, spending the day playing all 10 of Beethoven’s sonatas for violin and piano. A portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820 Ludwig van Beethoven (IPA: ), (baptized December 17, 1770[1] – March 26, 1827) was a German composer. ...

Benno and Sylvia married in 1943 and began concertizing around the world together, performing violin and piano sonatas, as well as appearing in solo recitals and as soloists with major orchestras. For their tenth wedding anniversary in 1953, Sylvia and Benno performed all 10 Beethoven piano and violin sonatas in one day at Town Hall, a feat they would repeat at Alice Tully Hall in 1969. In 1954, they premiered the Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra of the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu, which was commissioned by them. Sylvia and Benno continued to perform together until Benno died in 1975. The Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall that is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. ... Bohuslav Martinů  listen? (born in Polička, December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

Throughout their career Benno and Sylvia maintained a busy performing and teaching schedule, and chose to emphasize that over preparing for recordings. However, in 1965 Decca records produced "Gypsy Violin Classics," featuring Benno on the violin and Sylvia on piano. In May 1965, a High Fidelity reviewer wrote, “Rabinof’s pulsating, glossy tone and his spectacular velocity definitely bear the Auer label, long a distinguishing trademark in the annals of violin playing. He gives an impressive and satisfying account of himself in this collection.”

Sylvia Rabinof also taught and composed, specializing in composing improvisations based on the classics. From 1971 to 1979, she taught in the pre-college division at Juilliard, and she gave summer workshops at the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina. The Juilliard School is a performing arts conservatory in New York City, informally but definitively identified as simply Juilliard, and most famous for its musically-trained alumni. ...

For some 30 years, Sylvia wrote biographies of musicians and articles about improvisation for Junior Keynotes magazine, a publication of the National Federation of Music Clubs. Sylvia also served as chairperson of the federation’s improvisation activities and regularly performed and gave workshops at the federation’s annual convention.

In 1978, Sylvia married Charles Rothenberg, a lawyer and music lover. In 1989, Sylvia and Charles, who by then were spending their winters in Florida, moved permanently from New York to Florida. Charles died in 1992.

Sylvia continued to play the piano, compose, and teach, using the name Sylvia Rabinof, until her death at age 87 on January 20, 2001.

During the 1990s, Sylvia performed as a solo pianist and with other musicians, including violinist Ruggiero Ricci. In the mid 1990s, a CD featuring Ricci and Sylvia in a performance of the Sibelius Violin and Piano Sonata was produced. Ruggiero Ricci (born July 24, 1918 San Bruno, California) is an Italian-American violin virtuoso. ... Johan Julius Christian Jean/Janne Sibelius ( ; December 8, 1865 – September 20, 1957) was a Finnish composer of classical music and one of the most notable composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. ...

In 2003, Pavilion Records, LTD, under the Pearl label, produced a CD made from tapes of performances by the Rabinofs in the 1940s and 1950s.

Sylvia's students included Ken Noda, Richard Allston, and Jose Ramos-Santana; and she mentored Richard Glazier, composing a variation on a theme by Gershwin for Glazier to perform.

External links

• Rabinof archive and recordings
• Jose Ramos-Santana
• Richard Glazier
• Richard C. Alston