A tribute to the late Ida Haendel, comprising her complete Decca Recordings (1940–1997), newly remastered, as well as her performances at the 1982 Huberman Festival. Lavishly illustrated, Original Jackets, Limited Edition.
On her death in July 2020, obituaries worldwide paid glowing tributes to the effervescence of the violinist Ida Haendel, in both her playing and her person. Both with and without her bow, she captivated listeners and fellow musicians such as the cellist Steven Isserlis: ‘She spoke through her violin, proved herself through it, lived within the music she made. She was a marvel, an icon; each note she played was the result of total conviction – and as a consequence was totally convincing. She had been groomed from the beginning to be a star – and a star she was.’
It is those prodigious early years that enjoy belated attention in this new box of Haendel’s collected Decca recordings. Her first recordings date from 1940, when Haendel, in her early teens, was accompanied by a fellow Polish émigré Adele Kotowska in showpieces and encores. Her reputation in the UK had been secured by accomplished debuts at Wigmore Hall and the Queen’s Hall Proms. Decca confidently invested in her promise, and were rewarded with albums that were consistently acclaimed for the violinist’s warmth and depth of tone and virtuoso temperament, but also liveliness of musical response to a wide variety of repertoire, from a Schubert sonatina to violinistic fireworks by Kreisler and Sarasate.
Haendel was soon paired with an equally brilliant young pianist, Noel Mewton-Wood, for a spry reading of Beethoven’s Eighth Sonata, and then with Ivor Newton for more demanding modern repertoire such as Stravinsky’s Divertimento and Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances. Her recording career continued to flourish after the war with several well-received concerto discs of Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns and Dvořák: all made for 78s and long unavailable until the new remasterings by Mark Obert-Thorn in the present collection. However, despite the excellent reviews, Haendel’s father elected to sign a contract with EMI and she ceased recording for Decca in September 1947.
Haendel’s return to the label had to wait almost 40 years, but a 1996 recital with Vladimir Ashkenazy of modern classics from eastern Europe – Szymanowski, Bartók and Enescu – had critics and listeners alike marvelling at her longevity and undimmed technical command. As well as a live account of the Sibelius Concerto from Israel in 1982 and a spoken memoir from the producer Evans Mirageas, this tribute is significantly enhanced by a previously unpublished late recording: Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending, from 1997, with the London Philharmonic and Sir Roger Norrington, originally intended for release within a Vaughan Williams symphony cycle. A work new to Haendel’s relatively slender discography, this will attract the attention of violin-lovers everywhere.
曲目:
CD 1
JEAN-MARIE LECLAIR
Sarabande and Tambourin°
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Sonata No. 8 in G major for Piano and Violin, Op. 30 No. 3
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Sonatina in G minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 137 No. 3 (D.408)
Rosamunde – Ballet Music (arr. Kreisler)*
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Waltz in A major, Op. 39 No. 15 (arr. Hochstein)
FRITZ KREISLER
Tambourin chinois, Op. 3
Caprice viennois, Op. 2*
Schön Rosmarin
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64°
IDA HAENDEL, violin
Adela Kotowska, piano (1–2, 6–14)
Noël Mewton-Wood, piano (3–5)
National Symphony Orchestra / Malcolm Sargent (15–17)
*FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA
°FIRST INTERNATIONAL CD RELEASE ON DECCA
CD 2
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK
Slavonic Dance No. 2 in E minor, Op. 46 (B.83) No. 2 (arr. Kreisler)*
Humoresque, Op. 107 (B.187) No. 7*
Adela Kotowska, piano
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK
Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53 (B.108)°
National Symphony Orchestra
Karl Rankl
PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35°
National Symphony Orchestra
Basil Cameron
IDA HAENDEL, violin
*FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA
°FIRST INTERNATIONAL CD RELEASE ON DECCA
CD 3
BAZZINI La Ronde des lutins, Op. 25*
HENRYK WIENIAWSKI
Polonaise brillante No. 2 in A major, Op. 21*
Scherzo-Tarantelle in G minor, Op. 16
PABLO DE SARASATE
Carmen – Fantasie de concert, Op. 25*
Zapateado, Op. 23 No. 2 (from Danzas Españolas)
Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 No. 1*
ALBÉNIZ Malagueña, Op. 165 No. 3 (arr. Kreisler)
MANUEL DE FALLA
Miller’s Dance (from El Sombrero de Tres Picos, arr. Szigeti)*
Danza No. 1 (from La Vida Breve, arr. Kreisler as Danse espagnole)
SAINT-SAËNS Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28*
MASSENET Méditation (from Thaïs)*
RAVEL Tzigane*
IBERT Le petit âne blanc*
IDA HAENDEL, violin
Adela Kotowska, piano (1–6, 8–9, 11, 13)
Noël Mewton-Wood, piano (7)
Ivor Newton, piano (12)
National Symphony Orchestra / Basil Cameron (10)
*FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA
CD 4
JOSEPH ACHRON Hebrew Melody, Op. 33 (arr. Auer)
ERNEST BLOCH Abodah*
GRIGORAŞ DINICU Hora staccato*
KAROLSZYMANOWSKI
Roxana’s Song (from King Roger, Op. 46, arr. Kochanski)
Notturno e Tarantella, Op. 28
IGOR STRAVINSKY
Divertimento (after the ballet, ‘Le baiser de la fée’, arr. Dushkin)°
Danse russe (from Petrouchka, arr. Dushkin)°
BÉLA BARTÓK
Hungarian Folk Tunes (arr. Szigeti)*
Romanian Folk Dances, Sz.56 (BB 68) (arr. Székely)
PABLO DE SARASATE Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 No. 1*
MANUEL DE FALLA Danza No. 1 (from La Vida Breve, arr. Kreisler as Danse espagnole)*
IDA HAENDEL, violin
Alice Haendel, piano (1)
Adela Kotowska, piano (2–6, 26)
Ivor Newton, piano (7–25)
*FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA
°FIRST INTERNATIONAL CD RELEASE ON DECCA
CD 5
KAROL SZYMANOWSKI
Mythes
GEORGE ENESCU
Violin Sonata No. 3, Op. 25 (dans le caractère populaire roumain)
BÉLA BARTÓK
Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Piano, BB 94a
Romanian Folk Dances, Sz.56 (BB 68) (arr. Székely)
IDA HAENDEL, violin
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
CD 6
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Concerto grosso in B minor for Four Violins, Op. 3 No. 10, RV 580
from L’Estro Armonico
Isaac Stern, violin I · Ivry Gitlis, violin II
Ida Haendel, violin III · Shlomo Mintz, violin IV
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Zubin Mehta
JEAN SIBELIUS
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47°
Ida Haendel, violin
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Zubin Mehta
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
The Lark Ascending*
Ida Haendel, violin
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Roger Norrington
Evans Mirageas talks about Ida Haendel*
*PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED
°FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA