Previously unreleased Ida Haendel

[Barbirollians]

Many thanks for this, barbirollians - I dithered for a while but now you've convinced me, dammit.



I'll have to wait for Mr Dunkin' Smiff's next pay-day, mind

Just given this another whirl . Extraordinary performances .More and more I regard her neglect by major record companies as a scandal .One has to hope ICA Classics perhaps now that BBC Legends has gone - will dig out some of her great Proms recordings .

[Hornspieler]

Just given this another whirl . Extraordinary performances .More and more I regard her neglect by major record companies as a scandal .One has to hope ICA Classics perhaps now that BBC Legends has gone - will dig out some of her great Proms recordings .

Seconded!

My heroine worship of Ida Haendel, both as a performer and as a lovely person, is well documented on these boards.

HS

[pastoralguy]

Seconded!

My heroine worship of Ida Haendel, both as a performer and as a lovely person, is well documented on these boards.

HS

Thirded!! (If there is such a thing!)

I have all these cds and these are wonderful recordings. Of course, it raises the question that there must be piles of unheard Ida Haendel performances in radio archives over the world. I really hope that, one day, there will be a resurgence of interest in this vastly under-rated musician.

I met her recently (and she signed my copy of her autibiography!) and I can honestly say it was a wonderful moment for me. What amazed me was that she had tiny hands. How she played all those great stretches is amazing.

[amateur51]

Thirded!! (If there is such a thing!)

I have all these cds and these are wonderful recordings. Of course, it raises the question that there must be piles of unheard Ida Haendel performances in radio archives over the world. I really hope that, one day, there will be a resurgence of interest in this vastly under-rated musician.

I met her recently (and she signed my copy of her autibiography!) and I can honestly say it was a wonderful moment for me. What amazed me was that she had tiny hands. How she played all those great stretches is amazing.

Is her autobiography interesting, pastoral?

[Barbirollians]

pG was that at her interview with Isserlis ? Was it illuminating if so ?

[pastoralguy]

Thanks for the questions!

Yes, her autobiography is very interesting indeed. For me, as a frustrated violinist, the early pages where, as a three year old she describes picking up her sister's fiddle and simply re-producing the song her mother was singing, are really quite moving. The biography, in many ways, debunks the whole idea of 'glamour' in a virtuoso's career. It seems to be a series of disappointments and frustrations. AND she was a woman in what was then a very male orientated profession. The spectre of Yehudi Menuhin, surely the greatest violin prodigy of modern times, looms large. Whatever Ida Haendel did, Menuhin did better.

The relationship between the young Ida and her father is described in great detail. He suffered her defeats and celebrated her triumphs and was a tower of strength throughout his life.

All in all, it's a super book BUT it's very hard to come by. It goes for tremendous amounts on both eBay and Amazon and I'm lucky in that my lovely wife bought me one for Christmas last year. £65 for a well used , ex-library copy which is now one of my most beloved possessions!

Yes, we did see her at the Isserlis talk. A both joyful and sad occasion. To see Ida, the last representative of that generation of violinists, including Menuhin, Heifetz, Stern, Milstein, Ginette Neveu, Josef Hassid and Oistrakh was a truly inspiring experience.

[HighlandDougie]

Alas, presumably never-to-be-released is her recording of The Lark Ascending (with Roger Norrington). That I would love to hear. If anyone connected with Universal (or Eloquence) ever reads this forum, please can you find a way of letting us hear it?

[pastoralguy]

Alas, presumably never-to-be-released is her recording of The Lark Ascending (with Roger Norrington). That I would love to hear. If anyone connected with Universal (or Eloquence) ever reads this forum, please can you find a way of letting us hear it?

I hate to say it but it'll probably take her passing to stir the record industry into producing tributes to her. The BBC must have many recordings of her playing.

[LaurieWatt]

Just given this another whirl . Extraordinary performances .More and more I regard her neglect by major record companies as a scandal .One has to hope ICA Classics perhaps now that BBC Legends has gone - will dig out some of her great Proms recordings .

I have on tape a wonderful performance of the Elgar concerto where she is accompanied by Bernard Haitink and the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Proms on 14th September 1978. I have been trying to persuade ICA to take it as the recording is good. My old friend Andrew Neill, former Chair of the Elgar Society, regards it is one of the finest performances he has ever heard.

[Barbirollians]

Sounds terrific . Perhaps we should all write to them .