Previously unreleased Ida Haendel

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    #16
    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.
    Last edited by pastoralguy; 11-05-12, 13:21.

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      #17
      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?

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        #18
        Originally posted by HighlandDougie View Post
        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.

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          #19
          Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
          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.

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            #20
            Sounds terrific . Perhaps we should all write to them .

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              #21
              Good to see this thread still bouncing along a year later. Having started it, I thought I should do my bit to keep it going. Every time I attend a performance of the Brahms I can't help thinking back to the only time I saw Ida play live and the impression it made on me at the time. It was a Prom in 1971 when I was a mere 21-year-old. I was standing quite near the front and the impact of her playing and the bright red dress she was wearing was terrific.

              I have even dug out the programme (10p). It must have been a good evening. Erich Leinsdorf was conducting and the concerto was sandwiched between the complete Pulcinella with Anne Howells, Ben Luxon and Robert Tear and the Firebird Suite.

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                #22
                Her interview with Isserlis is on You Tube - he is a great cellist but a dreadful precious interviewer .

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                  #23
                  Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
                  Her interview with Isserlis is on You Tube - he is a great cellist but a dreadful precious interviewer .
                  OK - can we have a link please?

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                    #24
                    Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
                    Her interview with Isserlis is on You Tube - he is a great cellist but a dreadful precious interviewer .
                    OMG!! I had no idea this was being filmed. The person asking the first question is me! Oh boy, how I waffled on and on! The book used for the photos is mine as I'd taken it in the hope she would sign it. (She did).

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                      #25
                      I assumed it must have been you asking about whether she was going to write part two of her autobiography !

                      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAN6NfVzXlM

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                        #26
                        Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
                        I assumed it must have been you asking about whether she was going to write part two of her autobiography !

                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAN6NfVzXlM
                        Yes it was!

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                          #27
                          Originally posted by pastoralguy View Post
                          Yes it was!
                          There is an article available on Jessica Duchen's website in which Ida says she was writing Volume 2 - in 1986 ! .

                          Been playing that 1953 Brahms on Hanssler Classics this evening - the orchestra and conductor aren't in her league but how wonderfully she plays every note . A great shame she never made a stereo version. Perhaps ICA Classics can dig out that 1971 version with Leinsdorf gurnemanz refers to but no sign of them being interested in her Elgar yet !

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                            #28
                            Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
                            There is an article available on Jessica Duchen's website in which Ida says she was writing Volume 2 - in 1986 ! .

                            Been playing that 1953 Brahms on Hanssler Classics this evening - the orchestra and conductor aren't in her league but how wonderfully she plays every note . A great shame she never made a stereo version. Perhaps ICA Classics can dig out that 1971 version with Leinsdorf gurnemanz refers to but no sign of them being interested in her Elgar yet !
                            I still think there must be stacks of Ida Haendel stuff in radio Archives round the world. Maybe one day it'll see the light of day.

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                              #29
                              Originally posted by pastoralguy View Post
                              I still think there must be stacks of Ida Haendel stuff in radio Archives round the world. Maybe one day it'll see the light of day.
                              Indeed , I am surprised more has not been released considering how popular it seems most of her releases are . Perhaps a vocal minority make a lot of noise about them and they do not sell .

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                                #30
                                Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
                                Indeed , I am surprised more has not been released considering how popular it seems most of her releases are . Perhaps a vocal minority make a lot of noise about them and they do not sell .
                                Mmm. Maybe. The BBC must have piles of her recordings in their archives and I'd always hoped that they would release some of her recordings but I've not noticed anything in their new releases.

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