Ida Haendel
The respect held by other musicians for the talents of violinist Ida Haendel was almost as total as her obscurity in the mind of the general public. What commanded this respect was her large tone, assured and dedicated technique, and refreshing musicality.
Haendel was born on December 15, 1928, in Chelm, Poland, and took up the violin at the age of three. She won her first competition, the Huberman Prize, when she was five, playing Beethoven's Violin Concerto, and was a finalist at the age of seven in the Wieniawski Competition. She and her parents traveled around Western Europe for a few years, during which time she did some studies with Enescu. Eventually, the family settled in London, where she was a student of Carl Flesch. In 1937, she made her first appearance at the Promenade concerts, where she continued to perform until late in life. It was around the time of her 1939 debut with Sir Henry Wood that the debate over her age developed. At the time, London would not allow children under the age of 14 to perform on Sundays, so 11-year-old Ida and her manager lied about her age in order for her to play. During World War II, Haendel played for English troops and participated in Myra Hess' National Gallery concerts. She also made many recordings during the early 1940s, but it wasn't until she toured the U.S. in 1946 and began annual tours of Europe, as well as appearing in South America and Asia, that her name began to be known outside of England. She and her family moved to Canada in 1952, but she split her time between Miami and London. She was the soloist invited to tour China with John Pritchard and the London Philharmonic in 1973.
Haendel's signature pieces were the concertos of Sibelius, Elgar, Walton, Brahms, and Britten. Both Sibelius and Walton personally praised her performances of their works. She premiered Dallapiccola's Tartiniana seconda in 1957 and Allan Pettersson's Violin Concerto No. 2, which was dedicated to her, in 1980. Haendel was given the Sibelius Prize in 1982 and created a Commander of the British Empire in 1991. While not as well recognized as she should have been, she continued to be a much-sought-after soloist by conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, and Seiji Ozawa and was admired by younger violinists such as Anne-Sophie Mutter and Maxim Vengerov. Haendel died on July 1, 2020, in Pembroke Park, Florida.
© Patsy Morita /TiVo
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Sibelius: Violin Concerto, Serenades & Humoreske No. 5
Ida Haendel, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Berglund
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ida Haendel & Josef Hassid - Their HMV Encores (Remastered 2023)
Ida Haendel, Josef Hassid, Gerald Moore
Classical - Released by Parnassus on 21 Apr 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chaconne - Ida Haendel Violin Recital
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 25 Mar 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ida Haendel - The Decca Legacy
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 2 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chaconne - Ida Haendel Violin Recital
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 25 Mar 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The SWR Recordings 1953-1967
Ida Haendel, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Hans Müller-Kray
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 8 Oct 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BRAHMS, J.: Violin Concerto in D major / MENDELSSOHN, F.: Violin Concerto in E minor (Haendel, Muller-Kray) (1953, 1955)
Ida Haendel, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Hans Müller-Kray
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 1 Jan 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Enescu/Bartók/Szymanowski etc.: Works for Violin & Piano
Ida Haendel, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concertos pour violon
Ida Haendel, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Berglund
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Khachaturian / Bartok : Concertos pour violon (Historical Recordings, 1962 & 1967)
Ida Haendel, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Hans Müller-Kray
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 28 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violin Concerto, Op. 61 (Mono Version)
Ida Haendel, Rafael Kubelik, Philharmonia Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ida Haendel, Vol. 3: 1980 Toronto Recital (Live)
Ida Haendel, Ronald Turini, Unknown Artist
Chamber Music - Released by DOREMI on 25 Apr 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ida Haendel, Vol. 4 (Live)
Ida Haendel, McGill Chamber Orchestra, Ronald Turini, Alexander Brott, Unknown Artist
Concertos - Released by DOREMI on 5 Feb 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pettersson: Violin Concerto No. 2 / 6 Songs From Barefoot Songs
Ida Haendel, Margareta Dahlstrom, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stockholms Studensångare, Herbert Blomstedt, Eskil Hemberg
Classical - Released by Caprice on 1 Jan 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ida Haendel, Vol. 1 (Live)
Ida Haendel, Harry Freedman, Derek Bampton
Chamber Music - Released by DOREMI on 20 Oct 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ida Haendel, Vol. 2: 1967 Montreal Recital (Live)
Ida Haendel, Unknown Artist, John Newmark
Chamber Music - Released by DOREMI on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Master of Music, Bruch - Violin Concerto No.1, Op.26, Scottish Fantasy, Op.46
Ida Haendel, Jascha Heifetz, Rafael Kubelik, William Steinberg, London Symphony Orchestra, RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Oscardigital on 21 Jul 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ida Haendel plays Tchaikovsky & Dvorak
Ida Haendel, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Hans Müller-Kray
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 27 Apr 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classical Violin Giants, Vol. 7
Ida Haendel, Zino Francescatti
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 14 Oct 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Cello Concerto, Op. 104 - Violin Concerto, Op. 53
Enrico Mainardi, Ida Haendel, Fritz Lehmann, Karl Rankl, Berliner Philharmoniker, The National Symphony Orchestra
Symphonic Music - Released by Infinity on 14 May 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo