Prague Recordings 1957-65 / Ida Haendel

Handel; Holecek; Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Ancerl; Prague Symphony Orchestra; Smetacek

Bartók: Violin Sonata No. 2, BB 85, Sz. 76 Romanian Folk Dances, Sz.56 (arr. Székely for violin & piano) Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30 No. 2 Violin Sonata No. 8 in G major, Op. 30 No. 3 Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major, Op. 47 ‘Kreutzer' Romance No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra in G major, Op. 40 arr. for violin and piano Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 Glazunov: Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 82 Lalo: Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21 Ravel: Tzigane Habanera Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 Stravinsky: Divertimento (transcription for violin & piano by Stravinsky & Samuel Dushkin from Le Baiser de la Fée) Violin Concerto in D Tartini: Violin Sonata in G minor 'Devil's Trill' Wieniawski: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22 Scherzo-Tarantelle in G minor, Op. 16 Mazurka in G major, Op. 19 No. 1 'Obertas' Polonaise brilliante No. 1 in D major, Op. 4

Such attributes as charismatic, singular, exceptional are somewhat overused today. Yet in the case of Ida Haendel they are justified. Born in 1928 into a Polish Jewish family, she was a child prodigy, playing Beethoven’s violin concerto at the age of five...and leading master classes in London at the age of 85. After her Prague debut in 1957, she returned to the city throughout the 1960s, either to give concerts (most frequently with the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Karel Ančerl, and exclusively accompanied by the pianist Alfréd Holeček at chamber recitals) or to work in the studio. This 5-CD box features the complete live and studio recordings Ida Haendel made in Prague from 1957-65 and deposited in the Supraphon and Czech Radio archives, with a number of them being released for the first time. Alongside “virtuoso pieces” and sonatas, the CDs include concertos by Beethoven, Stravinsky, Wieniawski, as well as her “flagship” Sibelius. Ida Haendel radiates an elemental, ecstatic musicality, one peculiar to Gypsy virtuosos, here refined into a perfectly cultivated form.

Price: $61.98

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