Violinist Ida Haendel

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Violinist Ida Haendel (1928-2020) remains in the memory of those who heard her in person as one of the great violinists of the 20th century. The possessor of tremendous technique and an artist of passionate musicality she can be heard in a series of three compact discs (SWR CLASSIC 19427) that feature her playing under the baton of Hans Müller-Kray, chief conductor of the Radio-Sinfonieochester Stuttgart before 1967.

The collection includes: Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77; Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64; Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35; Dvořák Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53; Khachaturian Violin Concerto in D Minor; Bartók Violin Concerto No. 2.

There is very little left to be said about the extraordinary Ida Haendel. Her music-making is injected with tremendous strength tempered with maturity and impeccable taste. In the Andante movements of the Brahms, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky concertos she spins a seamless legato line as if her Stradivarius were a human voice. And her endurance in long movements, like the opening Allegro of the Brahms violin concerto is remarkable, even for a then young violinist in her early thirties and in the early stages of her career.

In the Allegretto of the Mendelssohn concerto and in the finale of the Tchaikovsky concerto she takes both tempi in coordination with Maestro Müller-Kray at a nice clip but not so fast as to distort articulation and clarity. There is not in her playing one iota of the sort of grandstanding in which many of today’s younger violinists like to indulge themselves, often at the expense of elegance and sobriety – two sterling qualities intrinsic to Ida Haendel’s playing.

In the great Romantic works – Brahms, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky – Ida Haendel had few peers,  yet she expanded her repertoire to include some of the off-the-beaten path works by Khachaturian and Bartók, both of  whose violin concertos are included here and  to both of which Ida Haendel gave the same attention as she bestowed on the staples of the violinist’s repertoire. Ever elegant, ever noble, ever a servant of the composer, Ida Haendel’s playing lives on in this excellent collection.

Rafael de Acha       ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”