Ida Haendel,CBE(born 15 December 1928)is a Polish-Britishviolinist. Haendel was a child prodigy. Her career spans over seven decades. She became an influential teacher.

Early career

Born in 1928 to a Polish Jewish family inChełm, her talents were evident when she picked up her sister’s violin at the age of three. Major competition wins paved the way for success. Performing theBeethovenViolin Concerto, she won theWarsaw Conservatory'sGold Medal and the first Huberman Prize in 1933. At the age of seven she competed against towering virtuosos – the likes ofOistrakhandNeveu– to become a laureate of the firstHenryk Wieniawski Violin Competitionin 1935.

These accolades enabled her to study with the esteemed pedagoguesCarl Fleschin London andGeorge Enescuin Paris. DuringWorld War IIshe played in factories and for British and American troops. In 1937 her London debut under the baton of SirHenry Woodbrought her worldwide critical acclaim, and began a lifelong association withthe Proms, where she has appeared 68 times.

Performing career

Haendel has made annual tours of Europe, and also appeared regularly in South America and Asia. Living inMontrealfrom 1952 to 1989, her collaborations with Canadian orchestras made her a key celebrity of Canadian musical life. Performing with theLondon Philharmonicin 1973, she was the first Western soloist invited to China following theCultural Revolution.[6]Although she worked particularly withSergiu Celibidache, she was also associated with SirThomas Beecham, SirAdrian Boult, SirEugene Goossens, SirMalcolm Sargent,Charles Munch,Otto Klemperer, SirGeorg Solti,Vladimir Ashkenazy,Bernard Haitink,Rafael KubelíkandSimon Rattle, with whom she recorded the Elgar and Sibelius violin concertos, available on Testament SBT 1444.

In 1993, she made her concert début with theBerliner Philharmoniker. In 2006 she performed forPope Benedict XVIat the former Nazi concentration campAuschwitz-Birkenau. Later engagements include a tribute concert at London'sNational Galleryin honour of DameMyra Hess's War Memorial Concerts, an appearance at theSagra Musicale MalatestianaFestival in 2010, and a performance ofMax Bruch'sViolin Concerto No. 1in Miami with theRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Ida Haendel has lived inMiami, Floridafor many years and is actively involved in the Miami International Piano Festival.[7]She is represented by Patrons of Exceptional Artists.

Recordings

Her major label recordings have earned critical praise, particularly her performance of theSibelius Concertowhich elicited a fan letter from its composer: "I congratulate you on the great success, but most of all I congratulate myself, that my concerto has found an interpreter of your rare standard". TheSibelius Societyawarded her theSibelius Medalin 1982.

Ida Haendel has said that she has always had a passion for German music.Her recording career began on 10 September 1940 forDecca, initially of short solo pieces and chamber works. In April 1945, she recorded both theTchaikovskyandMendelssohnconcertos followed in 1947 by theDvořákconcerto. Her recording career spans nearly 70 years for major labels includingEMIandHarmonia Mundi. In 1948-49 she recordedBeethoven'sViolin Concerto, withRafael Kubelikconducting thePhilharmonia Orchestra. Other acclaimed recordings are her renditions of theBrahmsViolin Concerto(including one with theLondon Symphony Orchestraconducted bySergiu Celibidache...Celibidache's last studio recording)...and Tchaikovsky's with theNational Symphony OrchestraconductedBasil Cameron.[9]

Among her later recordings were theSonatas and Partitas for solo violin, BWV1001-1006 by J S Bach, recorded at Studio 1 Abbey Road, London in 1995 recorded in analogue and issued by Testament.

She is equally passionate about the music of the 20th century, includingBéla Bartók,Benjamin BrittenandWilliam Walton. Among her premiere performances have beenLuigi Dallapiccola'sTartiniana Seconda, andAllan Pettersson's Violin Concerto No. 2, which was dedicated to her. Paying special tribute to her teacherGeorge Enescu, her Decca recording of his Violin Sonata withVladimir Ashkenazyin 2000 earned her aDiapason d'Or.[citation needed]

Teaching

Haendel's highly emotive performances have inspired a generation of new violinists, includingAnne-Sophie MutterandMaxim Vengerov.

In August 2012 she was Honorary Artist at the Cambridge International String Festival. She is a regular adjudicator for violin competitions, including the Sibelius, the Carl Flesch, the Benjamin Britten, and the International Violin Competition. She has returned to her native Poland to judge theHenryk Wieniawski Violin CompetitioninPoznańon a number of occasions, and was Honorary Chairwoman in 2011.

Honours/Awards

In 1991 she was appointed Commander of theOrder of the British Empire(CBE) byQueen Elizabeth II,[14]and she received an honorary doctorate from theRoyal College of Musicin 2000.

Bibliography

Ida Haendel published her autobiography,Woman With Violin, in 1970:

Haendel, Ida (1970).Woman with Violin: An Autobiography. Gollancz.ISBN9780575004733.

Television

Her life has been the subject of several television documentaries, includingIda Haendel: A Voyage of Music(1988),I Am The Violin(2004), andIda Haendel: This Is My Heritage(2011). In June 2009, she appeared on aChannel 4television programme,The World's Greatest Musical Prodigies, in which she advised then-16-year-old British composerAlex Prioron which children to choose to play his composition.

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