Ida Haendel’s reputation among violin devotees has assumed almost legendary status in recent years, not least on account of her almost total neglect by record companies since the 1950s. She’s probably best known for a first-rate Elgar Violin Concerto recorded with Adrian Boult and recently reissued on Testament, along with her mono recording of concertos by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, and Tchaikovsky. Haendel’s the real deal: an artist with a commanding technique as well as the musical imagination and intelligence to best deploy it. On evidence here, she’s still going strong in her 70s, coping with a well-chosen and challenging program with both sensitivity and flair. The Enescu sonata, which she played for the composer himself, finds her in particularly strong form throughout, and she manages the very high-lying flights of fancy in Szymanowski’s Mythes with excellent intonation and tonal purity. Her Bartók encompasses both the earthiness of the Romanian Folkdances and the more stylized dance modes of the Rhapsody with equal aplomb.
Vladimir Ashkenazy’s contribution offers less to cheer about. While certainly competent, his playing has a certain dry awkwardness (compare him to Krystian Zimerman in the Szymanowski!) that makes him sound less than comfortable with the music. The Bartók works best for him. Unfortunately it’s difficult to get a firm impression of his contribution because the recording places him much too far in the background, almost in his own acoustic space. Haendel has publicly stated her dissatisfaction with the balances on this recording, and with good reason. Nevertheless, her fans will want to own it both for her own contributions as well as for the bonus disc featuring her Decca recordings from the 1940s. These include a fine Beethoven Sonata in G major (Op. 30 No. 3) and Schubert Sonatina in G minor, as well as a generous selection of short pieces. Hopefully some enterprising independent label will take note of Haendel’s availability (are you listening, Hyperion?), sign her up while there’s still time, and get the sonics right.
