COMPOSERS: GlazunovWieniawskiStravinskyTartini
LABELS: Supraphon
ALBUM TITLE: Ida Haendel in Prague
WORKS: Violin Concerto; Divertimento for Piano and Violin
PERFORMER: Ida HaendelAlfred HolecekPrague Symphony OrchestraVaclav Smetacek
CATALOGUE NO: SU 3782-2
Ida Haendel has never been prolific
in the studio, so it’s good to see these
Czech recordings reappearing. The
opening of the Glazunov Violin
Concerto immediately shows her
qualities – an intense sound with a
focused vibrato, strong but not too
sweet, and an ability to go for the
long phrase with a completely natural
rubato. She’s matched in that by
V‡clav Smet‡?ek, who follows her
through every twist and turn, and
adds some nice touches of his own in
the tuttis. Haendel also produces the
fireworks in the double stops of the
cadenza and finale in the Glazunov,
and even more in the hair-raising
ending of the Wieniawski Second:
this also features an especially warm
account of the emotionally charged
slow movement.
There’s also warmth in Stravinsky’s
Divertimento for piano and violin,
which at times takes it close to the
Tchaikovsky themes upon which it’s
based. The rhythms and syncopations
are as tight as you could wish for,
though, and there’s an acute awareness
of variety of timbre. And if the Tartini
Devil’s Trill Sonata is presented in
what now seems an old-fashioned
style, it lacks nothing in elegance of
phrasing, and the trilling in the finale
is suitably devilish. Recordings are a
little boxy, but don’t get in the way of
the music. Martin Cotton