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 Orchestra conducted by Karel Anèerl, and exclusively accompanied by the pianist Alfréd Holecek at chamber recitals) or to work in a studio.

The present album features the complete live and studio recordings Ida Haendel made in Prague until 1965 deposited in the Supraphon and Czech Radio archives, with a number of them being released for the very first time. Alongside 'virtuoso pieces' and sonatas, the CDs include concertos by Beethoven, Stravinsky, Wieniawski, as well as her 'flagship' Sibelius.

When listening, you will have no doubts as to the veracity of Ida Haendel’s seemingly immodest statement “I am the violin...”

Contents:
CD 1
FRITZ KREISLER
- Preludium and Allegro for Violin and Piano

GIUSEPPE TARTINI
- Sonata in G minor ‘Trillo del Diavolo’ for Violin and Piano

NICCOLÒ PAGANINI
- Mose Fantasia. Variations on the G string on the theme by Rossini

WILLIAM KROLL
- Banjo and Fiddle

MAURICE RAVEL
- Habanera (Vocalise-étude en forme de Habanera)

PABLO DE SARASATE
- Zigeunerweisen, Op.20 No.1

JOHANNES BRAHMS ARR. FRITZ KREISLER
10. Hungarian Dance No.17

BÉLA BARTÓK ARR. ZOLTÁN SZÉKELY
- 6 Romanian Folk Dances, Sz.56 (first time on CD)

FELIX MENDELSSOHN
- Saltarello (from the Symphony No.4, arr. for violin and piano) (first time on CD)

KAROL SZYMANOWSKI
Mythes. Three Poemes for Violin and Piano, Op.30 (first time on CD)
- I. La fontaine d´Aréthuse

IGOR STRAVINSKY ARR. SAMUEL DUSHKIN
- Divertimento (from Le baiser de la fée, arr. for violin and piano) 1637

CD 2
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
- Sonata No.7 in C minor for Violin and Piano, Op.30 No.2 (first time on CD)
- Sonata No.8 in G major for Violin and Piano, Op.30 No.3 (first time on CD)
- Sonata No.9 in A major ‘Kreutzer’ for Violin and Piano, Op.47 (first time on CD)

CD 3
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
- Romance in G major for Violin and Piano, Op.40 (first time on CD)
- Romance in F major for Violin and Piano, Op.50 (first time on CD)

HENRYK WIENIAWSKI
- Scherzo – Tarantelle, Op.16
- Mazurka – Obertass, Op.19 No.1 (first time on CD)
- Polonaise de Concert in D major, Op.4 (first time on CD)

BÉLA BARTÓK
- Sonata No.2 for Violin and Piano, Sz76 (first time on CD)

IGOR STRAVINSKY
- Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra (first time on CD)

MAURICE RAVEL
- Tzigane. Concert Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra

CD 4
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
- Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra, Op.61

JEAN SIBELIUS
- Concerto in D minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op.47 (1903)

CD 5
ÉDOUARD LALO
- Symphonie espagnole for Violin and Orchestra, Op.21

ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV
- Concerto in A minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op.82

HENRYK WIENIAWSKI
- Concerto No.2 in D minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op.22