Jeanne Demessieux - The Decca Legacy - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Jeanne Mallow - Complete Music for Unaccompanied Viola [COMPACT DISCS] date 07/25/2006

A tribute to the late Ida Haendel, comprising her complete Decca Recordings (1940-1997), newly remastered, as well as her performances at the 1982 Huberman Festival. Lavishly illustrated, Original Jackets, Limited Edition. On her death in July 2020, obituaries worldwide paid glowing tributes to the effervescence of the violinist Ida Haendel, in both her playing and her person. Both with and without her bow, she captivated listeners and fellow musicians such as the cellist Steven Isserlis 'She spoke through her violin, proved herself through it, lived within the music she made. She was a marvel, an icon; each note she played was the result of total conviction - and as a consequence was totally convincing. She had been groomed from the beginning to be a star - and a star she was.' It is those prodigious early years that enjoy belated attention in this new box of Haendel's collected Decca recordings. Her first recordings date from 1940, when Haendel, in her early teens, was accompanied by a fellow Polish émigré Adele Kotowska in showpieces and encores. Her reputation in the UK had been secured by accomplished debuts at Wigmore Hall and the Queen's Hall Proms. Decca confidently invested in her promise, and were rewarded with albums that were consistently acclaimed for the violinist's warmth and depth of tone and virtuoso temperament, but also liveliness of musical response to a wide variety of repertoire, from a Schubert sonatina to violinistic fireworks by Kreisler and Sarasate. Haendel was soon paired with an equally brilliant young pianist, Noel Mewton-Wood, for a spry reading of Beethoven's Eighth Sonata, and then with Ivor Newton for more demanding modern repertoire such as Stravinsky's Divertimento and Bartók's Romanian Folk Dances. Her recording career continued to flourish after the war with several well-received concerto discs of Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Saint-

This boxed-set of the complete Haydn piano sonatas performed by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet is presented in a clam-shell box, retailing at eleven discs for the price of five. Recorded between 2009 and 2021, this mammoth project has consistently drawn the highest critical acclaim 'A project that began in 2010 is completed; what a journey it has been. Bavouzet's gifts of insightful exposition and revelation are matched by the wisdom of his curation... A triumph' - The Sunday Times 'A recording worth rushing to the shops for. Bavouzet plays these inventive masterpieces with real love' -Classic FM 'Quite apart from his stylistic command and sheer delight in the music, Bavouzet's mixing and matching of different periods in the composer's awe-inspiring pianistic development ensures there is never a dull moment' -The Financial Times 'Bavouzet's readings have a strong claim to be the finest Haydn playing of recent vintage on the modern piano. They are a work of an insightful musician of profound culture and wide interests, whose intellectual emotional identification with Haydn is unreserved, and whose playing, beautifully captured in technical terms, is a delight to listen to.'- International Record Review 'A major modern recording landmark in the Haydn discography' - Gramophone