Otto Derolez - Chopin: Dreamscape - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Sharon Kam - Sharom Kam Plays Concerti [COMPACT DISCS] date 04/25/2006

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 debut album from the outstanding pianist Rafal Mokrzycki, devoted entirely to Fryderyk Chopin's music, is an ingenious compilation of musical genres, ranging from narrative forms (Ballade in G minor, Op. 23), ending with dance miniatures (Mazurkas, Op. 50 and waltzes). Rafal Mokrzycki is a Polish pianist. He is a winner of the Valletta International Piano Competition in Valletta, Malta, 2017, where he received also a special prize a possibility to play with the National Radio and Television Orchestra in Tirana, Albania. He has been awarded in many other national and international competitions and was supported by the Karol Szymanowski Foundation and the National Fund for Children. He is now a member of Music Societies in Torun and Poznan, Poland.