Farewell. Ida – Ida Haendel 192?-2020
So Ida has left us – a legend has departed. What a violinist! What a woman! Magnificent, unique, incorrigible – she was a law unto herself.
First, the playing: a film about her was aptly entitled: ‘I AM the Violin.’ And she was! The violin was her life; she mastered it, devoted so much of her existence to it, cared so much about it. Every performance was an event, which she took absolutely seriously, giving each concert her all. 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.
But she was also an adorable person. I had heard of her, of course, from my childhood onwards – hadn’t everybody? But I didn’t meet her until - I think - 2000, when I attended a memorable recital she gave at the Wigmore Hall (apparently her debut there!), concluding with a magisterial performance of Enescu’s 3rd sonata. I’d heard, to my delight, that she’d heard me somewhere, and had liked it, so I dared to go backstage afterwards. Having enthused about her playing, I rather uncertainly told her that I was Steven. She looked at me disbelievingly. ‘You’re NOT’ she announced, in her wonderful deep voice. I assured her that I certainly had been last time I looked in the mirror. She accepted this, and proposed that we play the Brahms Double together. It was such an honour; but alas, I just couldn’t do the dates she suggested.
I came across her shortly thereafter, however, at the Verbier Festival. I’d seen that she was giving masterclasses there, so when I saw her, I asked how they were going. She looked at me severely. ‘Steven,’ she boomed, wagging her finger. ‘I don’t teach.’ I was puzzled; she was, after all, advertised as the teacher of the violin class. ‘So you like teaching?’ I said, provoking her. The finger wagged again. ‘Steven,’ she repeated with equal seriousness, ‘I don’t teach.’ ‘So how’s the teaching going?’ I asked. Her finger was on its way in my direction, and she’d started to say my name in the same tone of voice – when suddenly her face broke into a big smile. ‘Oh – so you’re a tease,’ she said. After that, we got on famously. My other main memory of that Verbier encounter was of her examining something – I couldn’t see what - in the hotel lobby, and then calling me over. It turned out that the object in her hands was an album of recent photos of her. ‘Look, Steven,’ she commanded urgently. ‘Don’t I look gorgeous?’
Later, we took her to dinner near her flat in London. Tottering through the streets in her high heels, she suddenly came to a stop in front of a (closed) clothes shop, where either a pair of gold shoes or a gold dress (I can’t remember which) had caught her eye. It was impossible to budge her, late though we were for the restaurant. ‘Wouldn’t I look wonderful in that?’ she asked us challengingly. We agreed that she would. ‘I’m coming back here tomorrow morning,’ she assured us. She spoke that night about her appearance. ‘You think I dress like this just to go out?’ she asked. ‘No! Catch me at breakfast – I’ll look just the same.’ Her pride in her appearance was never-changing. Perhaps in someone else it could have been too much – but with Ida, it was wonderful, admirable; life-affirming, in fact, like her pride in her playing.
It is funny that already I’ve seen two obituaries giving her age five years apart. She’d certainly have preferred the younger estimate… It was impossible to get the truth out of her. I remember asking another glorious violinist-character, Lorand Fenyves, whether he knew Ida. ‘Oh yes, of course!’ he replied. ‘I knew her when I was 16 and she was 15.’ He paused. ‘And now I’m 80 and’ his eyes twinkled, ‘she’s 55!’
Although we never got to play the Brahms Double together, we did perform the Beethoven Triple concerto with Martha Argerich and the Rotterdam Philharmonic under the then little-known Yannick Nezet-Seguin in (I think) 2006. Now THAT was an experience – to put it rather mildly… Playing with those two way-larger-than-life ladies was something not to be forgotten; the two adored each other, and it was great fun to witness their interaction. Ida had only played the piece once before, as I remember; but she played it with utter conviction. And Martha was – well, Martha. And Yannick kept the whole thing together, somehow. So – it was special…
It was supposed to happen again, in Miami (where Ida lived); but alas, it didn’t. Still, I kept in touch with Ida and on one memorable occasion got to interview her at the Wigmore Hall (there’s a recording of that occasion on Youtube). She also came down to Prussia Cove once for three days, her visit culminating in a breathtaking account of the Bach Chaconne (she sported an almost equally breathtaking dress to match!) at the Hall for Cornwall. We also played and taught/didn’t teach together in 2010 at the Summit Music Festival, just outside New York. That was another unforgettable experience. At the concert that concluded the festival, Ida played virtuoso pieces with the orchestra that would have been impressive in someone thirty years younger – even younger – than she was. But equally Ida-ish was the post-concert experience. For some reason, it got very late, and it was well after midnight when we were taken in search of food. Not surprisingly, there were few options in the countryside at that time of night; but eventually we found a 24-hour diner. We went in and occupied a table. Looking around at the bikers and other rather unpredictable-looking types, I was a tad nervous; not Ida. I fortified myself with a margarita; she had tea. At one point, the conversation turned to Schumann, and his 2nd violin sonata (which at that time I didn’t know very well). I asked a question about it. ‘You want to hear how it goes?’ Ida demanded to know. She strode over to her violin-case, pulled out the violin, and to the astonishment (and then, luckily the delight) of the assembled company, began to play it. A photo taken at the time (below) shows me a little less than comfortable – and her absolutely in her element.
Oh, Ida. By the last time I spoke to her – too long ago, but not that long ago – I’d heard that she’d become very forgetful, so wasn’t quite sure whether to call her or not. But I dialled anyway, and the phone was answered. ‘Hello, Ida?” ‘Who is it?’ ‘It’s Steven – Steven Isserlis.” Silence – then the phone went dead. Oh dear. I tried again. This time I was able to hold her attention long enough to remind her who I was. We started to talk, and as the conversation progressed, she evidently remembered more and more about our friendship. It was true that she repeated herself a lot; but still – she was very much Ida, the same wonderful voice, the same love of life.
And now she’s gone. Farewell, Ida the legend; we humanoids will miss you – but thank you, thank you for giving us so much. Everything, in fact.
「violinist near me」的推薦目錄:
violinist near me 在 Jo's 九萬的 Facebook 的最佳貼文
【Lake Balaton, Hungary】
坐著沒有冷氣卻有wifi的緩慢火車,被炙熱的40度太陽隔著車頂鐵皮燜烤著,兩個半小時的時間,我從布達佩斯來到了全中歐面積最大的巴拉頓湖畔。
After 2 and half hours being baked in a very slow train that has no AC but wifi under 40 celsius degrees sun, I arrived Lake #Balaton from Budapest, the largest lake in central Europe.
「我只能接待妳到星期四噢,因為我要去Balaton湖邊騎腳踏車然後游泳,妳可以一起來啊。」從青年旅館把我撿回家的F說(雖然後來他騎車摔傷手根本沒去。)
"I could only have you here till Thursday because I am gonna take a bike ride and swim around Lake Balaton. You can join if you want." Said the man who picked me up from the hostel I was staying at (although he didn't even go due to a bike accident.)
「我只有今天可以跟妳見面噢,因為我們全家要開車去克羅埃西亞度假一星期,中間會在Balaton待兩天。」在LA認識、媽媽是匈牙利人的長笛家Gina說。
"I can only meet up with you today because we are taking a road trip to #Croatia and will stop by Balaton for 2 days." Said flutist Gina, who I met in #LA.
「好可惜今天才認識妳,我明天就要走了,要去Balaton。」床位在我隔壁的波蘭男孩說。
"It's such a pity that I didn't meet you sooner. I am leaving tomorrow going to Balaton," The Polish boy who was in the same dorm room told me.
「Balaton很棒喔,雖然我個人比較喜歡海。」賽爾維亞裔的匈牙利小提琴家O說。
"Balaton is great although I personally prefer ocean." My Serbo-Hungarian violinist friend said.
然後在馬其頓Ohrid湖畔認識、正在克羅埃西亞外島航行一星期的瑞典男人也傳了海上的照片給我,「這種天氣就是要泡在水裡啊!」
Then the Swedish man whom I met near Lake Ohrid also sent me a photo of him island hopping in Croatia .. "You should be in water in this kind of weather."
於是,本來是打算直接從Budapest坐巴士到斯洛伐克或是維也納,可是因為從離開Ohrid後已經兩個多星期沒有下水了,在耳根子很軟一直被催眠,又快要被東歐炙陽曬乾的狀態之下,就去了 ... 平靜的水面,湖底是柔軟的沙子襯出一席瑰綠。
So ... originally I planned to take a Bus from Budapest to Slovakia or Vienna, but I haven't been in water for 2 weeks since Ohrid, so I changed my mind after hearing so much about Balaton.
「我們在Budapest認識,他說聽說這裡不錯,我就跟著來了。」丹麥男孩指著旁邊的德國工程師說。
"We met in Budapest. He said he heard good things about Balaton and asked me to join, so I tagged along." The boy from #Denmark pointed at the German engineer right next to him and said.
到底旅行要用哪種方式可以得到更多我不知道,有計畫也行、沒計畫也罷,到後來根本沒有所謂的怎樣比較好,因為永遠都會有不小心就錯過的地方。
"I am not sure which way of traveling could let you get the most out of it. Either planned travel or unplanned ... Since you may always accidently miss out on some places, there's no better way at the end.
-
#travel, #instagram: @joannamiko
-
<3 小提醒:如果要及時看到新文章,記得到粉絲專頁按下【 已說讚 Liked 】,並選取【搶先看 See First 】【搶先看 See First 】【搶先看 See First 】!!
<3 Reminder: If you'd like to read my post firsthand, please remember to click on "liked" from the top of the page, and select "see first" smile emoticon Thank you!