Ida Haendel

Ida Haendel is a Polish (some would say English) violinist born on December 15, 1928 (Heifetz was 27 years old.) She took up the violin before she turned four and as a seven-year-old was admitted to the Warsaw Conservatory. Her first teacher was Esther Greenbaum. She later studied with Carl Flesch and George Enescu in Paris. In 1937 (age nine), she made her London debut. Her career was interrupted by World War Two but in 1946, having re-started her career, she was the first artist to appear with the Israel Philharmonic. In 1952, at age 24, she moved to Canada and remained there until 1989, when she settled in Miami. Her autobiography, WOMAN WITH VIOLIN, was published in 1970. The portrait on the cover of her autobiography was painted by her father. She famously said "You cannot play with inspiration when the conductor is an imbecile." Since 1946, she has toured extensively and has also recorded most of the standard repertoire on various labels. Some of her performances can be seen on YouTube. With Ruggiero Ricci, Camilla Wicks, Albert Markov, Zvi Zeitlin, Abram Shtern, and Ivry Gitlis, she is one of the few living legends of the violin - violinists of the Heifetz era.