Daisy Kennedy – The complete British Columbia and Duophone recordings

Born in 1893 in Burra, South Australia, Daisy Fowler Kennedy went to Vienna in her teens to study with the legendary Czech pedagogue Otakar Sevik. Following her débuts in Vienna and in London at the age of 18, she became extremely popular with the public and was regarded as one of the foremost female violinists in her day. In the years before and after the First World War, she performed throughout Europe, the United States, Russia and the Middle East. Described by her attractive appearance in The New York Tribune as “a Burne-Jones head, delicate features peeping out from fluffy brown hair”, The New York Times paid tribute to her artistic merits calling her “a player of great vigor, domination and decisiveness”.

A prominent figure on the concerto and recital stages in the UK, Kennedy often performed with such leading British conductors as Hamilton Harty, Malcom Sargent, Henry Wood and Landon Ronald. Signed by the British Columbia label in 1916, she recorded prolifically in the acoustic era. Her recorded legacy includes the first complete recording of the Schumann Violin Sonata No. 1 in A minor, as well as sonata movements by Brahms and Grieg. She also recorded numerous short works by her musical colleagues Nándor Zsolt, Sydney Rosenbloom, Hilarion Kosloff and Alfred Mistowski. Although she primarily recorded for Columbia, she also made a few records for the Duophone label in 1926. All of her issued recordings, including several previously unissued sides, are featured in this comprehensive 2-CD set.

Curtailing her solo concerts in the late 1920s, Kennedy retired in 1937. Occasionally, however, she made guest appearances performing light music with the salon orchestra at the Regent Palace Hotel in London. She spent her remaining years in London where she died in 1981. After her death her ashes were taken back to Australia and scattered in the Adelaide hills.