Simon Blendis - Love Is Like a Violin: Salon Treasures from the Max Jaffa Library (2022)

Simon Blendis writes: “Max Jaffa (1911-1991) was the pre-eminent light music violinist of his generation, a universally popular figure with a career spanning seventy years, famous as leader of the Palm Court Orchestra and of his trio, and a household favorite through his regular radio broadcasts. Since 2000 I have been playing on a wonderful Peter Guarnerius violin that previously belonged to him. About three years ago I was offered his sheet music library by his family (whom I’d got to know well in the intervening years), reuniting it with the violin, and during the first Coronavirus lockdown in 2020 my wife, Saoko, and I combed through the violin and piano pieces, discovering and performing in online concerts a huge number of gorgeous salon pieces, some well-known but many forgotten or undiscovered.”

Simon Blendis enjoys an international career as a chamber musician, soloist and orchestral leader. He was the violinist with the Schubert Ensemble for 23 years and with the Ensemble he performed over 1000 concerts in over thirty different countries, recorded over twenty CDs, made frequent broadcasts for BBC Radio 3, and created an extensive library of live performances on YouTube which is still available. He now regularly collaborates as a chamber musician in festivals and with other notable artists.

Saoko Blendis was born in Japan, and graduated from Sophia University in Tokyo with a degree in journalism. In 1998 she moved to London to study piano as a post-graduate at the Royal Academy of Music. Since then, she has developed a career as a piano accompanist and duo partner, specialising in repertoire for violin and piano, and has frequently performed with her violinist husband, Simon.