Ida Haendel, the Polish-born prodigy who became one of the foremost violinists of her generation, died July 1 in Pembroke Park, FL. Her age was unclear, either 91 or 96.

Until the 1980s, Ms. Haendel was virtually the only woman among the top tier of concert violinists. Well into her 80s, she continued to play at any opportunity.

The cellist. Steven Isserlis, who played Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Ms. Haendel and the pianist Martha Argerich, said Ms. Haendel’s musicmaking had always conveyed passion. “It was strong, vibrant, focused and came from right deep inside her,” he said.

Mr. Isserlis recalled an impromptu performance that Ms. Haendel gave around 1 a.m. in a late-night diner in Westchester County that he described as filled with bikers. The conversation had turned to Schumann’s Violin Sonata in D minor, and Mr. Isserlis offered that he didn’t know the piece well. “Do you want to know how it goes?” she asked.

“Before I could stop her she took out her violin and played Schumann, with all the bikers watching,” Mr. Isserlis said. “When she was done, everyone erupted in applause.”

In 2006, Ms. Haendel traveled to Auschwitz, where she played the Prayer from the “Dettingen Te Deum” by Handel for a delegation that included Pope Benedict XVI. Her recorded performance of the simple melody is “impassioned, her tone anguished yet irrepressibly vibrant,” the New York Times said.