At the beginning of 1914, just a few months before the outbreak of World War I, the American violinist Albert Spalding accidentally met his famous colleague Fritz Kreisler, who was at the peak of his fame. The latter looked somewhat depressed and confessed that he was considering ending his artistic career. The American was extremely surprised, as Kreisler was considered at that time the world’s leading violinist and was not yet forty years old. When asked what prompted such thoughts, Kreisler said that he had recently been to Russia and attended a class evening of Leopold Auer at the Petrograd Conservatory. Among many talented children, he was especially struck by a thirteen-year-old boy. Kreisler found his playing so perfect that all other violinists simply had nothing more to do in comparison.

Of course, this story, which became a legend, is not without exaggerations, especially since Kreisler continued to delight his admirers for a long time after that, and other violinists of different generations certainly were not left without work. Nevertheless, the great artist’s intuition did not deceive him.

The boy, whose name was Jascha Heifetz, indeed grew into an incomparable artist, considered by many to be the greatest of our century.

Joseph (Jascha) Heifetz was born on January 20 (old style) – February 2 (new style), 1901, in Vilnius. He received his first violin lessons at the age of three from his father, Rubin Heifetz—a self-taught violinist from the town of Pulawy (Poland), who played at weddings. From the age of four, he began studying under one of the best violinists and teachers in the city, I. Malkin, a pupil of Auer, who taught at the Vilnius Music School of the Russian Musical Society. Heifetz’s talent developed rapidly. In 1906, he first performed at the exhibition “Art in the Life of Children,” and on December 7, he played Zingel’s “Pastoral Fantasy” at a school evening, and on December 12, Berio’s “Aria with Variations.” In 1908, he played Wieniawski’s “Ballade and Polonaise,” and Auer, who heard him, highly praised the young violinist’s playing. The following year, Jascha performed Mendelssohn’s concerto with an orchestra in Kaunas. That same year, he graduated from the music school. The Vilnius Jewish Society provided significant support for Heifetz’s education. It also funded the family’s move to St. Petersburg and the young man’s admission in 1910 to the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Auer’s class.

In his first year, Heifetz studied with Auer’s assistant, I. Nalbandyan, then transferred to the professor’s class. On April 17, 1911, Heifetz made his debut in the Small Hall of the conservatory. The same concert was performed in mid-May at the Pavlovsky Station. Soon concerts followed in Odessa, as well as in Warsaw and Łódź. That year, the first record was released featuring the ten-year-old artist’s playing—Schubert’s “Bee” and Dvořák’s “Humoresques.”

The beginning of Heifetz’s worldwide fame was marked by seven concerts in Berlin, where he performed with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of V. Safonov and A. Nikisch. Another eight concerts took place in other German cities—Dresden, Hamburg, as well as in Prague. Although Heifetz played on a 3/4 violin, he amazed listeners with a full sound of extraordinary beauty and expressiveness, brilliant virtuosity and ease of execution, energy, and impeccable taste. Critics already noted his serious achievements in interpretation.

In the summer of 1912, Jascha spent time with Auer in Loschwitz (near Dresden), where he performed Bach’s Double Concerto together with Seidel. German critics called Heifetz the “Angel of the Violin.” On November 4, in Grünwald, the young musician’s playing was recorded on phonograph cylinders (now kept at the Pushkin House in St. Petersburg). That same year, he performed in Warsaw at the Artists’ Exhibition. In 1913, he played in Moscow, Vilnius, Leipzig, and Vienna. On January 21 of the following year, he played Glazunov’s concerto for the first time in St. Petersburg under the composer’s baton. During these years, the entire Heifetz family (they had two daughters, one of whom studied piano at the St. Petersburg Conservatory) lived off Jascha’s fees. Auer encouraged the boy’s performances, believing they would not harm him, as he considered him already a formed artist. The family was caught in Germany at the outbreak of World War I. The young violinist was offered to give concerts for wounded German soldiers but refused. Then the Heifetz family members were declared prisoners of war and only managed to return home after four months.

In 1915, Heifetz performed repeatedly in Petrograd. He was already a recognized virtuoso, astonishing with the perfection of his playing and impeccable style. The summer of 1916 was spent with Auer in Norway. An American impresario, captivated by his playing, signed a contract with the young violinist for performances in the USA the following year.

The journey to America due to the war went through Siberia. On July 8, the Heifetz family (except the daughters) sailed from Vladivostok to Japan, and from there to America.

On October 27, Heifetz made his debut at Carnegie Hall with incredible success. Critics noted that “the large audience included all professional violinists within a 200-mile radius,” that Heifetz’s art “transcends the limits of the possible,” that it was a “radiant prophecy,” that Heifetz was a “true genius,” a “concentration of the highest violinistic and musical qualities,” and that his playing was “penetrating beauty.”

Indeed, the main quality characterizing Heifetz was perfection in everything. In short, he was the “Paganini of the 20th century.” Heifetz became the “idol of the American public” and gave more than thirty concerts in New York alone in one year. His art was recorded on ten records. The following year, nine more recordings appeared. All of them captured his playing on the Tononi violin, which Heifetz had played since the age of thirteen.

At one of his first concerts, a gentleman approached him and offered Heifetz to play on a Stradivarius violin owned by that man, and Heifetz readily agreed. Two years later, Heifetz bought the violin from the gentleman, who did not want to reveal his name, for a good price. Over time, he bought another Stradivarius and, before the war, added a Guarneri violin to his “violin arsenal.” These three violins served Heifetz until the end of his career, although he occasionally played on other violins.

Jascha quickly “Americanized,” spoke without an accent, drove a luxurious sports car, played tennis and ping-pong, and soon acquired a motorboat. In general, this period of life resembled a belated childhood—his normal childhood had been taken away by his prodigy career.

This could not but affect the violinist’s self-discipline and quality of performance. He writes in his autobiography: “There came a time when a lack of discipline in practice caught up with me. In 1921, after one of the concerts in New York, music critic W. J. Henderson from The New York Times published a critical review. He wrote that I had fallen in the public’s and his opinion and that I should watch myself, that it is not enough to play a piece—you need to think about it. That I have a duty to myself and to music that will never be repaid. I knew this man wished me well; what he described was a painful blow for me because it was true. I began to practice seriously, I abandoned my youthful extravagance. I will always be grateful to Henderson. He knocked the nonsense out of me and set me on the right path. Critics can sometimes do useful things. He died a few years ago, and I will always regret not having met him.” Apparently, one must be an extraordinary person to perceive such a lesson and write about it this way. In 1925, Heifetz became an American citizen, and in 1929, he married the famous American movie star Florence Arto. The following year, their daughter Josephine was born, and in 1932, their son Robert.

By the late 1930s, the violinist claimed to have made four world tours and, by the length of the routes, twice reached the Moon. In 1920, he performed for the first time in London; the following year, he made a large tour of Australia. In 1922, 1924, and 1925, he again gave concerts in England; in 1923, he had a long tour in the East. In 1926, he toured South America and the Middle East. He played with the best orchestras in the world and received the highest fees among performers. In 1933, the premiere of M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Second Violin Concerto “The Prophet,” dedicated to Heifetz, took place. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by A. Toscanini, who highly valued the violinist’s talent.

Heifetz always behaved cautiously, including in political matters. This allowed him to maintain good relations with the Soviet regime. He was not considered a White émigré or a non-returnee and was one of the few who visited the USSR during the first Soviet-American thaw in 1934. Passing through fascist Germany, he refused to perform there. The artist’s six concerts in Moscow and Leningrad, performances before conservatory students (where he also answered questions), were met with great success. His playing largely overturned established ideas and had a noticeable influence on performance and pedagogy.

At that time, the famous critic M. Sokolsky wrote: “What impresses most in Heifetz’s playing is his technique, enormous, admirable virtuoso mastery. This technique is extremely diverse, mathematically precise, and even. His tone is amazingly strong, rich, and deep. Heifetz knows no insurmountable difficulties in his art. The ease with which he overcomes all technical obstacles is captivating. Moreover, the effortlessness and freedom of Heifetz’s mastery, though somewhat cold and strict, are such that they can sometimes mislead; an uninitiated listener might truly believe that what Heifetz performs is easy and simple. But one must truly know, for example, what exceptional difficulties Paganini’s 24th Caprice presents to a violinist to fully appreciate the absolutely dazzling, fabulous mastery with which he performs this piece.”

In 1938, Heifetz appeared in the feature film “Shall Play Musik,” playing himself. This is the first video recording of the great artist’s playing. In 1939, the violinist performed Walton’s concerto dedicated to him for the first time.

In 1940, he bought a house in Beverly Hills, as well as a small cottage nearby in Malibu on the ocean shore. That same year, he began teaching at the University of Southern California and toured South America. During World War II, Heifetz, along with Rachmaninoff, Panov, Andersen, Piers, and other musicians, performed extensively in hospitals and before soldiers.

In 1945, Heifetz divorced his wife, and in early 1947, he married Frances Spiegelberg. The following year, their son Joseph was born. In 1950, a film about Heifetz was shot—a meeting with students at the University of California. The second thaw in Soviet-American relations, which occurred in the 1950s, passed without Heifetz; his political affiliations then belonged entirely to Israel. To a large extent, the concert hall and conservatory in Haifa were built with his funds.

Heifetz was a versatile musician. He played the piano excellently, often accompanied his friends in Auer’s class, worked for a time as a conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and composed music for some films.

Heifetz was a cheerful person, as they say, “the life of the party.” He significantly enriched not only the library of musical recordings but also the surrounding musical folklore.

Once Soviet musicians asked him what he thought of David Oistrakh.

— He is undoubtedly the best Soviet violinist and the second best violinist in the world, came the reply.

— Who is first? came the natural question.

— Well, there are many firsts.

In 1953, during his fourth tour in Israel, Heifetz included Richard Strauss’s Violin Sonata in his program. At that time, Richard Strauss was considered by many Israelis a Nazi composer, and his works were unofficially banned in Israel along with those of Richard Wagner. Despite the Israeli government’s request to change the program, the defiant Heifetz declared: “Music is above these factors… I will not change my program. I have the right to choose my repertoire myself.” Despite this statement, during the entire tour, the audience received this sonata with deathly silence.

Heifetz received several threatening letters but ignored them on Ben-Gurion’s advice. Once, after a concert in Jerusalem, near the King David Hotel, a young man approached him and tried to hit him with an iron rod. Heifetz managed to protect his violin from the blow with his right hand. When the attacker began to run away, Heifetz shouted to his companions, who were armed, to shoot the fleeing man; however, he was never caught. The attack was later attributed to the terrorist group “Malchut Israel” (also known as the “Tzrifin underground”), uncovered two months earlier. Threats continued, but Heifetz stated that he would not stop performing Strauss. The last concert was canceled because his swollen right hand continued to hurt. Heifetz left Israel and did not return until 1970.

In 1972, he stopped performing concerts and turned to teaching at the University of Southern California alongside his friends and colleagues Gregory Piatigorsky and William Primrose.

For several years in the 1980s, he also gave private lessons at his home in Beverly Hills. There is information that Heifetz, being a proponent of strict discipline, ordered the gates of his house to be locked at the start of lessons to teach late students a lesson.

Currently, Heifetz’s former studio at the Colburn School is used for masterclasses and serves as a source of inspiration for conservatory students. During his teaching career, Heifetz trained such prominent performers as Pierre Amoyal, Eric Friedman, Rudolf Kolman, Yuval Yaron, Eugene Fodor, Carol Sindell, Adam Han-Gorski, Robert Witte, Elizabeth Matesky, Clare Hodgkins, Yukiko Kamei, Varujan Kojian, Sherry Kloss, Elaine Skorodin, Paul Rosenthal, Ike Agus.

Jascha Heifetz died at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California, in December 1987. Alongside the classical violin repertoire, Heifetz included many popular melodies in his concerts. Among friends, he did not disdain the accordion. He even composed a popular song in his time, “When You Make Love to Me”—initially under a pseudonym but later revealed his authorship, to the horror of many of his adoring philharmonic grandmothers.

Gradually, Heifetz reduced his tours. A major event was Heifetz’s performance of Beethoven’s concerto on December 9, 1959, at the United Nations during one of the organization’s anniversaries.

In 1962, Heifetz divorced his second wife and further reduced the number of his solo concerts—he performed only six times that year but recorded much chamber music. In 1968, he practically ceased performing. In an interview, Heifetz said: “I have exhausted my share of tours. I have no more interest in this career.” The last performances of Heifetz, recorded on film, took place in 1970. In 1972, Heifetz gave a farewell concert in Los Angeles. Three years later, the maestro underwent shoulder surgery, which deprived him of the ability to play. Heifetz died in Beverly Hills on October 16, 1987.

Sources:

https://jewish.ru/ru/people/culture/917/

https://www.lzb.lt/ru/2021/02/02/120-лет-со-дня-рождения-яши-хейфеца-импер/

https://stradivari.livejournal.com/41275.html

https://aristotel-by.livejournal.com/257646.html