For 83 of his 86 years, Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987) played the violin,
and for over 60 of them in front of audiences the length and breadth of
the world. Since his first public concert in St. Petersburg on April 30,
1911, he exposed his art to the world through more than 2,000,000 miles
of travel (much of it in front of World War II troops), a prodigious
recording program, countless appearances on radio, in several films, an
hour-long television special and, for a dozen years, a vigorous teaching
schedule.
He started to play on a quarter-sized violin given to him by
his father in his native city of Vilna, Russia (now called Vilnius,
Lithuania), and at age seven made his public debut in Kovno (now known
as Kaunas, Lithuania). He entered Leopold Auer's famous class in St.
Petersburg at age nine and in three years was acclaimed a child prodigy
of unexampled gifts.
In the years following his St. Petersburg debut, he
concertized in Germany, Austria and Scandinavia, and when the Russian
Revolution broke out, the family, after many difficulties, traveled to
America. Heifetz made his debut in Carnegie Hall on October 27, 1917.
The noted critic Samuel Chotzinoff reported: "The 16-year-old violinist
seemed the most unconcerned of all the people in the hall as he walked
out on the stage and proceeded to give an exhibition of such
extraordinary virtuosity and musicianship as had not previously been
heard in that historic auditorium." Overnight, Heifetz became the
musical idol of America, and during that first year he made 30
appearances in New York alone.
He soon adopted the United States, became an American citizen
in 1925 and amply sampled the "American way." In the '40s he settled
into a comfortable house atop one of the Beverly Hills in California,
where he lived until his death.
When Heifetz reached his 60s, after half a century of
concertizing, he began to curtail his appearances gradually and gave his
last public recital in 1972. He devoted his later life to teaching.
Handling his students with steel-rod control tempered with humor,
Heifetz instilled in them respect for discipline ("It's something you
have to do, so you might as well do it and get it over with") and the
ways and means for making music with the violin.
Throughout his life, Heifetz was known for his flawless
technical style. He was even accused of sounding formal and mechanical,
which also reflected his austere personality. But the fierce virtuoso
never faltered, even into his 70s, and ended up recording more than 80
albums in his lifetime. He even wrote a pop song under the pseudonym Jim
Hoyl called "When You Make Love To Me (Don't Make Believe)," sung by
Margaret Whiting.
Heifetz received many honors in his lifetime for his hard work
and talent. He was even made an officer of the French Legion, an award
stemming from the many charity recitals he performed in France. Heifetz
also received countless Grammy Awards, including the elusive Lifetime
Achievement Award in 1989, and was posthumously inducted into the Grammy
Hall of Fame in 1999.
