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Jascha Heifetz ( – December 10 , 1987 ) was a Lithuanian -born American Violin virtuoso. EARLY LIFE Heifetz was born in Vilnius , Lithuania , then a part of the Russian Empire . There is controversy over his birth year, which is sometimes placed a year or two earlier to 1899 or 1900. It is sometimes claimed that his mother had made him two years younger, but there is no reason given for this. His father Ruvn Heifetz was a local violin teacher and served as the concertmaster of the Vilna Theatre Orchestra for one season before the theatre closed down. Jascha took up the violin when three years old and his father was his first teacher. At five he started lessons with Ilya D. Malkin, a former pupil of Leopold Auer . He was a child prodigy, making his public debut at seven, in Kovno, now Kaunas , Lithuania playing the Violin Concerto In E Minor by Felix Mendelssohn . In 1910 he entered the St Petersburg conservatory to study under Leopold Auer . He played in Germany and Scandinavia at twelve meeting Fritz Kreisler for the first time in a Berlin private house together with other noted violinists in attendance. Kreisler, after accompanying at the piano the 12-year-old Heifetz in a performance of the Mendelssohn Concerto, said to all present, ''"We may as well break our fiddles across our knees."'' Heifetz visited much of Europe while still in his teens. In April 1911, Heifetz performed in an outdoor concert in St. Petersburg before 25,000 spectators; there was such a sensational reaction that police officers needed to protect the young violinist after the concert. In 1914, Heifetz performed with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Arthur Nikisch . The conductor was very impressed, saying he had never heard such an excellent violinist.Nikolaus de Palezieux, ''Jascha Heifetz - The Supreme'' (2000 RCA Victor compilation) CAREER On October 27 , 1917 , Heifetz played for the first time in the United States at Carnegie Hall and became an immediate sensation. Fellow violinist Mischa Elman in the audience asked "Do you think it's hot in here?", whereupon Leopold Godowsky , in the next seat, imperturbably replied, “Not for pianists.”MCA Classics liner notes, 1988 Heifetz remained in the country and became an American citizen in 1925. When he told admirer Groucho Marx he had been earning his living as a musician since the age of seven, Groucho answered, "And I suppose before that you were just a bum." Technique Heifetz had an immaculate technique and expressive Vibrato . From time to time, his near-perfect technique and conservative stage demeanor caused some to accuse him of being overly mechanical, even cold. Virgil Thomson called Heifetz' style of playing "silk underwear music," a term he did not intend as a compliment. Even so, most critics agree he infused his playing with feeling and reverence for the composers' intentions. No one has ever surpassed the extremely high standard of technique that Heifetz set. His style of playing was highly influential in defining the way modern violinists approach the instrument. The vibrato is key to his style of playing. Heifetz possessed an exceptional vibrato, which complemented his extensive usage of Portamento . Like Kreisler, he did not restrict vibrato to specific notes, heightening the emotional impact of his playing. Itzhak Perlman describes Heifetz's tone as "molten lava" because of its intensity. Because part of Heifetz's tonal makeup was from the strings he used, he was quite particular: throughout his entire career he used a silver wound gut g-string, plain gut d and a-strings, and a Goldbrokat steel e-string. Heifetz believed using gut strings rendered the tone of the player more "individual." Early Recordings Heifetz made his first commercial recording on November 7 , 1917 . Throughout his career, he continued to record, almost always for RCA Victor . For several years, in the 1930s, Heifetz recorded primarily for HMV in the UK because RCA cut back on classical recordings during the Great Depression ; these discs were issued in the US by Victor. Heifetz often enjoyed playing Chamber Music . Various critics have blamed his limited success in chamber ensembles to the fact that his artistic personality tended to overwhelm his colleagues. Some notable collaborations include his 1940 recordings of Piano Trio s by Beethoven , Franz Schubert , and Brahms with cellist Emanuel Feuermann and pianist Arthur Rubinstein as well as a later collaboration with Rubinstein and cellist Gregor Piatigorsky , with whom he recorded trios by Maurice Ravel , Tchaikovsky , and Felix Mendelssohn . Both formations were sometimes referred to as the ''Million Dollar Trio''. He recorded the Beethoven '' Violin Concerto '' in 1940 with the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini , and again in stereo in 1955 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Munch . A live performance of Heifetz playing the Mendelssohn '' Violin Concerto '', again with Toscanini and the NBC Symphony, has also been released. He performed and recorded Erich Wolfgang Korngold 's violin concerto, at a time when many classical musicians avoided Korngold's music because they did not consider him a "serious" composer after he wrote many film scores for Warner Brothers . WARTIME Heifetz commissioned a number of pieces, perhaps most notably the '' Violin Concerto '' by Sir William Walton . He also arranged a number of pieces, such as '' Hora Staccato '' by Grigoraş Dinicu , a Romanian gypsy whom Heifetz is rumoured to have called the greatest violinist he had ever heard. Heifetz also played and composed for the piano; he performed mess hall jazz for soldiers at Allied camps across Europe during the Second World War, and under the alias Jim Hoyle he wrote a hit piano song, "When you make love to me, don't make believe". Decca Recordings From 1944 to 1946, largely a result of the American Federation Of Musicians recording ban (which actually began in 1942), Heifetz went to American Decca Records to make recordings because Decca settled with the union in 1943, well before RCA Victor resolved their dispute with the musicians. He recorded primarily short pieces, including his own arrangements of music by George Gershwin and Stephen Foster ; these were pieces he often played as encores in his recitals. He was accompanied on the piano by Emanuel Bay or Milton Kaye. Among the more unique discs featured one of Decca's most popular artists, Bing Crosby , in the "Lullaby" from Benjamin Godard 's opera ''Jocelyn'' and ''Where My Caravan Has Rested'' (arranged by Heifetz and Crosby) by Hermann Lohr (1872-1943); Decca's studio orchestra was conducted by Victor Young in the July 27, 1946, session. Recorded mostly in small studios, the digitally remastered performances have remarkably clear, high fidelity sound. However, Heifetz soon returned to RCA Victor , where he continued to make recordings until the early 1970s.''Jascha Heifetz: The Decca Masters'' digitally remastered by MCA Classics in 1988, RCA Victor liner notes LATER RECORDINGS Returning to RCA in 1946, Heifetz continued to make a number of 78-rpm discs for the company, including solo, chamber, and orchestral recordings. RCA began releasing long-playing recordings in 1950, including concertos taken from 78-rpm masters. The company began to make new high fidelity recordings with Heifetz, primarily with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Charles Munch and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Reiner . Beginning in early 1954, most classical sessions were also taped on triple track stereophonic tape recorders. A 2000 two-CD RCA compilation titled ''Jascha Heifetz - The Supreme'' gives a sampling of Heifetz's major recordings, including the 1955 recording of Johannes Brahms ' D Major concerto with Reiner and the Chicago Symphony; the 1957 recording of Peter Tchaikovsky 's D major concerto, again with Reiner and the Chicago Symphony; the 1959 recording of Jean Sibelius ' D minor concerto with Walter Hendl and the Chicago Symphony; the 1961 recording of Max Bruch 's '' Scottish Fantasy '' with Sir Malcolm Sargent and the New Symphony Orchestra of London; the 1963 recording of Alexander Glazunov 's A minor concerto with Walter Hendl and the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra (drawn from New York musicians); the 1965 recording of George Gershwin 's ''Three Preludes'' (transcribed by Heifetz] with Heifetz accompanied by pianist Brooks Smith; and the 1970 recording of Johann Sebastian Bach 's accompanied ''Chacone'' from ''Partita No. 2, BWV 1004, in D minor.'' Musical reformation After moving to the United States, Heifetz's style saw drastic reformation. Whereas the recordings of 1930-1945 depicted a typical neo-Romantic violinist of the Russian school, post-war recordings were more tempered, objective and aristocratic. He reduced the use of his portamento, and his vibrato was rationed into a searing tool which lent dramatic effect to his fiery sound. Furthermore, following the attack on his Third Israel Tour his bowing arm was greatly affected. He abandoned the high shoulder action of his prime, and new stereo recordings evidenced a disintegration of the sound which critics likened to velvet. Some violinists, such as Itzhak Perlman, actually attributed this to Heifetz's inclination to request that the microphone be positioned quite close to the violin. Third Israel tour On his third tour to Israel in 1953, Heifetz included in his recitals the Violin Sonata by Richard Strauss . At the time, Strauss was considered by many to be a Nazi composer, and his works were unofficially banned in Israel along with those of Richard Wagner . Despite the fact that the Holocaust had occurred less than ten years earlier and a last-minute plea from the Israeli Minister of Education, the defiant Heifetz argued, "The music is above these factors....I will not change my program. I have the right to decide on my repertoire." Throughout his tour the performance of the ''Strauss Sonata'' was followed by dead silence. Heifetz was attacked after his recital in Jerusalem outside his hotel by a man who struck blows to his right arm with an iron bar. As the attacker started to flee, Heifetz alerted his companions, who were armed, "Shoot that man, he tried to kill me." The assailant escaped and was never found. The incident made headlines in the press and Heifetz defiantly announced that he would not stop playing the Strauss. Threats continued to come, however, and he omitted the Strauss from his next recital without explanation. His last concert was canceled after his right arm began to hurt. He left Israel and did not return until 1970. RUSSIAN DEFECTOR The consensus within the Russian musical caste was that Heifetz and his teacher Leopold Auer were traitors to their home country. This was primarily due to the fact that they had emigrated from Russia to the US, Heifetz at a very young age. The Russians were inclined to brand any American collaboration as infidelity due to the political circumstances following World War II and the ensuing Cold War. Thus David Oistrakh was seen as a compatriot, whereas Heifetz was considered a traitor. Heifetz also greatly criticized the Russian regime; he condemned the Tchaikovsky Competition for being biased against Western competitors. In fact, Oistrakh had tried to persuade Erick Friedman , Heifetz's star student, to enter the Tchaikovsky Competition, of which he was the principal juror. (It appears that Oistrakh had been officially 'instructed' to persuade him.) Hearing this, Heifetz strongly advised against it, warning Friedman, "You will see what will happen there." Needless to say, the real reason behind getting Friedman to Moscow was to embarrass Heifetz's most celebrated pupil. Oistrakh himself may have had personal designs -- perhaps to lend additional lustre to Soviet violin pedagogy by discrediting that of these internationally acclaimed emigrés, or perhaps to advance the fledgling career of his son Igor, who might profit from a poor showing by Friedman. In any case, Friedman was placed sixth in a contest which was evidently set up to disadvantage Westerners. Joseph Szigeti later informed Heifetz himself that he had given his student top scores. LATER LIFE After an only partially successful operation on his right shoulder in 1972 Heifetz ceased giving concerts and making records. Although his prowess as a performer remained intact and he continued to play privately until the end, his bow arm was affected and he could never again hold the bow as high as before. (left) with Jascha Heifetz]] Heifetz taught the violin extensively, first at UCLA then at the University Of Southern California with his friend Gregor Piatigorsky . For a few years in the eighties he also held classes in his private studio at home in Beverly Hills. His teaching studio can be seen today in the main building of the Colburn School , where it is now used for masterclasses and serves as an inspiration to the students there. During his teaching career Heifetz taught, among others, Erick Friedman, Yuval Yaron, Elizabeth Matesky, Claire Hodgkins, Yukiko Kamei, Rudolf Koelman , Varujan Kojan, Sherry Kloss, Eugene Fodor, and Ayke Agus. He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California . In 1989, Heifetz received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award . FAMILY LIFE Heifetz was married in 1928 to the silent motion picture actress Florence Vidor , ex-wife of King Vidor , whose seven year old daughter, Suzanne, Heifetz adopted. The couple had two more children, Josefa (b. 1930) and Robert (1932-2004) before divorcing in 1945. In 1947, Heifetz took a sabbatical during which he married Frances Spiegelberg, with whom he had another son, Joseph. The second marriage ended in divorce in 1962. Heifetz's son Jay is a professional photographer. He was formerly head of marketing for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Hollywood Bowl , and the Chief Financial Officer of Paramount Pictures ' Worldwide Video Division. He lives and works in Fremantle , Western Australia . Heifetz's daughter, Josefa Heifetz Byrne, is a lexicographer, author of ''Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure and Preposterous Words''.2 Heifetz's grandson Danny Heifetz has played drums and percussion with Mr. Bungle , Dieselhed , and Link Wray . FILMOGRAPHY Heifetz played a very touching starring role in the movie '' They Shall Have Music '' (1939) directed by Archie Mayo and written by John Howard Lawson and Irmgard von Cube. He played himself as a musician who stepped in to save a music school for poor children from foreclosure. He later appeared in the 1947 film, ''Carnegie Hall'', performing an abridged version of the first movement of Tchaikovsky 's violin concerto, with the orchestra led by Fritz Reiner , and consoling a despondent young woman who had watched his performance. Heifetz later recorded the complete Tchaikovsky concerto with Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as one of RCA Victor's "Living Stereo" discs.RCA Victor liner notes In 1951, he appeared in the film ''Of Men and Music''. Finally, in 1962, he appeared in a televised special on his master classes. MISCELLANEOUS Heifetz is first referenced in '''' episode " The Ensigns Of Command " as one of the violinists he studied prior to his concert in Ten-Forward aboard the '' USS Enterprise .'' SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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