(Author: Allen Jacobs, Vol. 67, No. 3, Chanukah 2012)
During World War I, Lithuanians voted Vilna as the capital of their newly liberated country. There were about 65 000 Jews in Vilna at the time. The vibrant Jewish life there gave birth to numerous publications in Hebrew and Yiddish. Jews were attached to their homeland and nicknamed Lithuania the ‘Second Eretz Israel’, with Vilna as its ‘Jerusalem’.
From the Pale of Settlement there came such remarkable musicians as Ossip Gabrielovitch, Andre Kostelanetz, Hischa Elman, Efrem Zimbalist and the Achron brothers, amongst others.
On 2 February 1901 Jascha Heifetz, the greatest musician that the Pale of Settlement produced, was born, the first child of Reuven and Annie Heifetz. Reuven Heifetz was the concert master of the Vilna Symphonic Orchestra. His position assured the family of a comfortable existence.
Jascha’s upbringing did not have much Jewish content. The Heifetz’s were not concerned about their ethnic roots, although this does not imply that they denied them completely. They were still to undergo a lot of hardship and face numerous obstacles on account of their religion. Their son would inherit this attitude towards his religion, and throughout his life, apart from a short interlude, his own feelings towards Judaism and its traditions were indifferent. It would be the Jewish State – Israel – that would best embody his identity as a Jew.
At eight months, Jascha’s face would shine with joy when his father played a tune on his violin; a false note would make him wince. Reuven bought him a quarter-size violin and when he was three years of age, gave him his first violin lesson. The child showed more than a childish interest in his new toy, and within a few months was showing remarkable promise.
Reuven strove to make a performing artist out of his son. He was a very strict teacher, and would beat the four year-old Jascha for a mistake. At the end of the lesson, Jascha would be confined to his room for many hours to practise scales and exercises. Reuven would rush out and get drunk and on his return would make his son play exercises over and over again. His tyrannical behaviour and constant criticism turned Jascha into an introvert,but strangely enough, this might have contributed to his becoming a better violinist than had it been otherwise.
Jascha soon required a better teacher than his father. A public appearance was arranged at the local Imperial School of Music, where the five year-old prodigy astonished the large audience and was duly accepted as a pupil with Iliya Malkin. He studied with Malkin for two years and made such rapid progress that again the teacher was left behind. He graduated from the Royal School of Music at the end of the second year. Jascha mastered in three years Mendelssohn’s E minor Violin Concerto. At six he appeared in public again, receiving great ovations. It was through Malkin that the boy met and later studied with the famed Leopold Auer, the greatest teacher he ever had, and one who would shape the final artistic and sonoric qualities for which the future Jascha Heifetz became famous.
Leopold Auer was born into a Jewish family in the small Hungarian town of Vezprem in 1845. He went on to become an internationally renowned violinist and then a professor and noted teacher of the violin. In 1886, he succeeded the famous Polish violinist Henryk Wieniawski as Director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. During a concert tour visit to Vilna around 1907, he was approached by Malkin for an audition for Jascha. Initially he refused but on the eve of his departure acceded to the request. Jascha played the Mendelssohn violin concerto and the Paganini 24th Caprice. When he had finished, Auer was speechless and his eyes were filled with tears; he said simply that he had never heard such beautiful violin playing and proclaimed the boy the best of all the finest artists he had listened to. After a year and another audition, he accepted Jascha as his pupil.
Reuven was forced to sell his flat in Vilna to pay for the tuition fees and the move to St. Petersburg. On their arrival, Auer at first failed to recognise Jascha. Only after he had given a short demonstration did he remember – the little wonder boy from Vilna! “Enrol him at once. I will teach the boy”.
There was a religious problem. Unless a Jewish family was born in a certain region its members could not settle in the city. Jascha, being a student, could stay in St. Petersburg, but not his father. The problem was overcome by Reuven also enrolling as a student. Jascha was admitted to the conservatory but for the first six months or so had to learn with another teacher. Thereafter, he began to study with Auer and later was permitted to attend his master class. This later expanded into private lessons at his house. Financial difficulties arose, but assistance was provided by the society of Jewish Music based in Vilna. Former teacher Malkin was very helpful to the family in financial and other matters.
On 30 April 1911 Jascha gave a concert in St. Petersburg, and afterwards in Kiev, Pavlovsk and Odessa. These were a great success. In September 1912, Jascha performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Arthur Nikisch. On another occasion, at a dinner party in his honour, he played the Mendelssohn concerto, accompanied by memory by the famous violinist Fritz Kreisler. After the performance, Kreisler said to the guests (who included several other great violinists): “Well gentlemen, now we can all break our violins….”
These concerts and recitals made the name of Heifetz echo throughout Europe. In 1916, in the midst of World War I, Auer took Jascha and another student to perform in Norway, including on one occasion for the Royal Family at their palace.
At the end of 1916, Jascha sensed the first cracks in his Mother Russia homeland, which was rumbling in anticipation of tragic events to come. Russia was invaded by Germany and the Jews were exiled from Kovno and deported to Vilna. Many were crowded into the town’s synagogues and existed in the poorest conditions. The Revolutionary Front spread all over Russia, and incited the population to rebel against Tsarist rule, promising paradise on earth with the new order in the form of Communism. There were food shortages, and as always Jews were regarded as enemies and persecuted. Russia was in chaos. America was the place for Jascha to pursue his career.
In early 1917, the Heifetz’s crossed Siberia and went on to Japan, where a concert was arranged, and then continued to San Francisco. Father and son moved to New York, and two months later the family were reunited. Jascha’s debut took place on 27 October at Carnegie Hall. He gave a flawless performance, displaying a level of musicianship never before encountered on the concert platform. Musicians and critics were united in their praise of the young genius. Jascha was accepted as a member of the Bohemian Club of New York, which only accepted as members the very great musicians. He had brought a new kind of violin sound and level of perfection never before displayed by any other performer in the country.
In April 1919 the teenage Heifetz, with Sergei Rachmaninoff, took part in benefit concerts at the New York Metropolitan Opera House ‘Victory Loan Concert’, raising nearly $18 million to assist paying expenses incurred by the US government during the war. In 1920, he arrived in London and on 5 May made his triumphant debut in the Queen’s Hall. A year later he toured Austria, Germany, Italy, France and a year later Australia and India.
Reuven Heifetz obtained the highest fee for his son, $2500, while the great Fritz Kreisler earned $2000 and Rachmaninoff $1500. On his 21st birthday, Jascha left home and took an apartment in New York City. His accompanist, pianist, Samuel Chotzinoff, married his sister Pauline. Jascha began to collect books and started to read great writers like Dickens, Thackeray, Shakespeare and Byron. He also collected stamps and coins. He came to own during his career the 1714 Dolphin Stradivarius violin, the 1731 ‘Piel’ Stradivarius, the 1736 Carlo Tenoni and the 1742 Guarnerius del Gesu (bought for $40 000).
In 1924, Heifetz became friends with the two Achron brothers, Joseph and Isador, also from Russia. Joseph emigrated to the Promised Land, but because of the tremendous hardships returned to America. Heifetz listened to Joseph’s stories about Palestine and was deeply impressed by what he heard. In 1926, he undertook a journey to Palestine to see for himself what was happening, and gave many concerts during the ten-day visit. The still young settlement had little to offer in terms of musical facilities. Heifetz therefore had to give recitals in the open on improvised podiums (in one Kibbutz, on a kitchen table). Tel Aviv was only 16 years old, just a few streets expanding from Jaffa. There, Heifetz thought, was an appropriate place for building the first music hall, and he donated the fees of the tour to this project. By 1931, the building on 2 Beth Hashpevah Street was finished and called the Jascha Heifetz Hall. For more than twenty years it faithfully served the inhabitants of Tel Aviv. Nowadays, it is used as a third–rank cinema.
In 1928 Jascha married for the first time, to 26 year-old film silent film starlet Florence Arto Vidor. She was reluctant to give up her film career and this led to many arguments and a shaky marriage. In 1930 their daughter, Josepha, was born, and two years later a son, Robert. Neither proved to be musical. Jascha enjoyed the role of father and was a strict disciplinarian.
On Leopold Auer’s death in 1930, Heifetz played in memory of his great teacher at the funeral in what many critics described as his most touching and inspired performance ever.
In 1931, Heifetz composed the popular song ‘When you make love to me’, using the name of Jim Hoyl at the time but later admitting to having written it. In 1933, under Arturo Toscanini, he performed the premiere of a commissioned work, ‘The Prophets’, by Castelnuovo–Tedesco, whose music appealed to him. That year he toured Palestine for a second time, playing in towns and in remote agricultural settlements. Again, he donated his fees to the cause of improving and helping cultural life of the country. The following year, he toured, Russia and in 1935 Europe, Romania, Austria, France and Britain.
In 1937, Heifetz bought a beautiful house in Beverly Hills and a smaller house on Malibu Beach. On 4 August that year he performed the Mendelssohn Concerto at the Hollywood Bowl before an audience of 17 000. Also during the year he performed, for the first time in America, Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitsky. In 1938, he even appeared in a Metro Goldwyn Mayer film, playing the violin in the musical They Shall Have Music. On 7 December 1939, he played the world premiere of a composition he had commissioned, the Violin Concerto by the British composer, William Walton, with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Arthur Rodzinski.
Heifetz also had his critics. Some said that he was cold and unemotional. He was severely criticised, in a review of 31 October 1940, by the respected music critic Virgil Thompson. His review was called ‘Silk Underwear Music’, which was scandalous. It brought to a head the gross misunderstanding and misinterpretation surrounding Jascha Heifetz’s art.
Heifetz had been acclaimed by audiences world-wide and also by the great master soloists and conductors. Some critics created a legend about him that made him out to be a cold person. This is an untruthful perception. In private he was warm, charming and lively, an excellent host who loved parties. He was also generous and charitable, often helping needy people. So far as his musicianship went, he played every kind of music brilliantly, never needing to resort to exhibitionism as did many other artists. His music spoke for itself. In later years, Thompson came to terms with Heifetz’s artistry.
When America entered World War II, the US army needed recreation and entertainment for its troops. The United States Organisation was founded to take on the job of running the camp shows, and to recruit artists. When USO approached Jascha to perform in military camps, he promptly accepted. Three major overseas tours were planned, in which he was to appear before thousands of soldiers. In between he was scheduled to play in various hospitals for wounded and convalescent fighters. Heifetz undertook his mission with great zeal. He flew to Europe to give recitals, which were held mostly in the open. He donated his services to USO, playing for thousands of serviceman and women around the world, often in dangerous situations. He gave concerts to raise money for US War Bonds and many benefit concerts in France. In 1957, he was raised from officer in the French Legion of Honour to Commander.
In 1945, Jascha and Florence ended their marriage and Florence moved out with the children. Jascha was alone and musically fatigued. In April 1947, he announced that he would take a period of time off from the concert stage. That period lasted till January 1949.
In 1946, Jascha married again to Frances Spiegelberg, a 35 year-old divorcee. From both marriages, there were five sons, with one – Joseph – from the second marriage. In 1947 the couple went on the Queen Mary to Britain, where Heifetz recorded two concertos. In 1947, he performed the world premiere of Erich Korngold’s Violin Concerto, another work commissioned by him; Korngold was a Jewish composer, who had fled from Nazi Germany to America. He played the Sibelius Violin Concerto regularly, and was largely responsible for its ensuing popularity.
In 1950, Heifetz returned to Palestine, now the state of Israel, having been invited by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He was astonished to find the newly born state in a fever of building and developing, active and bursting with energy. He spent four weeks there, visiting and performing in many places. His first concert, on 17 May in Ohel–Shem Hall in Tel Aviv, won him lavish praise and rave reviews in the papers. One critic, Mr Rosenblum tried to bring him down, describing Heifetz as a cold, emotionless performer. The public took no notice of this article, and their applause showed that, he was not only among his family people, but the favourite among them as well. Heifetz found the Galilee attractive. He played in Sfat, in Kibbutzim, Northern Galilee and in Ein Harod. He also played in Eilat, which was attended by many soldiers of the Israeli Defence Forces, including General Moshe Dayan. He regarded the latter as the most beautiful place he had ever performed in. The farewell concert took place on 20 May in Ohel-Shem Hall. Heifetz played the Beethoven Violin Concerto, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the IPO. It was the only time that the two musicians ever collaborated.
Heifetz returned to Israel 31 March 1953 with his son Robert, who was appointed by Ohio College to do research on the life on the Israeli Kibbutzim. On 1 April, in a recital at Haifa, he included the violin sonata of Richard Strauss, thus defying a ban on the German composer. Richard Wagner’s music was also banned in Israel. The Minister of Education, Professor Dinur, wrote him a letter urging him not to play this work, which might offend many in the audience. This plea was ignored and the Strauss Sonata was played, after which there was silence and no applause. He repeated the performance of the Strauss Sonata in Haifa and Jerusalem. Public opinion was sharply divided, with some claiming that politics and music should not be mixed while others condemned Heifetz for his lack of consideration for the people who had survived World War II. “The music is above these factors”, claimed Heifetz, “I will not change my programme. I have the right to decide on my repertoire.”
In Jerusalem, many anonymous phone calls were received, warning Heifetz not to play Strauss there. Just before the concert, he received two telegrams, one signed by the Heruth Movement, the other by Betar Jerusalem, which read: “We urge you to avoid playing the Compositions of that Nazi composer, in the Eternal Capital of Jerusalem”. At the end of the Strauss sonata, some unknown people took over the theatre’s control room and disconnected some electrical fuses, plunging the hall into total darkness. The recital was held up for ten minutes.
Afterwards, Heifetz left the King David Hotel, carrying his violin case. As he stepped outside, a tall young man rushed up, muttered something and hit him with an iron bar before vanishing into the darkness. The perpetrator was never found. Fortunately, Heifetz was not seriously injured. The incident made headlines in the newspaper, and Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion sent a telegram of sympathy.
Despite announcing he would play Strauss again in the following concert, he did not do so. The ban on Strauss and Wagner continued, and for many years not one official invitation was extended to Heifetz. The rift between him and the State of Israel seemed unbridgeable.
The twilight of the 1955-56 season was Heifetz’s performance at Carnegie Hall. Thereafter, he announced that he intended to curtail his concert appearances. His recitals duly became fewer and at sixty years of age he decided to gradually withdraw. During 1960, he and the famous cellist Gregor Piatogorsky formed a musical partnership and periodically appeared in America, but the following year he withdrew from concerts altogether. His second marriage also ended around this time.
Heifetz enjoyed his retirement, playing tennis, sailing boats and, later, involved himself with environmental ecology. He became a teacher of the violin, giving tuition to promising young students, and was appointed regent professor of music at the University of Southern California.
In 1967, Heifetz offered to appear at the Hollywood Bowl with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, who extended to him a formal invitation to tour Israel. In May 1970, he and the Piatogorsky landed at Lod Airport. The concert in Jerusalem was followed by a dinner, given in their honour by Prime Minister Golda Meir, which Heifetz did not attend. The two artists toured the country and gave a joint concert at the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv.
Heifetz used the vibrato brilliantly. This is the deliberate and controlled use of oscillating the left hand fingertip which makes the sound rattle and vibrate. He introduced a new notion in his playing, subtlety finesse, delicacy, clever in insinuation. He exercised self-restraint of feeling and a clever avoidance of slipping into the usual pattern of overdosed sentimentalism.
On 23 October 1972, Heifetz gave a rare recital at the Los Angeles Music Centre for the benefit of the scholarship funds at the Southern California School of Music. This was his last public performance. Later, alone in his dressing room, he put the Guarnerius del Ges violin to rest in its silk-covered case for the last time after a public concert. Thereafter, he withdrew into his little beach house by the ocean. It was not sound proof. Inside he would carefully close all the windows and draw down the blinds. Then the Heavenly Melody would again take possession of him. Rarely, lucky passers-by might have heard it. Jascha Heifetz died in Los Angeles in December 1987, aged 86.
In the final analysis, the best people equipped to comprehend and appreciate the contribution to the art of violin playing brought about by Jascha Heifetz would be his fellow musicians. These are generally united in their view that Heifetz was the supreme violinist. Henryk Szering refers to him as the ‘emperor’, while David Oistrakh used to say, “There are many violinists – then there’s Heifetz!” Arturo Toscanini, who had heard the greatest violinists such as Josef Joachim, Pablo de Sarasate, Bronislav Huberman, Fritz Kreisler and Yehudi Menuhin, maintained that Heifetz was the best of them all. Isaac Stern, another famous violinist, said of him, “Heifetz represents a standard of polished execution unrivalled in my memory by any violist by book or by persona knowledge”.
Jascha Heifetz’s career spanned some seventy 70 years and his art influenced at least two and maybe three generations. Itzhak Perlman acknowledges the great influence he had on him in his formative years, while Frank Sinatra said that he had been amongst the one or two people who had most influenced and shaped his way of singing and interpretation. For the conductor Zubin Mehta, he had been his favourite violinist. And the pianist Arthur Rubinstein said of him, “Heifetz is one of the most uncannily educated, fascinating virtuosi, most beautifully timbered violinist of this time, before which Paganini must pale, full of envy”.
Alan Jacobs, a frequent contributor to Jewish Affairs, is a clarinettist who performs regularly in concerts and recitals in Cape Town.
