Jascha Heifetz (Feb.2, 1901-Dec. 10, 1987) was born in Vilnius, Lithuania to violin teacher Reuven Heifetz and his wife Anna Sharfstein. At age of 7, he made his concert debut, performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in Kovno. In 1910, he entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory and studied under Leopold Auer. At the age of 12, in Berlin, he met Fritz Kreisler, who was so impressed by the boy’s playing, he reportedly commented, “We may as well break our fiddles across our knees.”
In 1917, the Heifetz family went by train to eastern Russia, then immigrated to the United States via San Francisco. Heifetz made his American debut at Carnegie Hall that same year and was elected an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music. He recorded for RCA Victor shortly after his Carnegie Hall debut and for HMV/ EMI in the United Kingdom.
His talent attracted other musicians, for example cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, and pianist Arthur Rubinstein teamed up with him to record chamber music by Maurice Ravel, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and Felix Mendelssohn. In 1940 he recorded Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the NBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Arturo Toscanini
Having become a naturalized American citizen in 1925, he performed for American troops all across Europe during World War II, showing his versatility by playing jazz in mess halls. Under the alias of Jim Hoyl, he wrote a hit song performed by Bing Crosy titled “When You Make Love to Me (Don’t Make Believe).” In the 1940s, he also recorded his own arrangements of works by George Gershwin and Stephen Foster, some of which he utilized as encores at concert performances.
In the 1950s he recorded with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Charles Munch and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Reiner.” Controversy erupted in Israel in 1953 when Heifetz included the Violin Sonata by Richard Strauss in his recitals. Strauss was considered a Nazi sympathizer, and Israel had banned public performances of his works as well as those of Richard Wagner. Heifetz, saying “the music is above these factors … I will not change my program. I have the right to decide my repertoire,” received applause in Haifa, but was greeted with stone silence in Tel Aviv. In Jerusalem a young man attacked Heifetz, striking his violin case with a crow bar. Heifetz defended against the blow with his right arm with which he holds his bow. He left Israel after his right hand began to swell and hurt.
He married silent screen star Florence Vidor in 1928 and adopted her daughter Suzanne. Daughter Josefa was born in 1930, the same year Heifetz performed at the White House for President Herbert Hoover. In 1932, his son Robert was born, the same year Heifetz made a four-continent concert tour of North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. In 1934, he performed at the White House for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and also concertized in Russia and throughout South America. In 1946, he and his wife Florence were divorced, and Heifetz married Frances Spiegelberg the following year. In 1948, his son Jay was born.
In 1958, he began teaching a master’s class at UCLA. He slipped on the floor at Nate n’ Al’s Delicatessen in Beverly Hills in 1959, fracturing his hip, but he was able to perform that year at the U.N. General Assembly on the invitation of Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld. After recovery, he continued to perform as a soloist until 1975, when he was sidelined by a shoulder injury. However, he resumed playing chamber music and taught privately until his death in 1987. Among his students was concert violinist Zina Schiff, sister of San Diego Jewish World’s music reviewer Eileen Wingard.
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Tomorrow, February 3: Shelley Berman
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SDJW condensation of articles on Wikipedia and PBS American Masters.