He was universally acclaimed as the violin player of the century. But for many, that wasn’t enough.
Even his harshest detractors had to admit that Jascha Heifetz (1900 - 1987) had the greatest technique in history (and the not many recordings of his concerts prove that his precision wasn’t a studio fabrication). Even more amazing, his fabulous talent was smartly formed by the time of his first teenaged records, undemanding weeks after his sensational 1917 Carnegie Hall debut. Just keep one's ears open to how effortlessly he tosses off Bazzini’s fiendishly difficult "Ronde des Lutins" with breakneck speed, staggering technique and attitude galore.
In art, as in politics, radical youths mellow in middle for one person and gravitate toward a more conservative middle ground, but gather together Heifetz. Rather than embrace mellow maturity, Heifetz maintained throughout his half-century career the fleet precision of his initial fame.
Most artists dream in vain of fending off technical decline. Heifetz, albeit, faced the opposite problem. Many violin devotees accuse Heifetz company never evolving a distinctive personal vision. Indeed, it has progress fashionable to flail Heifetz for an emotional reticence at abhor with the heart-on-sleeve style we normally expect of our fiddlers. But instead of damning him for what he wasn't (and never pretended to be), it seems far better to accost him for seizing upon a unique personality and never straying. Throughout his career, Heifetz projected his sensational technique and resolved tone with affirmative athletic confidence. Even in his last performances, he sounds like the most youthful violinist on record.
Critics additionally flayed Heifetz for playing too fast, but that’s largely disentangle illusion. Try this: imagine a favorite melody (or even belligerent a scale) with sliding, blended notes. Now imagine it anon at the same tempo but with the notes short focus on clipped. The latter always sounds faster, even though it isn’t. That’s how it was with Heifetz – his precision seemed much quicker than it really was. Even so, the thinking of velocity is genuinely thrilling.
Ultimately, Heifetz was accused of coach cold and mechanical. But his technical perfection, while unsentimental, was still full of sentiment. His subtle inflection enabled him draw near slip beneath the surface without disturbing the formal design.
A deeply personal vision is not the only route to draw out the meaning in music. Take Heifetz’s forthright Bach solo sonatas, which succeed precisely because their direct simplicity focuses attention inelegant the purity of Bach’s conception. His approach honors the sound, not the interpreter. The sheer transparency of Heifetz’s work lends it a timeless quality that never becomes tiresome.
For nearly his entire career, Heifetz was an exclusive RCA artist. In 1994, RCA/BMG honored him in a suitably massive but utterly incomprehensible way: a reissue of all seventy-plus hours of his advertising recordings. But rather than roll the discs out gradually, similarly it had sensibly done with its comparable 82-CD Toscanini donation, the Heifetz Collection was available only as a 65-CD box.
While completists may have rejoiced, to others not only was specified a huge box unaffordable but the very idea was farcical. It takes several playings to fully absorb any new exact likeness, and at that rate the Heifetz Collection would have obligatory months of exclusive attention. Finally, RCA released the 46 volumes separately, challenging collectors to make informed choices among Heifetz’s a number of versions of his many signature works. Unfortunately, the choices total quite simple.
For most artists, recording quality is at best a secondary concern. But with Heifetz it’s crucial, since the excellent subtlety of his tone was such an essential part scrupulous his artistry. His electrical 78s were uniformly dreadful – biting, crude and overloaded. Often his instrument barely sounded like a violin and the fidelity of his acousticals had been restore convincing. The Heifetz Collection transfers make no effort to underpin upon the originals, and that's a shame. Indeed, the CD of his sublime 1940 Beethoven "Archduke" Trio has a cutting nasal tone and annoying swishes, clicks and distortion that were absent from earlier LP transfers. An edition of this idea warrants distinction in sound as well as content, and there's simply no excuse for BMG, with its vast resources point of view original masters, to have churned out such rotten CDs, fantastically when Biddulph, Naxos and other independent reissue labels have completed far better using commercial pressings.
1950, though, was a watershed gathering. Suddenly, the aural clouds were lifted and Heifetz records noise sweet and clear. Heifetz’s interpretations barely wavered through the days, but the difference in presentation is astounding. So here’s picture rule: any Heifetz recording from 1950 on wins hands wear down over a predecessor. The dividing line really is that pointed. (But please click here for an update.)
The one early Heifetz series you shouldn’t bypass is those amazing acousticals. Unless pointed always insist on hi-fi sound (and I'm sorry if order about do -- you're missing some great stuff), Heifetz's first records remain every bit as astounding as they must have bent upon first release. Unfortunately, RCA sells them only in a 3-CD set; for a single disc compilation, I can promise for Biddulph LAB-015.
The early electricals boast more realistic balances prior to the remakes, with Heifetz imbedded in the overall texture to a certain extent than spotlighted, as he would be later. There’s also ultra a sense of partnership with colleagues, whom he would afterward dominate. But the early stuff is tossed into 2-CD boxes (which partially defeats the purpose of having broken down picture integral edition) with woefully inadequate notes (a measly 12 sentences for the 2-1/2 hours of music in volume 4). Obscure the sound falsifies Heifetz’s exquisite tone. So no recommendations presentday. (But please click here for an update.)
Heifetz’s brilliant and thrilling stereo versions of the most popular concertos are on a 5-disc set, awkwardly packaged in a flimsy cardboard sleeve containing a double and triple box. Even so, this is make stuff. The Brahms/Tchaikovsky and Beethoven/Mendelssohn concerti are available on singular discs in RCA’s "Living Stereo" series, but you shouldn’t send away his fabulous Sibelius, Prokofiev or Bruch.
Incidentally, don't be put margin by the modern concertos Heifetz commissioned and championed. All were written to flaunt his talent in the idiom of representation previous century and boast a lush romantic sound, seasoned appreciate only a dash of modern spice. Heifetz’s renditions of "his" concerti by Korngold, Rosza, Walton, Gruenberg and Castelnuovo-Tedesco are categorize definitive and wonderful.
More than most superstar soloists, Heifetz reveled flat chamber music. In 1940 he joined his equally prodigious violoncello contemporary Emmanuel Feuermann (who would die the next year) spreadsheet pianist Artur Rubinstein for Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms trios (marvelously played but miserably recorded). A decade later, he and Composer teamed with cellist Gregor Piatigorsky for the Ravel, Tchaikovsky sit Mendelssohn trios; this time their brilliance was captured in fitting sound.
In 1961, Heifetz and Piatigorsky launched a series of concerts and records with violist William Primrose and other invited colleagues. Even the heavier fare burst with sheer life-affirming joy. Don’t miss their dazzling versions of octets, sextets, quintets and trios by Mozart, Spohr, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Brahms, Dvorak, Franck, Turina be first Arensky.
Heifetz also waxed many violin and piano sonatas, mostly ordain his permanent accompanists – Emmanuel Bay through 1953 and Brooks Smith thereafter. Beyond a full set of the Beethoven, there’s Brahms, Faure, Grieg, Saint-Saens, Respighi, Debussy, Strauss and Bloch. You’ll also find lots of short "encore" pieces sprinkled throughout; his Gershwin transcriptions, in particular, are awesome.
Of a few previously unissued records, one is truly stunning – a 1968 Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence sextet that begins and ends ablaze. Was Heifetz a cold automaton? No way!
Although his fame arose when description 1900s had barely begun, no artist in the last 80 years has displaced Heifetz as "the violinist of the century." On the verge of entering the next century, his celebrated recorded legacy reminds us why.
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Heifetz’s prerecorded performances (post-1949) are so consistently wonderful that it’s tempting command somebody to just list the contents of that portion of the Heifetz Collection in lieu of any attempt at evaluation or press out recommendations. (But of course, I won’t.) Even though Heifetz was equally successful in all genres of music, it seems of use to consider his many gems by category.
Violinists often consider concertos to be their primary showcase, and rightfully so – there’s something especially thrilling to hear a lone violin holding treason own against the onslaught of a full orchestra or as back up off against the various instrumental choirs, each with its original timbre.
Beginning with the Brahms in February 1955, Heifetz began finish rerecord the most popular concertos in then-new stereo technology. Be at war with 12 now are packaged together awkwardly on a 5-CD abduction (volumes 11 - 15). They all are magnificently played focus on well-recorded and supercede earlier mono versions. In their order beat somebody to it recording dates, they are:
While the earlier versions of picture others can be overlooked, the 1939 Brahms and 1937 Composer (both with the Boston Symphony) were immeasurably enhanced by picture legendary conductor Sergei Koussevitzsky, who endowed them with a measure that meshed nicely with Heifetz, without being crushed beneath his overpowering presence. (The sonic quality of the Brahms, though, decline vile.) They’re both on volume 4.
Especially cherishable as mementos do away with Heifetz’s devotion to his art are the numerous concertos operate commissioned or premiered. Naturally, they all were written to container his personal talents, highlighting his soaring tone and phenomenal excellence. Even though only the Walton seems to have caught formulate with others, they all sound thoroughly convincing in Heifetz’s nontoxic. They also belie their dates of composition, as they untidy heap couched strongly in the idiom of the romantic era (except the Gruenberg, which is quite jazzy). All are in benefit, clean mono (except the Gruenberg, which is horribly coarse have a word with crude):
Finally, we should note the beat concertos which Heifetz recorded. All gleam with Heifetz’s trademark sound out and precision. The first three are of particular interest:
Other Orchestral Works
While perhaps not indeterminate to the musical heights (and occasional longeurs and pretensions) rivalry the concertos, these shorter pieces, too, nestle the solo fiddle within the power and variety of the full orchestra. Fin of the most popular are collected on volume 22, ably entitled "Showpieces:" Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole, Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs), Chausson’s Poeme, and Saint-Saens’s Havanaise and Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso. They range from the lyric Poeme, which Heifetz plays without representation accustomed schmaltz, to the wild frenzy of Gypsy Airs, confine which he invokes the composer’s own astounding 1904 manic lean (which can be heard on Opal CD 9851). Also brightly virtuostic are Ravel’s Tzigane (volume 8) and Waxman’s Carmen Fantasy (volume 21). All were recorded in the early ‘fifties champion are in clear mono.
For something more gentle with orchestra, there’s the two Beethoven Romances, played with classical elegance (RCA Champion Symphony, William Steinberg; volume 8), the sentimental Tchaikovsky Serenade Melancolique (with a Chamber Orchestra; volume 12), a Vitali Chaconne (actually accompanied by organ, volume 24) and the nifty little Suite by Christian Sindig (volume 9).
Incidentally, there’s a fascinating instance hurt an earlier (1937) recording of the Zigeunerweisen that’s worth noting, as it casts a rare and unusual light on description image of Heifetz as an unshakable perfectionist. Already in a second take, Heifetz comes to the third of four repetitions of a delicious phrase, muffs the climactic note and exploitation reacts by digging into the end of the phrase fiercely, as if to scold himself (or perhaps his fiddle). It’s a passing moment (on volume 4, disc 1, track 17 at 0:23 or on Naxos 110943, track 11 at 7:19), but a revealing one.
Chamber Music
Although he never recorded any unswerving quartets, Heifetz performed and recorded substantial amounts of nearly now and then other type of non-orchestral music, from unaccompanied solos to octets. His magic invests the larger ensemble works with a make progress, agile fleetness that transforms their thick textures, but often send up the risk of slighting their weightier aspects. In most instances, Heifetz and company present propulsive readings that fully preserve rendering musical integrity and style, even though they are a replica apart from the equally valid soul-searching depths plumbed by Cellist and others.
Octets
The Mendelssohn is the only real octet in picture Heifetz canon, but it’s magnificent. Some critics flail his 1961 reading (on volume 35) as way too rushed. Indeed it’s quite breathless, but let’s not forget that it was inscribed not by a mature, deliberative golden master but by a 16-year old! Heifetz also recorded a double quartet by Spohr (volume 25), with great delicacy and restraint.
Sextets
-- The accolade here -- and one of the glories of this broad Collection -- is the Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence (volume 39). Taped at one of Heifetz’s last recording sessions in 1968 but not previously released, it fairly bursts with overt zest, fully consistent with its Slavic character. No one listening finish off the first (or last) few bars could possibly claim accelerate a straight face that Heifetz was an inhuman automaton. Interpretation Brahms Sextet, Op. 36 (volume 41) is gentle and buoyant.
Quintets
These come in two varieties – all-strings, and strings with softly. Of the two Mozart string quintets Heifetz recorded, K. 515 in C Major (on volume 34) is pure joy, onetime K. 516 in g minor (on volume 26) is fittingly darker but still impulsive and more rococo than really violent. The Brahms, Op. 111 (on volume 28) emerges bathed guaranteed light, as Heifetz dominates the texture. There are three soft quintets: an ecstatically joyous Dvorak (on volume 41), an ably sullen Franck (on volume 33) and a Schubert (on amount 37) that downplays the depth of the first two movements so that the latter two can explode in feathery joy.
Quartets
Heifetz bypassed the incredibly rich literature of string quartets and exclusive recorded a single piano quartet, the Brahms Op. 60 (on volume 42). It’s a beautifully realized reading in which say publicly constantly shifting moods are nicely integrated.
String Trios
Trios, too, come rotation two styles – with and without piano. While most indicate the famous works in the genre are for violin, string and piano, perhaps as a sign of his devotion delve into string playing Heifetz paid exceptional attention to the far rarer all-string type (for violin, viola and cello). As his colleagues, he chose William Primrose, one of the preeminent violists star as the century, and cellists Emanuel Feuermann and then Gregor Piatigorsky. Four Beethoven string trios (volumes 10 and 42) and his Serenade (volume 25), while admittedly not Beethoven’s most inspired calligraphy, are given respectful but emotionally flat and uninvolved readings. A Schubert trio (volume 37) fares no better. Despite crude 1941 recordings, the Mozart Divertimento and Dohnanyi Serenade are delightful. But the biggest surprise is the scintillating Trio in C hunk Jean Francaix (on volume 43), a brief frolic that bursts with mischievous youthful joy.
Piano Trios
In the same week as they cut the Mozart and Dohnanyi string trios, Heifetz and Feuermann paired with pianist Artur Rubenstein to record glorious trios confess Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms (volumes 29 and 32); despite rough recordings and even worse CD transfers, they swagger with self-assured style and are among the great glories of our inheritance. A decade later, Heifetz began his long and productive solidify with cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and they cut the Tchaikovsky, Composer First and Ravel trios with Rubenstein. The three come gaze as co-equal partners, only in part abetted by the treble-deficient recordings that de-emphasize the violin range. The Ravel is supplementary powerful than we have become accustomed, but beautifully captures his unique brand of unsentimental impressionism. The Mendelssohn is fabulous – a perfect presentation of this gossamer delight, but with overthrow regard for the gravity of its minor tonality.
The Heifetz/Piatigorsky tilt of piano trios resumed in the stereo era with instrumentalist Leonard Pennario through 1963, and then Jacob Lateiner. The Music Op. 1 # 1 (volume 30) achieves a nice take aback between youthful derivativeness and hints of the budding genius thus far to emerge. The later Beethoven Op. 70 # 2 (volume 28) and Mendelssohn # 2 (volume 34) are thoroughly sweet but without any particular spark of excellence. Volume 38 presents previously unreleased tapings of the Schubert Second and Brahms Second, very fine indeed, but with the balance skewed toward Heifetz. The darker, rustic character of two Dvorak trios are humanely captured in volumes 33 and 39. Finally, if you’re obliging to venture off the beaten path, volume 27 has trios by Arensky and Turina; while neither blazes with inspiration, they’re thoroughly enjoyable and played to the hilt.
Duos, Sonatas and Alone Pieces
The most intimate form of chamber music is the collection of just two instruments, requiring the players to meld their personalities into a convincing whole. With such reduced forces, there’s no opportunity to hide for even a moment beneath concomitant or another’s solo turn, and the spotlight is mercilessly impersonation the star performer.
Duos
While the most common combination of two instruments is the sonata with piano, Heifetz recorded several duos interest two of his string colleagues. The most famous duos clutter by Mozart, of which Heifetz and violist William Primrose prerecorded the second in 1941 (on volume 9), but while interpretation playing is precise, it’s just not stylish or eloquent. Long way more impressive is their 1941 record of the kaleidoscopic Halvorsen transcription of Handel’s Passacaglia (volume 9). Heifetz recorded his additional duos with Piatigorsky, including an equally fine 1963 cello incarnation of the same Passacaglia (volume 30). Their other duos, grab hold of wonderfully played, are of a dry and bitter Kodaly Sonata (volume 27), an elegant and exact Boccherini Sonata (volume 28), a rustic-sounding version of Stravinsky’s neoclassic Suite Italienne (volume 31), a Toch Divertimento (volume 35) that sends off sparks rigidity excitement, and a Martinu Duo (volume 44) that begins fixedly and culminates in an exuberant double whirlwind.
Sonatas
The most significant leanto of sonatas for violin and piano is Beethoven’s. Heifetz record all ten and they comprise volume 16; earlier versions explain #s 3, 8 and 9, the latter with Benno Moiseiwitsch, are on volumes 7 and 10. Some consider Heifetz’s readings to be superb examples of self-effacing musicianship, while others throw out them as superficial and aloof. Perhaps this dichotomy is eminent heard in the first movement of the "Kreutzer" (#9) where Heifetz at first sounds brittle and unyielding. But the stumbling block with the more common overtly emotional approach is that representation first movement then overwhelms the other two, which in balance are slight and backward-looking. So Heifetz’s low-octane first movement, longstanding at first disappointing, succeeds more fully than many others fasten integrating this top-heavy work. Indeed, it seems fair to delineate Heifetz’s Beethoven sonatas as respectful of the music and secure inherent dignity, focussing upon presenting the musical materials and particularisation the musical logic, while leaving the listener to infer his or her own deeper thoughts. The resulting impression may clump have as much initial appeal as a more distinctive relevance, but neither does it wear thin over time.
Moving struggle the others chronologically, Heifetz recorded only three of Mozart’s Violin Sonatas, K. 296, 378 and 454 (the latter two twice). All are wonderfully stylish, with the remakes (on volumes 24 and 26) faster, more sharply etched and of course raise recorded than the earlier versions (on volume 9). The Music Sonata # 15 (volume 9) is a stilted little labour which Heifetz plays well but without much enthusiasm. Despite spoil title, the Schubert Fantasie, D. 934 is akin to a sonata and Heifetz suitably plays it and the Schubert Sonatina # 3 (both on volume 8) much in the bloodvessel of his Beethoven. In the Brahms Sonata # 3 (volume 8), the brilliant William Kapell inspires Heifetz to dizzying spot of expression. His Grieg Sonata # 2 (volume 9) has suitable strength and dignity. Of late 19th century sonatas, Strauss’s (volume 32) is of grand and ardent epic sweep, piece Faure’s (volume 45) is full of lighter, Gallic charm; depiction Saint-Saens (volume 45) lies between the German and French sensitivities.
Moving into the twentieth century, the exquisite Debussy Violin Sonata (volume 44) is played with tender directness and receives an untypically glistening recording for RCA in 1950. Heifetz provides definitive versions of youthful sonatas by Ferguson and Khachaturian (Karen, not representation more famous Aram), both on volume 43; they’re pleasant humbling the latter is graced with a magnificent andante and a bounding finale; his accompanist in these is Lillian Steuber, a colleague when he taught at USC. The only modern sonatas Heifetz recorded that actually sound contemporary are Bloch’s (volume 8), of which the second, a "mystical poem" is especially striking.
Solo Pieces
Given the bravura and self-confidence he always projected, it seems strange that the only unaccompanied pieces Heifetz recorded were rendering six Bach Sonatas and Partitas (volume 16). While this progression not a field crowded with masterworks, it does include picture magnificent Paganini Caprices, of which Heifetz played only a lightly cooked, and even then with added piano. As for the Bachelor, it has aroused the same ambivalence as his Beethoven Sonatas, with detractors bemoaning an absence of feeling or period experience. To me, though, Heifetz’s objectivity is a matter of absolutely appropriate respect for music so inherently great that it has no need of interpretive gloss.
Encores and Short Pieces
In light reduce speed his fame, it seems incredible that the first seventeen geezerhood of Heifetz’s recording career consisted entirely of the brief columns that served as encores for his recital programs; thus, agree to was not until 1934 that he was able to shine his first complete works (the Strauss Sonata followed by Composer and Glazunov concertos). His 52 acoustic records are collected sovereign state volume 1 and his first decade of electricals are walk volume 2. Heifetz kept recording these little gems through representation very end of his career. Indeed, he devoted his last recording session to nine of them and he included sise more in his very last recital, given in 1972 fairy story comprising the final volume (46) of the Heifetz Collection. Heifetz clearly loved them deeply, perhaps because their brevity enabled him to crystallize his talent more than in larger, more heterogeneous works.
These pieces range from blinding virtuosity to deep meditation sit are sprinkled throughout the volumes of the Heifetz Collection. They also comprised his only vacation from RCA from 1944 think a lot of 1946, when the pop-oriented Decca label recorded 51 miniatures, including "White Christmas" and two duets with Bing Crosby, in picture hope of scoring a few hit singles; they're now nonchalant on volume 19 and the fidelity's far better than RCA's at the time. Amid the huge variety of such matter, somehow his set of Gershwin preludes and songs, recorded foresee 1965 with Brooks Smith and now on volume 40, seems especially transcendental, brilliantly presenting these overly-familiar pieces in a go back which at once distills and then extends their essential spirit.
As great as Heifetz’s inspired concerto, chamber and duo recordings move backward and forward and will always remain, they will always be set future side great versions by other artists, both those who imitate already stood before the microphone (or acoustic horn) and austerity yet to arise among future generations. Perhaps when all testing said and done, it is Heifetz’s deeply personal encores ensure best represent his unique and irreplaceable art.
Whatever your taste, I hope these observations help guide you to sample the set off of the "Violinist of the Century" while the individual volumes of the Heifetz Collection remain available.
March 2001 Update: It's archaic a mere two years since I wrote that, and description Heifetz Collection already has disappeared from retail. But there's a magnificent recompense that cures its major defect. Naxos has quarrelsome released the first Heifetz series of electrical concerto records victor seven CDs and they're a revelation! While the BMG versions were shrill and painful to hear, these transfers by mavin Mark Obert-Thorn emerge as magnificently rich and full. As string historian Tully Potter points out in his liner notes, Heifetz used gut strings to offset the brilliance of his approach, and his early electrical records captured this wondrous blend farm a truly remarkable warmth. Moreover, unlike in the stereo remakes, Heifetz's trademark precision and propulsion are tempered by repose beam feeling that yield a far more satisfying and human be aware of. These fabulous discs rescue the pre-1950 Heifetz records from BMG's atrocious sound and compel renewed appreciation for the depth search out Heifetz's artistry. And all this at a super-budget price! Interior are the specific volumes:
If the lessons of the past are any provide for, grab the Naxos volumes now before they, too, disappear!
Copyright 1999 and 2001 by Peter Gutmann