Jascha Heifetz: “There is no such thing as perfection”
Heifetz was widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of the last century. We look back at his life and ask some young violinists what made Heifetz such a legendary musician.
One of the finest violinists of the twentieth century, Jascha Hefitez (1901–1987) is a major source of inspiration to many of the Menuhin Competition violinists.
Born in Wilno, Russian Empire (present-day Vilnius, Lithuania), Hefitez moved to the United States as a teenager, where his Carnegie Hall debut launched a long, highly successful career. The debut was described by a critic as “the disclosure of a surpassing talent, well-nigh complete mastery of all the problems of violin playing, a sensitive, dignified and unassuming musician of such youth that much may still be expected in his development.’’ Fritz Kreisler, another leading violinist of the twentieth century, said on hearing Heifetz’s debut, “We might as well take our fiddles and break them across our knees.”
Although highly sought after, Heifetz was known for his dignified and unshowy demeanor — partly, some say, because he lacked the flair for it, but also because he often commented that he thought it was in bad taste. The critic James Gibbon Huneker defined the Heifetz fame-approach as advocacy of ”the Grecian ideal of art.’’
“There is no top. There are always further heights to reach. If one thought himself at the pinnacle, he would slide back toward mediocrity by that very belief in his success.’’ — Jascha Hefitez
Heifetz had a long and successful performing and recording career; and after an injury to his right bowing arm, he focused on teaching. Heifetz taught the violin extensively, holding master classes at UCLA, where the faculty included renowned cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and violist William Primrose. His teaching studio can be seen today in the main building of the Colburn School and serves as an inspiration to the students there (such as Kevin Miura, who mentions Heifetz’s influence in the school below).
Heifetz passed away in Los Angeles, at the age of 86.
We spoke to some of the Menuhin Competition contestants and asked them if they could go back in time, how they would feel about playing alongside Heifetz and what made him such a brilliant violinist…
“There is a Taiwanese movie titled ‘Secret’, which is one of my favourites. In that movie, the main character does battle with his rival over piano techniques. When I watched that scene, I thought if I did this battle with somebody it would be very exciting. Heifetz is very famous for his great techniques that are considered to be almost perfect, so it would be thrilling to imagine that I could do battle with Heifetz. Of course, to do this, I would have to practice tirelessly.” — NaKyung Kang, 12, South Korea
“His musicality is so powerful and personal. When he is playing, the music strikes you in a way that it immediately demands complete awareness.” — Michael Rosborg Germer, 13, Denmark
“As a native southern Californian, I feel a very close connection to Heifetz, whose studio has been relocated to the Colburn School where I take lessons. On top of his technical virtuosity, I really love the range of colours that Heifetz is able to make and his ability to quickly change the colour and mood of his tone.” — Kevin Miura, 13, USA/Japan
“I think Jascha Heifetz is a huge authority for every musician. He was a technical master and his performances seem to be played really effortlessly! Above all he was a big personality and all I can dream of is to meet such a legend, talk to him and play alongside just for a moment. I would do anything to experience this but there are many modern violinists that I would like to meet, listen to their advice and obviously play alongside.” — Klara Gronet, 15, Poland
“There is so much passion and virtuosity in his playing. He does so much with colours in the music in his own musical language that no other violinist can do. He makes his music so unique, but makes all those musical ideas he creates in his music sound as if they were meant to be played the way he feels and plays.” — Do Gyung (Anna) Im, 18, South Korea
“For me Jascha Heifetz has one of the most interesting personalities. His technical skills and his unbelievable sound is also a reason for me to choose him. Playing with him would be the biggest honour for me.” — Anne Luisa Kramb, 15, Germany
“At first, I listened to Heifetz playing the Hora Staccato on internet video clip. Even though I was a little girl, was attracted to his wonderful technique. Since then, Heifetz has been my role model and it is my dream to play Hora Staccato like him.” — Mahiru Moriyama, 15, Japan
“He had an incredible technique as well as a very beautiful sense of music that makes an great talent even greater.” —Alexandra Cooreman, 13, Belgium/Poland
You can read all of the responses on our Menuhin Competition Audience Award page.
