When Words Fail...

Jascha Heifetz plays Paganini Caprice No. 24 (Auer Edition with Schumann accompaniment). Accompanist: Emanuel Bay.

I once read that some people thought Heifetz applied too much chin pressure against his Stradivarius (clutching the instrument with his chin), but it is only because his violin always looked so secure with him. Indeed if it were the case, a muscle injury would have forced a violinist into an early retirement, and yet Heifetz continued into his 80s and gave the last concert at age 86! A student of his once observed him closely and remarked, "The violin sits so softly on his shoulders that if there were a waft of wind in the concert hall, it would blow his violin away."

Heifetz gave his USA debut performance in 1917, aged only 16, at the Carnegie Hall and became an immediate sensation (however his first public concert was in as early as 1910). His luminous musical career spanned well over seven decades. Heifetz once said, "If I do not practise the violin for one day, I will know. If I do not practise for two days, my teacher notices. And if I do not practise for three days, the audience knows." Being the perfect virtuoso as he was, he still practised scales on his Stradivarius repeatedly everyday.