Jascha Heifetz: Early Years in Russia

20. The First Half of 1917: February Revolution

363 No one could have predicted justhowthepolitical and social unrest would develop during 1917. Military successes during the previous year had created a sense of optimism; the hardships of the first two years of the war were not felt as sharply in the expanses of the Russian EmpireastheywereinotherwarringEuropeancountries.Theautumn1916 draftofthirteenmillionfarmers,factoryworkers,andtransportationworkers , however, left the economy in total ruin. The Tsar, taking upon himself the responsibilities of commander-in-chief, was overburdened with wartime affairs. Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, meanwhile, mourned the death on December 16 (OS) of the controversial Russian Orthodox mystic, Grigory Rasputin. He had served as her confidant and had been successfully treating the bleeding episodes of her son, who was afflicted with hemophilia, a condition the boy inherited from his mother. Highsociety , monarchist conspirators, afraid of Rasputin’s growing influence on the royal family, murdered Rasputin, thus depriving the Empress of her last hope in the fight with her son’s illness. For good reason, the country followed the reshuffling of the government with great apprehension. They had already witnessed a quick succession of prime ministers: after Ivan Goremykin, Boris Stürmer lasted only The First Half of 1917: February Revolution CHAPTER TWENTY 364 Jascha Heifetz ten months, then Alexander Trepov for just forty-eight days, followed by Prince Nikolai Golitsyn, who took the position shortly before the end of 1916.Thegovernmentfounditselfincompletedisarray.Amodicumofhope rested on the State Duma, in which progressive forces gathered strength, including specifically the Kadet Party, the party favored by professors and industrialists alike. The famous Kadet publicist and ideologue, Yosif Gessen , wrote in Rech’s New Year edition about the need to unite all of the political and social powers opposed to the Tsar’s government, for “. . . only under such conditions is it possible to look the future in the eye bravely and not feel the harsh reality—however dismal and intolerable it be.” The tumultuouseventsinPetrogradduringthewinterandspringof1917spared nobody, including Jascha. In the coming months he would perform at one of the concert-rallies amidst the leaders of the Kadets and the ideologues of the social-democratic movement, with the leaders of the General Jewish Workers’Union(Bund),andwithrepresentativesoftheCouncils(Soviets) of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies. Jascha turned sixteen in January. Seven years had passed since he had turned nine and had entered the conservatory for the first time. Following hisdebutinApril1911,Jaschahadperformedsoloconcertsintheconservatory ’s Maly Hall every year except during the 1913–1914 season. The season before last, there were two appearances at that venue, and three in the last year.ThechallengingtaskforJaschathisseasonwastoputtogetheraseries of six programs. His repertoire had grown considerably, new works were added, and at his second performance, on January 9, he played for the first time the Mozart Concerto in A and the Wieniawski Scherzo-Tarantella. He never again played these pieces in Russia, but he would play them frequently in the future. His program on January 9 also included the Grand Adagio from Glazunov’s ballet Raymonda and Paul Juon’s Arva. The concert also featured the return of Isidor Achron, who had been away from Petrograd for almost a year, most probably as a result of the military draft. Jascha had developed a successful partnership with Achron over many performances, so his return prompted much pleasure for the Heifetzes. Almost immediately after the Petrograd performance, Jascha and his entourage traveled to Estonia’s second largest city, Yuryev (now Tartu), for a solo concert at Vanemuine Hall to benefit a Jewish primary school. 365 The First Half of 1917: February Revolution The January 12 concert included many well-worn pieces: the Mendelssohn Concerto, Schubert Ave Maria, a Chopin Nocturne, a Paganini Caprice, the Tchaikovsky Melodie, and a few Kreisler miniatures. This was Jascha’s first appearance in this old university city and, despite the high admission prices, the hall was full. In the words of the music reviewer for the Rizhsky vestnik: “The performance of a talented concertant is a phenomenon far from commonplace in our musical life and therefore was met with delight by the gathered public.”1 According to both the public and the critics, this “young man, modest and shy,” in no way resembled those nerve-wracked and sickly narcissistic characters, into which child prodigies “of the usual type” transform. Jascha returned to Petrograd and on January 31 played his third Maly Hall concert of the season with a program of new works, including Burlesque and Un poco triste by Josef Suk, Gluck’s Melodie (from the opera Orpheus...