Jascha Heifetz: Early Years in Russia

8. The Beginning of 1912

124 The new year brought various interruptions to Jascha’s violin lessons. In January, Auer left St. Petersburg to visit Kiev and Odessa to assist in the conversion of the two Imperial Russian Music Society schools into conservatories. Journalists in Odessa interviewed Auer a numberoftimes,questioninghimaboutthemusicschools,andalsoasking incessantly about his student Jascha Heifetz, whose past summer concerts in the city had so astonished the local public. Auer spoke passionately of Jascha’s potential: He is a most genius boy out of whom I do not doubt will come a great artist of world fame. You ask, will his performances onstage negatively affect his talent? It seems to me that Heifetz’s talent is so great that his public performances barely affect his abilities. On the contrary, sporadic performances will only be of good use for him. . . . Clearly, constant travel could harm the boy’s future, but at the present time the boy, who performs fairly rarely onstage , is doing very well in his general studies, and is quite successful.1 In St. Petersburg, Jascha received an invitation to perform at a benefit concert on January 14, 1912, for the Society for the Aid of Impoverished Jews Working in Commerce and Petty Trade. This charity was based in Nikolaev (Mykolaiv), a trading port near Odessa. Jascha and Ruvin took The Beginning of 1912 CHAPTER EIGHT 125 The Beginning of 1912 advantage of their teacher’s absence and left for Nikolaev. Advertisements for the concert appeared in local newspapers, and they described the event as a “Musical-vocal concert with dancing.” The event would take place in the city’s assembly building, the largest concert hall in the city, “with the participation of young violinist-virtuoso Jascha Heifetz (he is Joseph) and with the gracious participation of A. S. Dobrovain-Vansova (soprano).”2 The inclusion of the name Joseph in parentheses suggests the concert organizers wished to capitalize on Jascha’s success in nearby Odessa during the summer of 1911, where advertisements and posters referred to Joseph Heifetz. Jascha thrilled his audience and critics who wrote that “he showed so much poetry, power, inspiration and creativity in his performance of all three movements of the Mendelssohn Concerto!”3 Jascha also played the PaganiniCapriceno.24,theChopin-SarasateNocturneinE,Dvořák’sHumoresque , and as an encore, Bazzini’s La Ronde des Lutins.4 Accompanying Jascha in Nikolaev was Emanuel Bay, who received leave permission from the conservatory from January 11–17.5 Reviewers described Bay as a great ensemble musician, and his growing public profile can be seen through his appearanceinlocal advertisements: “Mr.Bay from St. Petersburgplays the accompaniment on a Schroeder piano.”6 The charity concert organizers spared no expense and were justly rewarded. The success was remarkable and fully deserved. We will not be mistaken if we say that the appearance of Jascha Heifetz on the concert stage will diminish the glory of more than one ordinary virtuoso. In conclusion we consider it necessary to say that the public of Nikolaev is extremely grateful to the leadership of the Society for the Aid of Impoverished Jews Working in Commerce, which, not hesitating a significant expenditure, brought us great aesthetic pleasure by their invitation of Jascha Heifetz.7 By Jascha’s eleventh birthday on January 20, the Heifetzes were back in St. Petersburg. There was little time to rest, however, since just a week later they departed for yet another concert, this time in Poland. On January 28 they arrived in Łódź, where Jascha performed with the Warsaw PhilharmonicOrchestra,conductedbyZdzisławBirnbaum.Unrestrained admiration filled newspaper reports in Polish, German, and Yiddish publications. 126 Jascha Heifetz He is a marvel—with his big blue eyes and rosy cheeks, and with his golden curls, which become even more charming when he shakes his head while playing. It is impossible to imagine him any way other than as a little angel, appearing to us from heaven. From the first phrase of the Mendelssohn Concerto Heifetz immediately showed his artistic talent. Bach’s Air on the G string was masterfully performed. He has a strong tone, even though he plays on a three-quarter sized violin, which costs 40 rubles. Playing the Popper Spinning Song, he showed his wonderfully developed technique; it seems to me that difficulties just do not exist for Heifetz.8 JaschaplayedtheBach-WilhelmjAriaandMelodie OrientalebyCuifor the first time, and was accompanied by the local pianist Vass. According to the reviews, the orchestra played inconsistently...