The majority of people do not remember the time when they were not yet able to walk, whereas Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987) – could not recall himself unable to play violin. Born and raised in Vilnius, one of the most prominent violinists in the world, he started playing violin when he was three years old, and he climbed to the philharmonic stage for the first time when he was barely five. The first teacher of Jascha was his father and after him – Ilja Malkin – who worked at Vilnius Music School, established in this building. Malkin soon realized his inability to contribute further to the education of the child with extraordinary capabilities and contacted his own former teacher – legendary Leopold Auer (1845-1930), the leader (first violin) of the orchestra of Saint Petersburg Imperial Theatres. Upon hearing Jascha play, Auer immediately invited the young genius to continue his education in the Imperial capital. At the age of nine Jascha left for Saint Petersburg with his father and just one year later he played on the major stages of the capital. When he moved to the United States in 1917, the famous Carnegie Hall already awaited the violinist in New York City, and there he achieved the same glory as in Europe. The child genius Jascha soon became Mr. Heifetz – a living legend in the music world. Later on, only his closest friends called him by his name. After the recognition in the United States, Heifetz embarked on his first world-tour following which he became a worldwide star. Never feeling at home with the cultural and social elite of New York City, at the end of the 1930s Heifetz moved to a house next to the ocean in California. From there he left for several world-tours. In 1958 Heifetz undertook teaching at the University of California in Los Angeles. Students of Heifetz’s masterclass recall him as a passionate and strict teacher – there was a constant strain in his classroom. Heifetz punished his students for the uncompleted homework and rough mistakes with fines of one quarter – the money collected was allocated for purchasing new strings. Notwithstanding his harsh style of teaching, the seldom smiling maestro was sincere and sensitive to the various problems of his students, frequently helping them out in their daily lives. In the beginning of the 1970s the violinist suffered an injury and could no longer lift his bow as high as before. His student Aike Agus (b. 1949), who has accompanied Heifetz and spent a lot of time in his company, remembers that the injury also bestowed a feeling of relief to the violinist – he then had a serious reason to conclude his impressive but also stressful career. Once talking about his students, the famous Auer forgot to mention Heifetz. When a journalist inquired “what about Heifetz?”, Auer replied – “Jascha? He is not my student. He is a student of the God”. Indeed, the name of Heifetz had become a measure of an exceptional quality, and he himself had been called “Violinist of the God”.
