Jascha Heifetz - Portrait of an Artist (1953)

Comments · 243

• JE

  @jenniferl.8111 · 6 years ago

  Heifetz is the best violinist ever to exist.

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• GO

  @gotsukenj5358 · 6 years ago

  I think the students in this film are the luckiest of the world.

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• PH

  @PhoKingHell · 11 years ago

  Why can't we have things like this in universities still today?

  103

• JO

  @johnschlesinger2009 · 6 years ago

  So reserved in his life, and so hugely generous with his astounding music making. One can sense how much he enjoyed sharing his uniquely wondrous playing with this young, enthusiastic audience.

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• JO

  @JoePalau · 6 years ago

  Like so many of my generation, Heifetz was the Gold Standard of violin playing.  In fact, he was a god.  I went to the library to listen to his LPs of the great standards - Brahms, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky.  To that I added Bach’s solo violin sonatas and partitas. It’s hard to imagine today the extent to which whatever he played, how he played it, how he sounded, was the definitive performance.  I don’t we have a concept of “definitive” performance anymore.  This film is a gem to behold of a man who continues to be a god to me.  His is a bygone era. There is a joy, a playfulness in his playing that continues to engage and delight.  When he was serious - forget it!  I am told his sound penetrated a concert hall like none other.  Pitch and tone perfect.

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• NB

  @nb7524 · 2 years ago

  Heifetz remains my favorite violinist! &nbsp;I watched a documentary in which Itzhak Perlman stated that when he first saw Heifetz perform he could not close his mouth for like a month. Perlman also stated that Heifetz sound even better in person because on recordings he liked the mic very close so some of the beauty of his playing was not captured on the recordings. &nbsp;Perlman stated that Heifetz produced such an astounding sound that would ring throughout the concert hall, it was incredible. &nbsp;The great classic violinist Ida Haendel said that seeing him perform great concertos in person could cause you to shudder.<br><br>A few young popular violinists today can’t fully appreciate how magnificent Heifetz was, at moments chuckling at violinists such as him with their “old style“ way of playing. Yet, Heifetz could absolutely bury them with his technique and ability. Every violinist today stands on their shoulders. <br><br>Don’t get me wrong there are truly excellent violinist today that I very much enjoy; there’s just no one like Heifetz.

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• AL

  @AlexRiversMusic · 8 years ago

  Heifetz is a genius

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• NI

  @nikkiiv9259 · 7 years ago

  Heifetz is the best violinist in the world. &nbsp;Nobody come close to his level. &nbsp;I love seeing these old videos because it reminds me how great Heifetz was. &nbsp;He still is the best in my book.

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• MR

  @MrTrackman100 · 10 years ago

  Wonder if today&apos;s college students would be as thrilled to see and hear such a true artist?

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• NI

  @nickyork8901 · 3 years ago

  The Gluck melodie is so beautifully done, one of the most expressive bits of violin playing you could ever hear.

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• ST

  @stevenguzman3374 · 8 years ago

  The artistry is just amazing, and the bow control is outstanding. &nbsp;Very inspiring to watch and listen to.

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• GA

  @gailklein9020 · 5 years ago

  Love his deadpan sense of humor.

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