RIN:97 Jascha Heifetz's Wisdom - An Informational Insight

Jascha Heifetz, one of the world's greatest violin virtuosi, was the subject of an extensive feature article in Wisdom magazine (June, 1956). Wisdom reported Heifetz' views on many things. But, to us, two things stand out . . . Heifetz knew and said that a new instrument is often as good as, sometimes superior to, an old one. In addition, he spoke out forcefully against rackets of all kinds -- and rackets, we add, are something that readers of the Focus Report have been told of. . . more than once!

2. "If I weren't a violinist," Heifetz said, "I would like to be a writer. What would I write? A book on the sham and hypocrisy in our world. The kind of book... about the upside-down things in the world, the things that pretend to be one way, but aren't." My reasons for quoting this remark are probably clear enough in advance. Often, the Focus Report has attacked the upside-down practices and pretense which dominate so much -- so very much -- of the violin business. And Heifetz himself, as we indicated above, was quite aware of the nonsense and mythology which surround the quest for rare, old instruments.

3. In Wisdom's own words: "Heifetz participated in extensive tests to compare the relative values of original handmade violins [i.e., old and antique instruments] with those produced by modern and industrial methods. He reported that a modern $200.00 fiddle produced tones whose quality compared favorably [with that of the old instruments]." This, of course, was 1956. To get the impact of his statement, let us do a little translation. Roughly speaking, the $200.00 instrument of 1956 would be the $3,000.00 violin of 1987. Heifetz drew the obvious conclusion. "There are," he said directly, "first class violin-makers right here in our own country."

4. Reuter's Focus Report has been insisting upon this, again and again. But it is good to discover that a musician of Heifetz' stature made the point long ago! We feel we have found a new, unquestionably distinguished ally.

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