Heifetz Master Classes

During the 1960s, legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz shared his knowledge with students in a series of master classes at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Heifetz Master Classes—filmed in 1962 for National Educational Television—offers 15 excerpts, arranged into eight segments. We see Heifetz interacting with talented young players—most of whom went on to substantial careers as teachers, orchestral members, and soloists—on a wide variety of pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Paganini, Tchaikovsky, Franck, Wieniawski, and Dont. Although capable of impish wit, Heifetz is mostly stern and professorial here, at times delivering a withering stare more intimidating than any spoken insult. Occasionally he takes up his own instrument to make a point and in one case even plays the piano to accompany a student. Aspiring violinists, especially at a fairly advanced level, will gain practical benefits from watching this set, but more generally it offers a glimpse of the man behind the technically flawless performances (which Heifetz was famous for), and serves as a fine complement to Peter Rosen's biographical documentary, God's Fiddler (VL-11/11). DVD extras include a previously unreleased parody of an audition Heifetz performed for his students, which proves that he could play as badly as Jack Benny if he set his mind to it. Although the black-and-white visuals and constricted sound naturally show their age, this is definitely recommended, especially so for music education collections. (F. Swietek)