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Heifetz: Live Recordings | Biddulph 850532

Heifetz: Live Recordings

£11.50

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Label: Biddulph

Cat No: 850532

Barcode: 0744718505326

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Release Date: 15th November 2024

Gramophone Editor's Choice

Contents

About

Jascha Heifetz was an exclusive RCA Victor artist for half a century for which he recorded virtually all the entire violin repertoire. Nevertheless, there were numerous works which he never committed to disc, and this CD features all the known works that Heifetz never recorded commercially. All of the recordings were originally radio broadcast performances, most of which were done for The Bell Telephone Hour. Heifetz made his début on The Telephone Hour on 27 April 1942 and continued to perform into 1950s. Accompanied by the Bell Telephone Orchestra conducted by Donald Voorhees, several works were performed with piano accompaniment or even solo.

The works on this CD range from the classical masters J.S. Bach and Mozart to 20th-century originals Villa-Lobos and Szymanowski. It also includes virtuoso works by such violinist/composers such as Nováček, Vieuxtemps, Hubay and Kreisler, and Heifetz’s own transcriptions of the American national anthem The Star-Spangled Banner and works by Rachmaninov. Two of the selections items on this CD capture the usually imperturbable violinist off guard. The first is an impromptu rehearsal of the popular hit song Mairzy Doats (‘Mares Eat Oats’) from the 1940s. And the CD concludes with an entire ‘Command Performance’ programme featuring Heifetz in a skit with the American comedian Jack Benny.

Reviews

The Allegro from Mozart’s Divertimento No 17 in D (K334) is awash with colour and played with a maximum of vitality... Aside from much else to tug at the heart-strings there’s the humour, Heifetz a real sport rehearsing Mairzy Doats or taking part in a skit with Jack Benny. ... A gift of a disc.  Rob Cowan
Gramophone April 2025

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