Born on this day: Violinist Jascha Heifetz

Today is the birthday of legendary violinist and teacher Jascha Heifetz. Born in 1901, he was a child prodigy who started lessons at the age of four with Elias Malkin, going on to pursue further studies at St Petersburg Conservatory with Ovanes Nalbandian and Leopold Auer.

At the age of 12, Heifetz met renowned violinist Fritz Kreisler (who also shared the same date of birth) at a private house party in Berlin. After hearing the young violinist play the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Kreisler was reported to have said, ’We may as well break our fiddles across our knees.’

Heifetz enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a performer, recording artist and teacher. Delve into The Strad  archives to find out more about the man, as well as accounts from colleagues and students..