[78-L] heifetz

[Dave at Audio Tech Transfer]

> From: DAVID BURNHAM <burnhamd at rogers.com>
> Subject: [78-L] heifetz
> To: 78-L at 78online.com
> Message-ID: <589578.4424.qm at web88107.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> To me, the most hair-raising Heifetz recording ever made was "La Ronde des 
> Lutins", particularly the first acoustic recording.? He nails every run, 
> every harmonic and, having just listened to a couple of You Tube 
> performances by Vengerov and Perlman, you can hear how these very 
> accomplished violinists bury handfulls of wrong notes in the rapid 
> clusters.? Listen to the acoustic Heifetz and forget about anything 
> Heifetz would have become in later years.? Try to appreciate that you're 
> hearing a 15 or 16 year old boy, who could have missed a lot of the runs 
> and still would have been impressive, and wonder at the shear perfection 
> of the performance, the harmonics are flawless and sound effortless.? 
> Heifetz' later recordings of this work are no less exciting but youth is 
> no longer an element.
>
> db

I finally got around to cleaning about 3 dozen 12" Classical discs that were 
among a large lot purchased about 10 months ago.  Most of  them are 
one-sided acoustic records on the Victor label and appear to be unplayed. 
After cleaning 80-90 years worth of dust off them, I'm enjoying some 
excellent performances by Caruso, Heifetz, Elman, Kreisler, Casals, and 
others.

The Heifetz records are particularly impressive.  It's hard to believe he 
was a teenager when they were recorded.  I've got many of his later 
78s/45s/LPs, but don't recall ever listening to this very early work.

The three Heifetz acoustic discs I own:

Scherzo-Tarantelle, Victor 74562
Spanish Dance, Victor 74569
Romance (Weiniawski), Victor 74600

Dave in Wyoming