Anne Sophie Mutter

Anne-Sophie Mutter is a German violinist and teacher born on June 29, 1963 (Heifetz was 62 years old.) Although she is in the forefront of international violin virtuosos, she actually never attended any big-name conservatories. Her violin studies from the age of five were with Erna Honigberger and Aida Stucki. At age 13, at Herbert Von Karajan’s request, she played with the Berlin Philharmonic. The rest is history. At age 15 she began her recording career. Mutter is a meticulous perfectionist, known for her highly disciplined, careful interpretations. Her U.S. debut came in New York in 1980, at age 17. She did not, however, play in Carnegie Hall until 1988. Her recording of the Beethoven Sonatas was made in CD and DVD format. She is unusual for not using a shoulder rest – a common piece of equipment used by the vast majority of contemporary violinists – and for only wearing strapless gowns in concert. She is also one of the richest violinists in the world, if not the richest. Her instruments of choice are two Stradivarius violins – the Emiliani (1703) and the Lord Dunn–Raven (1710.) She joined the faculty of the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1985. In 1993, she became involved in a dispute with several English orchestras over her high fees – then approximately $50,000 per night. As a result, she did not perform with any London orchestras for two years. She then cut her fee by 20 percent and started playing there again. It has been said that Mutter came close to retiring in 2008 but changed her mind. She married her first husband when she was 26 – he was 56. After the death of her first husband in 1995, it was rumored that Mutter became a lover to the Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, when he was 75. She married famous conductor Andre Previn in 2002 – she was 39 and he was 73. She divorced him in 2006. There are many videos of her playing – all professionally produced – on YouTube. Her sound is full-bodied and always under control. One will never hear blood, sweat, and tears coming from her violin – in the style of Ivry Gitlis – the soul-baring, wild, virtuosic, risk-taking is simply not there.

Jaime Laredo

Jaime Laredo is a Bolivian violinist, conductor, and teacher born on June 7, 1941 (Heifetz was 40 years old.) He began the study of the violin in Bolivia when he was five years old. Two years later, he came to the U.S. where he studied with Josef Gingold and Ivan Galamian among others. His orchestral debut came at age 11 with the San Francisco Symphony. His diploma is from the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where he studied with Ivan Galamian and George Szell. In 1958, he won the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium Competition – the youngest violinist to do so. In 1960, he debuted in Carnegie Hall. His Royal Albert Hall (London) debut followed close behind (1961.) He is known for being incredibly busy. Among other activities, he is the artistic advisor for the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the conductor of the Vermont Symphony (since 1999), instructor of violin at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia (since 1971), jury president for the Indianapolis International Violin Competition (since 1994), artistic director of the Brandenburg Ensemble, artistic director of the Chamber Music at the Y series (New York), professor of violin at Indiana University, violinist with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, recording artist (RCA, Columbia, Sony, Chandos, Vox, Arabesque, and Virgin Classics labels among others), recitalist, and concert violinist. Hilary Hahn and Pamela Frank are among his many pupils. 

Jascha Heifetz

Jascha Heifetz was a Russian (Lithuanian) violinist, composer, and teacher born on this day (February 2) in 1901 - some sources say January 20, 1901. He has often been called the greatest violinist of the Twentieth Century. After Paganini, he is probably the most famous violinist who ever lived. Ironically, he did not record any of the Paganini concertos. He first took lessons – at age three - from his father (Ruben, concertmaster of the Vilna Symphony Orchestra), and then began lessons at age five with Ilya Malkin. He first played in public at age 7. At age 9 he entered the St Petersburg Conservatory to study under Leopold Auer. While still a very young student, he toured much of Europe, playing with the Berlin Philharmonic as a 13-year-old. His first performance with the Berlin Philharmonic occurred on October 12, 1912.  He played the Tchaikovsky concerto on that occasion.  Arthur Nikisch was on the podium.  On January 4, 1933, he played the 5th concerto by Mozart, the Beethoven concerto, and the Brahms concerto on the same program.  He was 31 years old.  He did not set foot in Germany ever again.  A few violinists have played two concertos on the same program and even fewer have played three concertos on the same program.  Until recently, I did not know that Heifetz had done the same thing.  Heifetz came to the U.S in 1917 and debuted in Carnegie Hall on October 17, 1917, still only sixteen years old. His concertizing and recording career took off after that.  Eddy Brown stated afterward that Heifetz made everyone else, including Kreisler, sound like students.  Heifetz composed a very small quantity of original music but made many arrangements and transcriptions which are still in wide use. He is probably the most recorded violinist of all time, although Louis Kaufman and Ruggiero Ricci biographers claim the same thing about Ricci and Kaufman. Heifetz taught for many years at UCLA and USC (both in Southern California, U.S.A.). Two of his famous pupils were Erick Friedman and Eugene Fodor.  He played the famous Dolphin Stradivarius (1714), a 1742 Guarneri, a 1731 Stradivarius, a 1734 Stradivarius, and a 1736 Carlo Tononi violin. Heifetz died on December 10, 1987, at age 86.

Joshua Bell

Joshua Bell is an American violinist born on December 9, 1967. Bell began violin lessons at the age of four. Later on, he studied with Joseph Gingold at Indiana University (Jacobs School of Music), from which he graduated in 1989. However, by 1985, he had already made his Carnegie Hall (New York City) debut. He is best known for his soundtrack recording of the violin music on the film The Red Violin. Bell has taught at the Royal Academy of Music (London), MIT, and Indiana University. There is lots of information about him on the internet as well as videos on YouTube and on MySpace websites. He has also recorded most of the standard violin repertoire. I believe his latest is the Vivaldi Four Seasons. It's an interesting rendition, to say the least. Bell plays the Gibson-ex-Huberman Stradivarius (1713 - a notoriously famous violin.) I have a photo of it somewhere. I'll post it later, if I remember to do so.