Biography

Heifetz's Violins

Jascha Heifetz owns two masterpieces of the violin - maker’s art. One is the priceless “Dolphin” Stradivarius, made in Cremona in 1714. The other is the great 1742 “David” Guarnerius. On the concert stage and in the recording studio, the violinist sometimes uses the Strad, sometimes the Guarnerius, since each instrument has its own distinct personality and tone color. For the Brahms Concerto he chose the Guarnerius which is a little more robust, more golden in tone than the silver- voiced “Dolphin.” The instrument is named after Ferdinand David, the distinguished violinist, pedagogue and composer who was soloist in the first performance of the Mendelssohn Concerto. At one time, too, it belonged to David’s renowned pupil, August Wilhelmj, and to the Spanish violinist- composer Pablo Sarasate. Heifetz has had it almost three decades. His father acquired it for him in the Thirties, in Germany.