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Article: The Sound Of Perfection;Jascha Heifetz;Songs of Praise For the Century's Master Violinist
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- December 12, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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In 1920, on the morning after Jascha Heifetz made his London
debut, George Bernard Shaw (a great music critic along with all his
other achievements) sent the teen-age violinist a letter.
"If you provoke a jealous God by playing with such superhuman
perfection," Shaw warned Heifetz, "you will die young. I earnestly
advise you to play something badly every night before going to bed,
instead of saying your prayers. No mortal should presume to play so
faultlessly."
Never were Shaw's keen but erratic prophetic powers more
mistaken. After a long career characterized by faultless playing,
Jascha Heifetz died yesterday, less than two months short of his 87th
birthday.
Could he have played ...