Product Description

For the last 15 years of Jascha Heifetz's life, Ayke Agus was his closest companion. She came to him as a violin student in his master class at the University of Southern California, but he sigled her out when he heard her play the piano; she became his private accompanist and ultimately his assistant and confidante. A sensitive and astute observer, Agus takes up where previous biographers left off; her book is a loving yet unblinking portrait of an ageing master by his disciple. The greatest violinist of the 20th century was a genius who was also insecure and unreasonable; in many respects the former prodigy had never had to grow up. But the aged Heifetz had much to tell, and Agus absorbed it all as they shared their stories about their lives and about music-making. He imparted not only the legacy of his art but all his beliefs and idiosyncrasies. "Now, you make sure that you do not forget to put all this in the book you are going to write after I am dead and gone", he told her. She fulfills this wish in an astounding portrait drawn with utter honesty, understanding, humour and devotion.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1169548 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 260 pages

Customer Reviews

A compelling insight into a private world.
Ayke Agus has written about the last fifteen years of Heifetz's life with great dignity and humility. Like many books about celebrities domestic lives where the revelations are sometimes disturbing, this portrait of a troubled genius is no exception. Having spent nearly every day for fifteen years with JH, Ayke Agus (also an accomplised violinist and pianist in her own right) was able to gain a compelling insight into a private world that was at times ugly and painful. What comes across most in her writing is her loyalty and admiration for a man who would quite often treat her harshly, a relationship sustained by music making and mutual respect. Highly recommended to non- musicians and musicians alike.

an insight into the unsettling world of genius
I would echo everything 'a reader' says. For those interested in the private life and the teaching approaches of this complicated genius, this is the book to have. It complements a book by his other pupil, Sherry Kloss, which may no longer be in print but is well worth seeking out, but Agus's book gives a fuller and less reverential treatment, and she was with Heifetz in his last days. She was a violin pupil in his master class - therefore, very, very good - whom he chose to divert willy-nilly into piano playing (at which she was equally good) so she could become the class's official accompanist. He dominated her and his other pupils, but in a way which I think they were able, even happy, to accept ; he was, after all, Heifetz. And when you read of his teaching precepts, they are illuminating and help to explain his approach to performing as well as being (some of them) clearly very good ideas which would assist any good musician. The book is balanced and well written, and it was good, I think, that the writer was eventually married and had a child so that she had a life 'outside' of Heifetz's charmed circle as well. Maybe that helped her to see the man objectively. But what she knew about this circle, and what she tells here, is essential reading for anyone seriously interested in 20th.-century classical violin playing. I found it totally absorbing.