The IV International Jascha Heifetz Competition for Violinists

The IV International Jascha Heifetz Competition for Violinists will be held in Vilnius from 26 February to 3 March 2013. This competition is one of the most important musical events in Lithuania, honouring the musical heritage of the legendary violin virtuoso.

The famous Jewish violinist was born in Vilnius, the ‘Lithuanian Jerusalem’, in 1901, and all his life he preserved the memories and the musical traditions of his home. The six-year-old prodigy began his musical career with a concert in Kaunas in 1907. He performed in Vilnius in 1909, won European recognition in Berlin in 1912, and worldwide recognition in America, which in 1917 became his second homeland. He died on 11 December 1987.

The numerous recordings, films and photographs of him are clear evidence of the phenomenon of Jascha Heifetz’ playing. The Vilnius period of his life and work is the least studied and the least known. The violinist spent his childhood in Vilnius at 27 Maironio Street. The building where he attended the school of the Music Society of Imperial Russia from 1906 still stands on Vilniaus Street. Intensive preparation work for the competition has already started, and we have spoken with the vice-chairman of the competition’s organising committee, the head of the Department of String Instruments at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Professor Petras Radzevičius, who was involved in all three previous competitions. The Jascha Heifetz Competition for Violinists is one of the four main music competitions held in Lithuania (the others are the M.K. Čiurlionis, B. Dvarionas and S. Vainiūnas competitions), and takes place every four years. All these competitions are supported by the Ministry of Culture. Of them, this one is the youngest. Professor Radzevičius emphasised that Vilnius was the home of this great artist, and that the city should be proud of it, just as Genoa is proud of Paganini, Salzburg is proud of Mozart, and many other cities are proud of their musicians. Before Lithuania regained its independence, the music world considered Heifetz to be American. Only with the improvement of relations between countries and the increase in concerts given in Lithuania by foreign performers has interest in the musical roots of the great violinist grown. The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre decided to fill the gap in what is known about the life of the musician, and to honour him properly. For this purpose, in order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Heifetz, the competition in his name was started, organised together with the National Philharmonic Society. This happened in 2001. Professor Radzevičius said that it was very fortunate that the world-famous violinist Gidon Kremer agreed to support the event, and also to chair the jury, which testifies to the high professional standard of the competition. The first competition had a small budget, but it was characterised by a large number of entrants. Those who attended it said that the very name of Jascha Heifetz was the greatest advertisement for it. After the second Jascha Heifetz Competition for Violinists in 2005, it was admitted into the European Union of Music Competitions for Youth (EMCY). The event has assumed even greater prestige. Now it is considered part of the main group of competitions. Its famous name obliges it to strive for a high standard of professionalism. The famous Russian violinist T. Grindenko, who was a member of the competition jury, said that the name of Jascha Heifetz helps preserve the status of the violin as the king of instruments. For performers, it is not enough just to have a good instrument; they also need to play soulfully. The third competition, which was held in 2009, reflected all this, by its popularity and in the number of participants, and also in the standard of the playing and the financing. The IV International Jascha Heifetz Competition for Violinists has an original programme, which was developed together with Gidon Kremer. Apart from the other pieces that are required for each participant to play to be selected for the first round, they will have to play a solo violin piece of six to seven minutes, written by Vilnius composers especially for the competition. On previous occasions, pieces by A. Šenderovas, V. Barkauskas and F. Nobleman were performed. This competition will feature the music of B. Kutavičius. Transcriptions by Jascha Heifetz will also be performed. It should be noted that the forthcoming competition will feature a final round with the Kremerata Baltica orchestra. Each finalist will have to perform Saint-Saëns’ (Ysaÿe) Waltz Op. 52 No.6 Etude en forme de valse, and a Mozart or Haydn concerto for violin, with Heifetz’ or the performer’s own authorial cadences, together with the orchestra. According to the professor, this round is very complex, and requires thorough preparation and a high degree of skill. We warmly welcome anybody who is interested in the competition to visit the website www.ipmc.lt. Young violinists should make their decision whether to participate in the competition by 15 December.