Description
BENAR HEIFETZ (MOGILEV, RUSSIAN EMPIRE, NOVEMBER 29 / DECEMBER 11, 1899 – MANHASSET, NEW YORK, APRIL 5, 1974)
Heifetz was born in the Belarusian city of Mogilev, whose Jewish population had already reached 50% by 1900 and which, at that time, belonged to the Russian Empire. Relative to its population, the city produced an unusually large number of distinguished musicians. Among them were Modest Altschuler, founder of the Russian Symphony Orchestra in New York, and the composer Irving Berlin.
Heifetz married the pianist and music teacher Olga Wolfsthal (née Band, 1898–1984), the widow of the violinist and Carl Flesch pupil Josef Wolfsthal, who died at a young age. She brought a daughter from that marriage into her third marriage. Prior to her marriage to Wolfsthal, she had been married to George Szell.
The surname Heifetz is relatively common and appears in various spellings, but little is known about family relationships among its bearers. Although there have occasionally been claims of kinship with other members of the Heifetz family, particularly with the celebrated violinist Jascha Heifetz, no such relationship has ever been conclusively proven.
Benar Heifetz studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory from 1911 and later at the Leipzig Conservatory, where he graduated in 1917. His principal teacher was Julius Klengel, who would later also teach Emanuel Feuermann and Gregor Piatigorsky.
Between 1927 and 1939, Heifetz was a member of the Kolisch Quartet, which had originally been founded in 1921 as the Vienna String Quartet. The ensemble consisted of Rudolf Kolisch (first violin), Felix Khuner (second violin), Eugen Lehner (viola), and Heifetz (cello), and was particularly devoted to contemporary music. Kolisch was also Arnold Schoenberg’s brother-in-law.
For the 1939–40 season, Heifetz became principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. In November 1939, Eugene Ormandy appointed Samuel Mayes as an additional principal cellist. Following the 1942–43 season, Heifetz joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini. From 1943 until the end of the Toscanini era in 1954, the orchestra’s principal violists were Carlton Cooley and Milton Katims, while the principal cellists were Frank Miller and Benar Heifetz.
From 1928 to 1930, Heifetz also performed with the Vienna Pierrot Lunaire Ensemble, associated with Arnold Schoenberg. Together with Erwin Stein (conductor), Erika Stiedry-Wagner (recitation), Franz Wangler (flute and piccolo), Viktor Polatschek (clarinet and bass clarinet), Rudolf Kolisch (violin and viola), and Eduard Steuermann (piano), he participated in performances in Vienna, Heidelberg, Nuremberg, and Cologne, as well as in a concert at Central Hall Westminster in London on April 7, 1930.
A particularly impressive example of Heifetz’s artistry can be heard in the recording of Camille Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals, made on November 27, 1939.
During the 1940s and 1960s, the Heifetz String Quintet frequently collaborated with the Budapest String Quartet.
In 1944, Heifetz founded the Albeneri Trio with violinist Alexander Schneider and composer-pianist Erich Itor Kahn. During the 1960s, the ensemble was reconstituted with Artur Balsam and William Kroll, renamed the Balsam–Kroll–Heifetz Trio, and continued performing until the 1970s.
Among Heifetz’s students was the distinguished cellist Jules Eskin. Benar Heifetz died at the age of seventy-four.
TRACKLIST
Schubert – Budapest String Quartet with Benar Heifetz – Quintet In C Major, Op. 163
Label: Columbia Masterworks – ML 4437
Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono
Country: US
Released: 1951
Genre: Classical
Style: Romantic
Quintet In C Major, Op. 163
A1 First Movement: Allegro Ma Non Troppo
A2 Second Movement: Adagio
B1 Third Movement: Scherzo
B2 Fourth Movement: Allegretto
Record Company – Columbia Records, Inc.
Cello – M. Schneider
Cello [Second] – B. Heifetz
Viola – B. Kroyt
Violin – A. Schneider, J. Roismann
Early “blue-silver” Press
Matrix / Runout (Side A label): XLP 4760
Matrix / Runout (Side B label): XLP 4761
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout): XLP 4760 1A
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout): XLP 4761 1A
Beethoven – The Albeneri Trio – Trio In D Major, Op. 70, No. 1, “Ghost” / Trio In E-Flat, Op. 70, No. 2
Label: Mercury – MG10139, Mercury – MG 10139
Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono
Country: US
Genre: Classical
Style: Classical
Trio In D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 (“Ghost”)
A1 1. Allegro Vivace Con Brio
A2 2. Largo Assai Ed Espressivo
A3 3. Presto
Trio In E-Flat, Op. 70, No. 2
B1 1. Poco Sostenuto; Allegro Ma Non Troppo
B2 2. Allegretto
B3 3. Allegretto Ma Non Troppo
B4 4. Allegro
Cello – Benar Heifetz
Composed By – Beethoven
Ensemble – Albeneri Trio
Piano – Erich Itor Kahn
Violin – Giorgio Ciompi
Beethoven – The Albeneri Trio – Trio In B-Flat Op. 97 “Archduke”
Label: Mercury – MG10140, Mercury – MG 10140
Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono
Country: US
Genre: Classical
Style: Classical
Trio In B-Flat Op. 97 “Archduke”
A1 1. Allegro Moderato
A2 2. Scherzo — Allegro
B1 3. Andante Cantabile Ma Pero Con Moto
B2 4. Allegro Moderato
Cello – Benar Heifetz
Composed By – Beethoven
Ensemble – Albeneri Trio
Piano – Erich Itor Kahn
Violin – Giorgio Ciompi
Schubert – The Albeneri Trio – Trio No. 2 In E-Flat, Op. 100
Label: Mercury – MG10107, Mercury – MG 10107
Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono
Country: US
Genre: Classical
Style: Romantic
Trio No. 2 In E-Flat, Op. 100
A1 1. Allegro
A2 2. Andante Con Moto
B1 3. Scherzo: Allegro Moderato
B2 4. Allegro Moderato
Cello – Benar Heifetz
Composed By – Schubert
Ensemble – Albeneri Trio
Piano – Erich Itor Kahn
Violin – Giorgio Ciompi
Fauré, Ravel / Albeneri Trio – Trio In D Minor, Op. 120 / Trio In A Minor
The Albeneri Trio
Erich Itor-Kahn, piano
Giorgio Ciompi, violin
Benar Heifetz, cello
Label: Mercury – MG 10089
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Genre: Classical
Style: Classical
Trio In D Minor, Op. 120
Composed By – Fauré
A1 I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo
A2 II. Andantino
A3 III. Allegro Vivo
Trio In A Minor
Composed By – Ravel
B1 I. Modéré
B2 II. Pantoum
B3 III. Passacaille
B4 IV. Final
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