Customer Reviews

Heifetz As I Knew Him

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This book served for me as a rare inspiration in a world where one hears nothing but bad news and pessimistic ideas. I am a violinist myself, and I have always been awed by the recordings that Heifetz had left for us. Yet, as with all people who are known under public eyes, I never knew what kind of person he was, who was the man who was behind the juicy slides, powerful musical personality, and amazing virtuosity. This book quite coincidentally came into my hands at the right time - I had been quite unsatisfied with some of my recent concerts that I had given, and, being a student with ungodly amounts of homework and exams to take, was beginning to lose a sense of direction and determination. I asked myself, "is such personal struggle, isolation, and desolation worth the beauty and immortality of music?" By reading this, I found out that personal and professional struggle was mundane - especially to people like Heifetz. To find the balance between Triumph and Disaster, to deal with them equally is what Heifetz had done all his life, and he learned it the hard, painful way. It has allowed me to reflect and to introspect, and have a second look of what this obssession of us musicians really is. To put a cherry on top, it illustrates a very, very touching story between him and the author, Ayke Agus - it is impossible for the reader to not be deeply moved, to feel the isolation and pain of Heifetz. I recommend this book without the slightest hesitation to any musician, or music lover.

First, please dispel previous reviewers comments that too much of this book is about Ayke Agus. Her story is pretty much in one chapter. The rest is her first hand recollection of Heifetz in his last 15 years.

This is no boring biography. You can read that in Bakers. This is a fascinating book. Over a chapter is devoted to Heifetz's teaching methods. It is really interesting to read this part if you are a violinist.

There is no name-dropping. You won't read about Heifetz vs. this or that. This book is an intimate look at Heifetz the person as much as anything. It is not so much meant to be critical as simply to be fair. Heifetz is not painted in any moral terms so much as he is described as a real human being.

In fact, the book simply is very candid about a musician who may well have been the last of his kind. If you are interested in Heifetz, this is clearly a "must read".

This book was absolutely wonderful. I found it quite inspiring to read about who the man was behind the name Heifetz. It has made him more human in my mind, and ultimately more endearing. Before, I could not imagine that a person who played so close to perfection could be real. Agus does a fabulous job in giving us a glimpse of the "realness" of Heifetz.
I have ordered copies of this book for several of my friends already. I even talked about it in my graduation speech! What else can I say... it's just a great book!

Jascha Heifetz, sometimes called "The Violinist of the Century," is remembered in the pages of Heifetz As I Knew Him, written by his violin student and close companion for the last fifteen years of his life, Ayke Agus. Heifetz imparted to her not only his musical and artistic legacy, but also his personal beliefs and idiosyncracies, charging "Now, you make sure that you do not forget to put all this in the book you are going to write after I am gone." Ms. Agus fulfils this wish splendidly in Heifetz As I Knew Him, and absorbing, intimate, enthusiastically recommended look into the life, times, and thoughts of a genuine twentieth century musical genius.

This is a memoir of Ayke Agus. I could have wished that she had remembered more the the details of Heifetz the artist and teacher. For example she says that he sent some students back to etudes and then says that he played them all himself. Whih ones and why? We want to know. But at the end of the day it is a valuable insight in to a fascinating subject. A good read and worth the proce

This is a wonderful book. Jascha Heifetz [1901-1987] was a great musician, an ingenious music transcriber, a gorgeous violinist and a very rigorous teacher. Ayke Agus, his private accompanist and ultimately his assistant and confidante hadn't an easy live working with him. This book is a good acquisition for the people that love the violin and would like to know a little more about the last 15 years of Heifetz's life.

Those of us who have read both Herbert Axelrod's and Artur Wexler-Vered's fatally flawed biographies (if you can even call them that) of Heifetz eagerly awaited a volume that would
fill in the potholes that characterize both.
Inasmuch as Ayke Agus knew Heifetz for a comparatively
brief fifteen or so years (his retirement years), overall the amount of biographical information
is very brief. What IS presented is largely a very
depressing account. A significant
amount of space is unnecessarily devoted to giving the reader
a background of the author's poverty-stricken life in her native land Indonesia (and subsequent move to the west).

Multiple vignettes about her experiences as perhaps
Heifetz's closest friend are fascinating and welcome,
but it is clear that she was literally the only
person on the planet who could put up with Heifetz' odd
and unpredictable temperament. Undoubtedly this cast
a damper on her family life, to the point where
Heifetz would invite himself for dinner and then
criticize the list of guests when she took him home afterwards...
not to mention the time spent with Heifetz that should
have been spent with her own family (which included a young daughter).

Not more than about five names of great musicians are mentioned (in the introduction, Agus mentions that she purposefully
abstains from mentioning names, just as Heifetz
usually did because doing so "will only get you into trouble"). No mention is made about Heifetz's children or exactly what their involvement with him was...it is clear that they wanted nothing to do with him. However, after he died they supposedly
had a tribute memorial service for him, which of course Heifetz would have abhorred. In retrospect, it seems regrettable that
Heifetz put so much energy into teaching yet was not
a highly-respected teacher. While he certainly mentored a number of successful students, most of them were already very advanced at the time they came to his class.
Agus asserts that the Heifetz master classes (as seen on video)
were a somewhat false representation of the way Heifetz
really taught/was teaching many years later. But what kinds
of relations did Heifetz have with any one of his
students or with other musicians during these later
years? We can only guess.

Disappointing too is the avoidance of Heifetz's interaction with Dr. Herbert Axelrod,
his unofficial biographer. While Axelrod (an ichthyologist and amateur violinist who apparently owns a number of multi-million dollar stringed instruments) was clearly not one of Heifetz's favorite people, it would have been interesting to know a bit
more about the legal tussle that ensued in the mid 1970's
when Heifetz was adamant about Axelrod's book not being
published.

Like many other volumes of this genre, the behind-the-scenes anecdotes about the great master
make it worth reading, no matter what the other flaws.
The story of Agus coming to the United States and
her friendship with Heifetz is indeed a remarkable
one. Undoubtedly she knew him better than anyone
else ever could have hoped to and she holds the high
distinction of being the one person to even partially
penetrate Heifetz's (I quote from another source)
"impenetrable facade behind the poker face."
A must-read for the Heifetz fan; not recommended
for anyone else. Two stars.

Here is the new book. The title is "Agus, Ayke. Heifetz as I knew him.". But, here is a small typo on the title. Heifetz's name was placed to the title accidentally. Dear reader, don't be confused by the title. It's just a typo. This can be understood by reading of this "wonderful" book.

In this book only about 50% dedicated to Heifetz, the rest about everything except him.

If you are interested in Ayke Agus's biography or history of Indonesia you may probably buy this book.

After reading this book I was unable to answer on only two questions:

- What's that got to do with Heifetz?

- Why his name was mentioned in the title?

As of my understanding the best title for this book is: "Ayke Agus as I knew myself".

Here is just few examples (all examples are brought from the "Agus, Ayke. Heifetz as I knew him. Amadeus Press. 2001, ISBN 1-57467-062-X. Copyright by Ayke Agus."):

(p. 74) "Although Indonesia appears in Indian sources as early as the sixth century B.C., its modern history began with the Dutch occupation early in the seventeenth century. The Dutch were expelled by a long revolutionary process brought about by General Sukarno, and the country's independence was universally recognized on 27 December 1949, three days before my birthday". Ok, so we could see from the context that there at least 2 very interesting and valuable events happened almost at the same time. Country's independence was recognized and Ayke Agus was born, but: What's that got to do with Heifetz? Why his name was mentioned in the title?

(p. 95) "When I was about eighteen, I fell madly in love with the boy next door. However, there was no chance of private meetings between the two of us. I would go to the five-o'clock Mass in the morning, mainly because the church was the only place my parents would let me go alone". The reader could only condole to what happened, but What's that got to do with Heifetz? Why his name was mentioned in the title?

(p. 145) "Much later Heifetz visited Sibelius when he concertized in Finland because he loved the Sibelius violin concerto and wanted to gather impressions for its authentic performance. He described to me in great detail how the visit went." Now, a reader can feel excited, because he may think that after he will read in details "how the visit went", BUT sorry, dear reader, you will find nothing about this historical visit.

(p. 156) "An exception was Michael, whom I married in 1976". Memorable date. As of you hear the dialog between two people: "- Do you remember a valueable, world-recognized event happened in 1976? - Of course! Ayke Agus got married ."

Why were these fumes and smokes published eventually? This puzzle is for you, dear reader.

In 'Heifetz As I Knew Him', Ayke Agus reveals the man behind the instrument. Jascha Heifetz was undoubtedly the greatest violinist of the 20th Century, performing in theaters throughout the world and to audiences enraptured by the beauty of his musical gift. He shared this gift for more than 80 years, acquiring not only lasting esteem but also enduring friendships. Sadly, it was one of these friendships that was responsible for the abiding self-doubt that characterized his later years. As Agus writes on pages 90 to 94;

'In 1972, Leonard Bernstein argued against Heifetz's claim that the terms 'pop star' and 'intelligence' were not mutually exclusive. Their public feud made headlines around the world as Bernstein continued to invade the stages of performers such as Gary Glitter, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart and the Sex Pistols, shouting to the audiences, "See? I'm right!" Unable to produce breathing, sentient evidence to the contrary, Heifetz had no choice but to concede defeat in May, 1979. Humiliated and disillusioned, he then fled into self-imposed exile. For the normally ebullient violinist, these were dark, discordant days, and in one of his poignant letters to me, sent from a neo-Kantian sanatorium in the Swiss Alps, Jascha wrote,

'Ayke... my life is now bereft of meaning... there is no pizzi to my cato... you know anyone who wants to buy a cheap fiddle?'

Needless to say, I was furious with Bernstein. He snapped up the violin before I'd even had a chance to make Jascha an offer.'

'Heifetz As I Knew Him' is a passionate tribute to an exceptional individual.

In my life I have met many persons with personality characteristics (however not the genius), of Jascha Heifetz. It is a sad commentary of the human condition that there are those of us who tolerate or "bend and sway" to their many capricious demands as if they were gods. Thereby fermenting the self aggrandizing "style." Simply stated we allow sociopaths the opportunity to flourish.

An aspect of human nature is that we tend to do this because many of us are weak and insecure (not much can be said for intellect?) We are sheep and followers. We allow the Hitlers, Mussolinis, Stalins and Reagans, et. al., of the world to thrive because of our egos, stupidity and weaknesses.

We are blinded by the *Star* quality, a ludicrous perception that somehow these people don't have flesh and blood as ourselves.

There is no doubt that Heifetz was an unparalleled supreme musician but at what expense? He was a miserable person. Life is far too short to be a despicable human being. He treated his violins and violin cases better than his so called 'friends'.

This is a great tome (of a larger 'set' of biographies by Artur Weschler-Vered and Sherry Kloss), on how NOT to conduct your personal life or interactions with your fellow man. Ms. Agus writes from very personal experiences (turn to page 121 and read the torture Heifetz subjected her to). Incredible what she tolerated.

I feel this was a book that she was compelled to write to ease her pain with putting up with the creature. In mid-life we all come to the realization (albeit too late), that we should have done things differently or better. This book ruminates as much.

Jim Hoyl (Heifetz's alter ego), was a mean spirited, despicable person with seemingly psychopathic tendencies. Jascha Heifetz was a supreme violinist.

On page 73 Ms. Agus relates the claim of anthropologists who state that on the Island of Java some 500 thousand years ago manlike apes inhabited the Island. The apes' eventual demise was this shortcoming: They enjoyed the consumption of their fellow apes' brains.

I submit: this 'consumption' is occurring everyday in the species of man. Verily, we don't think for ourselves.

Appreciate the artistry and talent of those as Heifetz; however, stand up to the petty persons and the tyrants of this world in every vocation or avocation. Quite simply. Think.