Jascha Heifetz - It Ain't Necessarily So (2006)

For what it is, this is the best there is. What it is is two discs of encores recorded in the mid-'40s for American Decca by Jascha Heifetz, the man some would say was the greatest violin virtuoso of the twentieth century. Every performance, every phrase, heck, every note is absolutely stunning, full of the kind of flash and brilliance and artistry you just don't hear anymore. This may sound like an absurd exaggeration, but just try any track at random – they're all consistently amazing. Try the extravagant technique of Benjamin's Jamaican Rumba or the hilarious wit of Rossini's Figaro or the sentimental warmth of Berlin's White Christmas or the ingratiating nostalgia of Foster's Old Folks at Home or the deep blues of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess or the insouciant swing of Weill's Mack the Knife or exquisite sensuality of Chopin's Nocturne. Or try, if you dare, Heifetz's corny duet with Bing Crosby (!) on Löhr's incredibly hokey Where My Caravan Has Rested or the first-ever release of Heifetz performing on the piano as "Jim Hoyl" his own lovely little pop song When You Make Love to Me (Don't Play Make Believe). While the sound throughout is vintage World War II America, that is, rough, ready, and winning, the performances are unfailingly staggering. Anyone who wants to find out what real virtuoso violin playing is all about is urged to try this set.

Track List:

CD 1:
01. Samuel Gardner: From The Canebrake
02. Arthur Benjamin: Jamaican Rumba
03. Claude Debussy: Beau Soir
04. Maurice Ravel: Pìece en forme de habanera
05. Clarence Cameron White: Levee Dance, Op.27 No.2
06. Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Paraphrase On "Largo al factotum" From G. Rossini's Opera "Il barbiere di Siviglia"
07. Stephen Collins Foster: Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair
08. Victor Herbert: A la valse
09. Antonín Dvorák: Humoresque, Op.101, No.7
10. Traditional: Gweedore Brae
11. Stephen Collins Foster: Old Folks At Home
12. Traditional: Deep River
13. Leopold Godowsky: 12 Impressions For Violin And Piano - 12. Viennese
14. Irving Berlin: White Christmas
15-20. George Gershwin: Porgy And Bess
21-23. George Gershwin: 3 Preludes for Piano Solo

CD 2:
01. Susan D. Dyer: An Outlandish Suite - No.2 Florida Night Song
02. Claude Debussy: Children's Corner, L. 113 - 6. Golliwogg's Cakewalk
03. Claude Debussy: Suite bergamasque, L.75 - No.3 Clair de lune
04. Flausino Rodrigues Do Vale: Ao pé da fogueira
05. Julián Aguirre: Huella, Op. 49
Dmitri Shostakovich: Twenty-Four Preludes, Op.34:
06. No. 10 In C Sharp Minor
07. No. 15 In D Flat Major
08. Edwin Grasse: Waves At Play
09. Sergei Prokofiev: 2 Piano Pieces From The Love For Three Oranges, Op.33 - March
10. Sergei Prokofiev: Pieces For Piano From "Romeo And Juliet" Op.75 - Masks
11-15. Robert Russell Bennett: Hexapoda
16. Kurt Weill: Die Dreigroschenoper - Moderato assai (Mack The Knife)
17. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Souvenir d'un lieu cher, Op.42 - 3. Mélodie In E Flat
18. Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne No.16 In E Flat, Op.55 No.2
19. Christoph Willibald von Gluck: Melodie From "Orfeo ed Euridice"
20. Robert Schumann: Waldszenen, Op.82 - No. 7 Vogel Als Prophet
21. Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel - Hymn To The Sun
22. Alexander Krein: Dance No.4
23. Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dance No.7 In F Hungarian Dance No. 7 In A
24. Camille Saint-Saëns: Le Carnaval Des Animaux - The Swan
25. Cecil Burleigh: Pictures, Op.30 - No.4 Giant Hills
26. Cecil Burleigh: Small Concert Pieces, Op.21 - No.4 Moto perpetuo
27. Benjamin Godard: Jocelyn - Opera In 4 Acts - Berceuse De Jocelyn
28. Hermann Löhr: Where My Caravan Has Rested
29. Jim Hoyl: When You Make Love To Me (Don't Make Believe)

Performers:
Jascha Heifetz (violin)
Victor Young Orchestra
Bing Crosby (vocal)