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Szymon Goldberg was one of the notable violinists of the twentieth century.

His family moved to Warsaw when he was a child, where he began violin studies at the age of seven. He went to Berlin in 1917, studying with the great pedagogue Carl Flesch.

He debuted at a recital in Warsaw in 1921, and with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1924 in a memorable concert in which he played three concertos. He was concertmaster of the Dresden State Orchestra (1925-1929) and the Berlin Philharmonic (1929-1934). With composer/violist Paul Hindemith and cellist Emmanuel Feuerman he formed an important string trio.

He was forced to leave the Berlin Philharmonic in 1934 because of the onset of Nazi rule in Germany. He began touring Europe and the Far East as a soloist, and with pianist Lili Kraus formed one of the great recital partnerships. He and Kraus recorded a historic series of Mozart sonata recordings on the Parlophone label.

He debuted in New York in 1938. He was on a tour of the Dutch East Indies when it was occupied by the Japanese in 1942, and was interned there for the duration of the war. He resumed his international career in 1946. He toured widely and established a teaching and conducting career. In 1951 he joined the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and in 1955 founded the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, one of the pioneers of the chamber orchestra music.

He took American citizenship in 1953. He resigned from the Aspen Festival in 1965. He conducted several of the world's leading orchestras and made highly regarded recordings of modern violin repertory and revisited the Mozart sonatas, this time with Radu Lupu as his partner. He moved to London in 1969.

He resigned from the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra in 1977 and the next year joined both the faculty of Yale University in New Haven, CT, and New York's Juilliard School. He also taught at the Manhattan School of Music and the Curtis Institute.

Jascha Heifetz was the leading figure among the extraordinary group of Russian Jews who dominated violin playing in the second and third quarters of the 20th century. As a technician he had no superior, and, of all the artists of his time and later, only two or three could even offer a challenge to his electrifying precision of execution. His diamond-point tone and quick vibrato afforded his playing a clarity of line that some felt was almost too perfect, even cold. Most conductors and other violinists -- and audiences -- felt differently and a Heifetz concert inevitably drew sell-out crowds.

Heifetz was born in Vilna, where his father Ruvim was a violinist in the city theater. When he was three, his father bought for him a quarter-size instrument and gave him beginning instruction. By the age of five, Heifetz had advanced enough to enter the Vilna Conservatory, where he began instruction under Elias Malkin. Only a year later, Heifetz made his first public appearance performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. The six-year-old was so successful that offers for other appearances came from numerous other venues in Russia and he was hailed as a real prodigy.

When Leopold Auer, then a famous professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, came to Vilna in 1909, he was persuaded by Malkin to listen to Heifetz. After hearing him in Mendelssohn and Paganini, Auer embraced him and predicted for him a splendid future, urging him to come to St. Petersburg and become his pupil.

Ruvim Heifetz resigned his position, sold the family belongings, and took his son to St. Petersburg, but Auer initially failed to recognize the boy and refused him admittance to his home. By the time Auer realized his error, the Conservatory entrance deadline had passed and Jascha had to enroll in the class of an assistant. Six months later, however, Heifetz was able enter Auer's class, and thereafter his progress was astounding.

During an appearance at the International Exposition in Odessa, the reception accorded Heifetz was so explosive that a police escort was needed afterward. Concerts throughout Europe followed immediately and, at an appearance with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1914, conductor Artur Nikisch declared that he had never heard violin playing such as his.

Heifetz's American debut took place at Carnegie Hall in 1917, eliciting such observations as "only the molten gold of Fritz Kreisler can be conjured up in comparison" (Herbert F. Peyser) and "He is a modern miracle" (Pitts Sanborn). The ensuing year brought triumph after triumph, with critics vying with each other to offer the most extravagant superlatives. A period of transition a few years later brought some critical reservations as Heifetz sought to move away from the overt emotionalism of his Russian training and become a more objective player. By the mid-1920s, however, a balance had been struck and once again accolades flew as critics and audiences noted a new, more mature approach to his music.

Heifetz became an American citizen, settled in California, and enjoyed the benefit of a long-term recording contract with RCA, amassing a sizable discography over the years. Throughout his career, Heifetz favored gut strings, perhaps to temper the fine-edged aggressiveness of his attack and the enormous strength of his bowing arm. Early recordings of concertos, made mostly overseas, were gradually redone -- though not supplanted -- with American orchestras and in improved sound. Nonetheless, many of the earlier releases, despite their having been done in short takes required by 78-rpm discs, still compel attention for their unsurpassed mastery. ~ Erik Eriksson

Recognized by critics and the public alike as one of the supreme violinists of his time, Jacques Thibaud was celebrated as both a solo artist and an ensemble player of the first rank. Injured in action during WWI, Thibaud rebuilt his technique through a regimen in which sports played an important role. He died while still touring, the victim of a 1953 plane crash in the French Alps.

After receiving his first instruction in violin from his father, Thibaud appeared in public for the first time at age eight. The year after, he played for the famous violinist Eugène Ysaÿe who, impressed, told others present, "he will be the master of us all." Entering the Paris Conservatoire at the tender age of 13, Thibaud became the pupil of Belgian violinist Martin Pierre Joseph Marsick and succeeded in achieving first prize upon his graduation in 1896. To earn a living, Thibaud performed at the popular Café Rouge on Paris' Left Bank. While performing there one day, he was heard by Édouard Colonne who, struck by the young artist's technical mastery and sense of style, took him on as both student and as performer with his celebrated Concerts Colonne. After his debut with the orchestra at its annual festival in Anger, Thibaud frequently performed, appearing a total of 54 times during the 1898-1899 season. With a reputation securely established, Thibaud undertook extensive touring in Europe. In 1903, he visited America, making his debut performing Mozart and Saint-Saëns with the Wetzler Orchestra in New York. His success with critics and audiences was sufficient to keep him in the United States for nearly a year's time. Despite the acclaim accorded him, Thibaud did not revisit America for another ten years. Instead, he consolidated his position in Europe where his reputation stood high among both critics and the public. When he returned to the United States, it was in the company of pianist Harold Bauer. Listeners took particular note of the violinist's shimmering tone and lofty standards of musicianship. During WWI, Thibaud served the Army of his country, facing enemy fire on several front lines, including Marne and Verdun. Injured, he was taken to a hospital from which he was eventually discharged with honors. As a part of his protracted recuperation, Thibaud engaged in tennis and golf to regain his muscular flexibility. In addition to forming a trio with his brothers, one a pianist and the other a cellist, Thibaud was a member of the trio often cited by critics and other musicians as the finest of all, the Thibaud/Casals/Cortot Trio. Intermittently active from the mid-'20s until 1935, the piano trio set new standards for cogency and elegance, for precision and intensity. Thibaud once wrote, "There is nothing so enjoyable for the true artist as ensemble playing with his peers." In 1943, Thibaud lent his name to a competition for violinists and pianists, joining pianist Marguerite Long to establish the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Competition. In 1947, following a 15-year absence, Thibaud appeared once more in the United States, performing with Leopold Stokowski and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Thibaud was killed when his airplane crashed into Mont Cemet while en route to French Indo-China. Thibaud was traveling there to entertain French military personnel.