Isaac Stern, considered the supreme violin virtuoso of the 20th century, died in New York yesterday, aged 81, a hospital official said.
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Isaac Stern pictured after a recital
in New York last year |
Mr Stern, one of the most recorded violinists in history with more than 100 recordings to his credit, helped save New York's famed Carnegie hall from demolition in the 1960s. He is believed to have died from heart failure.
Mr Stern, a small, plump, modest and witty man, was soloist on the Oscar-winning soundtrack of the movie 'Fiddler on the Roof' and performed with the New York Philharmonic more than any other violinist in history.
Born in Russia in 1920, he was brought to the United States as an infant. He began violin lessons at eight, studied at the San Francisco Conservatory and made his orchestral debut with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra at age 16 in a concert broadcast on national radio, according to his music label Sony Classical.
He debuted at Carnegie Hall In 1943 and a year later performed with the New York Philharmonic.
Among his most famous appearances was a 1991 concert in Jerusalem during the Gulf War. Sirens sounded and the audience fearing a Scud missile attack donned gas masks. Mr Stern did not and got down to the business of playing a Bach solo.
He once said: You can describe music, but you can't explain it. There is a wondrous mystery about just what makes the logic of music so simple and so inevitable when it comes together in the right way.