New York - Isaac Stern, the master violinist who saved Carnegie Hall from the bulldozers, died on Saturday. He was 81.
Stern was one of the last great violinists of his generation and helped advance the careers of generations of musicians, including Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman and Yo-Yo Ma.
Stern died of heart failure at New York Weill Cornell Medical Centre. He had been in and out of hospital for the past six weeks.
Stern was one of the most recorded classical musicians, making over 100 recordings.