A Tragic Shooting Star
Who would you say was the greatest violinist of the 20th century? Heifetz? Oistrakh? Kreisler? Perlman?
How about Josef Hassid?
Who is Josef Hassid, you may ask, and with good reason. His professional career, at the age of 17, lasted all of 11 months. After that, he spent the remaining 10 years of his life institutionalized with mental illness, dying in 1950 at the age of 27 of complications from a lobotomy.
Hassid’s second cousin, Gerald Spear, has written an insightful fifty-page biography of Hassid. It is compelling, informative reading, exploring not only Hassid’s unique gift, but also all the possible factors contributing to his severe schizophrenia: the loss of his mother at a young age; a domineering father; the constant oppression of Jews throughout pre-World War II Europe; the sense of abandonment from the departure of his friends, teachers, and mentors; a love affair forbidden by parents of both parties; and not least, the stresses and pressures of being a child genius.
If you think I’m being over the top in suggesting Hassid was the greatest violinist, don’t just take it from me. Here’s a quote from Fritz Kreisler: “A fiddler like Menuhin is born every hundred years, one like Hassid every two hundred years.”
Still not convinced? Here are links to everything Hassid recorded–all 29 minutes–in his brilliant fleeting career. Shed a tear for the incandescent beauty that was, and that might have been.
