Background

Isaac Stern was born on July 21, 1920 in Kremenets, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine (then Poland). He was a son of Solomon and Clara Stern. He was brought as a toddler to the United States by his parents and raised in San Francisco, California. During his early years, Stern did not show promise or distinctive talent with the violin. Yet practice and steadfast diligence soon proved his talent.

Education

Isaac Stern received his first music lessons from his mother. In 1928, he enrolled at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied until 1931 before going on to study privately with Louis Persinger. He returned to the San Francisco Conservatory to study for five years with Naoum Blinder.

Career

Isaac Stern made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony on February 18, 1936, with Pierre Monteux conducting the Third Concerto by Saint-Saëns. After his New York debut in 1937, he returned to San Francisco for further study. He re-entered concert life on February 18, 1939, again giving a recital in New York. Soon he was one of the leading American violinists, particularly noticed for his young age, and his January 8, 1943, recital at Carnegie Hall (his first solo performance there) was a smash hit.

In 1943 and 1944 Stern entertained American troops in Iceland, Greenland, and the South Pacific. After the war, he toured Australia in 1947 and made his first trip to Europe in 1948. He played at Pablo Casals' Prades Festival from 1950 to 1952, and the Edinburgh Festival in 1953. His tour of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) in 1956 was an early sign of one of the recurrent thaws in the Cold War. To protest against the Nazi activities in Germany, he refused to perform in this country.

In 1960 he formed a durable trio with pianist Eugene Istomin and cellist Leonard Rose; the group played the complete trio literature by Beethoven in bicentennial celebrations of the composer's birth. He recorded mostly for Columbia (which subsequently became CBS, then Sony Classics), with major orchestras and conductors, with the Stern-Rose-Istomin Trio, and in sonata and other duet repertory with his regular partner, Alexander Zakin. He made several appearances at the White House.

He had a close association with the state of Israel. This relationship was further strengthened with the establishment of Israelo-American cultural centers and foundations that used to encourage young musicians of Israel to get scholarship for study in America. He also left his mark as the music director for the National Council for the Arts. He played an active role in organizing citizens, politicians, and artists to protest against the planning of the demolition of the Carnegie Hall of New York. For his successful effort, he became the President of the Carnegie Hall Corporation in 1960 and served in this position for forty years. This hall used to serve as a music class for young musicians and the music teacher was none other than Stern.

In 1979, he visited China. In the following year, a documentary film "From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China’", appeared which presents him as the first American musician who formed an association with the China Central Symphony Society. This Oscar-winning documentary film also depicts his rehearsals and performances with Chinese conductor Li Delun in an interesting way. In 1987, he formed a trio with Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax and this trio worked with artists like Jaime Laredo and Cho-Liang Lin.

During the 1991 Gulf War and Iraq's Scud missile attacks on Israel, he played in the Jerusalem Theater. During his performance, an air raid siren sounded, causing the audience to panic. Stern then stepped onto the stage and began playing a movement of Bach. The audience then calmed down, donned gas masks, and sat throughout the rest of his performance.

Achievements

• Isaac Stern was well-known for his devotion to Carnegie Hall as for his violin playing. He gave more than 200 performances there. He played a central role in the restoration of the building in 1986, and in the celebration of its centenary in 1991. In 1997, the main concert hall was named the Isaac Stern Auditorium in honor of his efforts.
  
  Stern received many honors and awards, including the first Albert Schweitzer Award, the Kennedy Center Honors Award, a Lifetime Achievement Grammy and an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Classical Music Performance. He received the Commander's Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog, from Denmark, the Wolf Prize, from Israel and was made a Commandeur of the French Legion d'Honneur.

Works

More photos

• book

  • My First 79 Years

    (In this book, Isaac Stern shares with readers both his pe...)

    1999

• music

  • Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto In E Minor, Op. 64 / Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto In D Major, Op. 35 1986
  • Isaac Stern 60th Anniversary Celebration 1983
  • Beethoven: The Violin Sonatas Isaac Stern - A Life in Music 1996
  • Hindemith/Penderecki: Violin Ctos 1995
  • Faure: Piano Quartets 1993
  • Isaac Stern: A Life in Music 1995
  • An Isaac Stern Vivaldi Gala 1985

Views

Isaac Stern was a supporter of several educational projects in Israel, among them the America-Israel Foundation and the Jerusalem Music Center.

Quotations: "Mozart's music is like an X-ray of your soul - it shows what is there, and what isn't."

"Music is like making love: either all or nothing."

"There are more bad musicians than there is bad music."

"Music is the thousandth of a millisecond between one note and another; how you get from one to the other-that's where the music is."

Membership

Isaac Stern was an originating member of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Personality

Isaac Stern's favorite instrument was the Ysaÿe Guarnerius.

Connections

On November 10, 1948, Isaac Stern married Nora Kaye, a ballerina. The marriage ended in divorce after 18 months. On August 17, 1951, he married Vera Lindenblit. They had three children: Shira, Michael, David. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1994. In 1996 Stern married Linda Reynolds.

Father:

Solomon Stern

Mother:

Clara Stern

Spouse:

Linda Reynolds

Son:

David Stern

Son:

Michael Stern

Daughter:

Shira Stern

ex-spouse:

Nora Kaye

ex-spouse:

Vera Lindenblit

References

• Contemporary Authors
  2000