At the edge of the city, half-wrapped in a veil
of early-morning fog, the California Palace of the Legion of Honor
Museum stands atop a windy hill, overlooking San Francisco Bay.
With opening time still hours away, the old museum's massive
stone walls warm slowly in the growing light, while deep inside
the building—locked within a thick-walled, temperature-controlled,
Plexiglas display case and handsomely bathed in the softest of lights—the
David sits waiting.
The David is a 260-year-old violin.
Built by the legendary master Giuseppe Guarneri
"del Gesu" in 1742, the rare, time-weathered instrument
was left to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco by Jascha Heifetz,
the late virtuoso who had possessed the violin for 65 years. Named
for an earlier owner, mid–19th-century violinist Ferdinand
David, the David was purchased by Heifetz in 1922, and until his
death in 1987 it was the instrument he played in most of his major
performances and recordings. Upon leaving it to the city of San
Francisco, Heifetz stipulated that the remarkable instrument—its
worth estimated at over $10 million, making it one of the most valuable
violins in the world—must not become a mere object d'art,
or some benign historical curiosity. The David was meant to be played,
and must be played, according to Heifetz' will, "on Special
Occasions—by worthy performers."
Recognizing the merit of this proviso, the San
Francisco Museums, in collaboration with the San Francisco Conservatory
of Music, formed a special committee to organize public performances
and review musicians' requests to play the instrument. The
rest of the time, the famous instrument stays securely locked in
its see-through case on the museum's mezzanine. On such days,
of course, the violin remains silent, seen but not touched, guarded
but not played. This is not one of those days.
Today the David comes out to play.
Since Heifetz' death, his violin has made
music in the hands of such "worthy performers" as Isaac
Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Jorja Fleezanis, Gil Shaham, and Stuart Canin.
In addition, once a year, a handful of students from the Conservatory
have been chosen to perform on Heifetz' Guarneri. This afternoon,
five such students, chosen from among dozens who auditioned for
the opportunity, will play the David, laying their invisible fingerprints
alongside those of Heifetz and a host of musicians stretching back
through time. "It's kind of intimidating," admits
student Andrea Segar, arriving backstage at the Florence Gould Theater,
ready for her final rehearsal before showtime. The David, snug in
its compact carrying case on the table, is ready. As Segar lifts
the treasured violin from the case, she gives it an affectionate
pat. "I've already learned a lot from this violin,"
she says.
Though the history of the rare Guarneri is fairly
well documented back to the mid-19th century—when J.B. Vuillaume
of Paris sold it to Ferdinand David—almost nothing is known
of its story before that. Also uncertain are how many brothers and
sisters the David has, since no one knows the exact number of
Guarneri violins that still exist in the world. "Whatever the
number, it's not very many," says Roland Feller, the Northern
California–based violinmaker and repair expert who has become
the David's official checkup man before and after all of its play
dates. Best guesses place the existing number of Guarneris slightly
above 130, says Feller, far fewer than
the 1,000 instruments left behind by Antonio Stradivari, Guarneri's
famous predecessor.
"I often wonder about this instrument as
I work on it," Feller confesses. "I tell it, 'I wonder
where you've been in your long life, I wonder what kinds of
people all of your owners were.' I think, 'I wish you
could talk, little violin. I'll bet you could tell us some
amazing stories.'"
Fortunately, the David is around to collect
new stories, one page of which is being written today, as Segar,
Emanuela Nikiforova, Tarn Travers, Heidi Kim, and Helen Chang each
take their turn on stage, coaxing their own special music from Heifetz'
ancient violin. It will be their last opportunity. Beginning in
September, and for the next three years, the David will be on loan
for the exclusive use of San Francisco Symphony concertmaster Alexander
Barantschik. While the violin will remain on display at the museum
for eight weeks each summer, it is not known if students ever again
will have the opportunity these five are experiencing today.
"This has been one of the best things that's
ever happened to me in my life," exclaims a tearful Nikiforova,
her voice choking with emotion after her performance before the
standing-room-only audience. "I've been told that the
instrument you play will shape you forever," she says. "Now
I believe that."
Travers, too, has found the experience to be
singularly meaningful.
"In a way," he says, "I feel
like we've become a small part of the history of the instrument.
It will live long, long beyond our lives, but as long as the David
exists, we will all have been a part of it."
