Violinist Jacques Israelievitch had a storied career that took him from his birth in Cannes, France to Toronto, where he taught and performed until his death in 2015. A faculty member at the University of Toronto, Royal Conservatory of Music, and York University, he had deep ties in his adopted city, with friends that included pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico.
During the last months of his life, as he lived with late-stage cancer, he recorded the complete Mozart Sonatas and Variations with Quilico. The first volume was released in 2016, with Volume Two following in the fall of 2017. All six CDs are now collected into a boxed set that will be released by Navona Records on February 21, 2025.
Jacques Israelievitch
At the age of 11, Jacques became the youngest graduate ever of the Le Mans Conservatory in northwestern France. He’d go on the study at the Conservatoire de Paris, then crossed the Atlantic for the US to study at the Indiana University School of Music.
He enjoyed a long career as a soloist and chamber musician, performing with artists like Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, and Yo-Yo Ma. The youngest member of the ensemble, he was appointed the assistant concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1972. He became concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra before heading north to Toronto. Israelievitch became concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, a position he held from 1988 to 2008. He became the Music Director of the Koffler Chamber Orchestra (at the Koffler Centre for the Arts) from 2005 to 2014.
His recording catalogue includes works by R. Murray Schafer and Beethoven with the TSO, among many others, including his JUNO nominated album Suite Hebraique. His 2006 complete recordings of the 42 Kreutzer Etudes was highly acclaimed by international critics.
Jacques was also known for his work with son (and percussionist) Michael in the Israelievitch Duo. Along with his Toronto-based teaching engagements, he also taught at the University of Indiana.
Among his many accolades was the title of Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, upgraded to Officier in 2004. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2015, shortly before his death.
Christina Petrowska Quilico: A Musical Friendship
We caught up with busy pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico to ask about their friendship.
LvT: How did you meet, and why did you decide to work with him?
CPQ: I met Jacques for the first time when I was playing the piano concerto Larysa Kuzmenko wrote for me with the Toronto Symphony (Jukka Pekka Saraste was the incredible conductor) in 1996. I had premiered the work with the Winnipeg Symphony, and the wonderful Bramwell Tovey, conductor a few months before and had asked Larysa to make the violin/duet in the second movement even more important. It was such a gorgeous piece. I remember to this day playing that movement with Jacques. He was the concert master and his violin sang like an opera singer — and that concert was the first time we met.
(P.S. The concerto we played with the TSO that was recorded live for my CD of 3 concertos was nominated for a JUNO.)
However, we didn’t work together until he retired from the TSO and came to teach at York University.
LvT: Why did that relationship continue?
CPQ: I think that once we began playing together we realized that we felt the music in the same way. Our sense of phrasing, rhythm and the melodic line seemed to match naturally. We also had a lot of fun sightreading a wide variety of repertoire which inspired and energized us in experimenting with different interpretations.
LvT: What made your partnership fruitful for so long?
CPQ: Being good friends helped our musical partnership. We had a routine before rehearsals. The first 15 minutes of a rehearsal we vented about our busy professional lives. We also gossiped a bit about everything from politics to silly events. Then we just played without saying a word. Other times, we would discuss ornaments, dynamics and all things musical, working on each bar of music in detail.
LvT: Is there an anecdote you can share that stands out in your mind?
CPQ: It was very joyful to collaborate with Jacques, but it was just as wonderful when he conducted. One event that stood out for me was a concert he conducted with a string orchestra called “In praise of women”. I performed Heather Schmdt’s third piano concerto, and a concerto by Violet Archer. Larysa Kuzmenko’s work for string orchestra was also included. I have always championed women composers, and the fact that Jacques devoted a concert to the support of women composers meant so much to me. He believed in many causes but that concert especially meant a lot to me, and we had much fun during rehearsals with all of the musicians.
The other event was our very last concert together, when we performed the final four Mozart Sonatas in Chautauqua for the music festival in upstate New York in late July. [NB: video link above.] I couldn’t believe that he would be able to perform but he played brilliantly. Tears flowed, but I was happy that his wife, my dear friend Gabrielle filmed the concert on her phone. What a memory. He died September 5.
P.S. I always cry when I remember that last concert but a fun anecdote did come to mind on that last concert. Jacques was using a scooter to get around. I told him to be careful. He winked and took off like a race car with me running after him. He kept his sense of humour right to the end.
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