Clara Haskil

[ccar]

"We have talent but Clara has genius ... "

For some hard-core pianophiles Clara Haskil does not stand as one of the really "big" pianists of the last century.  She was never a typical virtuoso of the piano, was a very introspected artist and she left a small recorded repertoire.  Mainly Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Chopin, Brahms, Falla and Scarlatti.  But during her life she also played some Liszt, Mendelssohn, Poulenc, Ravel, Saint-Saens, Debussy, Haydn, Balakirev, Arrieu, Soler, Albeniz, Busoni, Blanchet, Couperin, Chausson, Hindemith, Enesco, Lipatti, Weber, Stravinsky, Bartok, Lully, Pescetti  or Scriabin.

Clara studied with Cortot at the Conservatoire but this was not a happy encounter. Her shyness and more intimistic playing was quite the contrary of the brilliant Cortot. He even wrote in his early notes about the young Clara – "has talent but somehow too cold or infantile". But Cortot quickly recognized his error and began to discover in her an unique instinct for musical phrasing and fingering.  But in spite of Cortot's late recognition, Clara never forgot how he once addressed her in front of the class – "Refaites-moi ça: vous jouez comme une femme de ménage". Like Youra Guller, her great friend and colleague in these classes, Clara always confessed "she really didn't learn anything at the Conservatoire".

Clara Haskil struggled with scoliosis causing her permanent deformation and forcing her to stop playing for a long time, had brain surgery (in 1942!) for a tumor that was causing her blindness and survived the Nazi persecution.  Her talent touched many musicians like Casals, Enesco, Ansermet, Munch, Schuricht, Kubelik, Keilberth, Cluytens, Monteux, Fricsay, Scherchen, Markevitch, Kletzki, Thibaud, Lazare-Lévy, Szigeti, Stokowski, Giulini, Karajan, Bernac, ...  . Many became lifelong admirers, musical partners or close friends, like Dinu Lipatti, Youra Guller, Geza Anda, Nikita Magaloff and latter Arthur Grumiaux.

For me, her playing is a mixture of intimacy, freedom, poetical phrasing and natural elegance. She doesn't seem to look for tonal exuberance or big dynamic effects and a more inattentive listener may be unimpressed by her lack of technical flamboyance. But when Clara Haskil plays she seems to penetrate the music with her soul, profoundly, with some sort of innocent beauty mixed with humane fragility.

The recent Clara Haskil Edition (17 CD) is a bargain opportunity to get most of her official recordings from Decca, Philips, Deutsche Grammophon and Westminster.  http://www.amazon.com/Clara-Haskil/dp/B0040IAZVM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1287783122&sr=1-1

[Holden]

I rate Haskil really highly and imagine my chagrin after I had brought this




..and then the Decca set came out.

However, I already own the last 5 CDs (LvB VS with Grumiaux) and with the exception of a few Mozart PCs the other box set has everything in the Decca set plus - a few extras.

[George]

That Decca box looks like a great way for me to catch up with her. I adore her recordings of the Mozart violin sonatas with Grumiaux.

[Antoine Marchand]

That Decca box looks like a great way for me to catch up with her. I adore her recordings of the Mozart violin sonatas with Grumiaux.

It's available on Presto Classical for $60.

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/search.php?searchString=clara+haskil&page=3

[George]

It's available on Presto Classical for $60.

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/search.php?searchString=clara+haskil&page=3

Thanks for the info.

As it turns out, I already own about half of that set (8 CDs), which is a good thing because I am quite poor. 

[Antoine Marchand]

Thanks for the info.

As it turns out, I already own about half of that set (8 CDs), which is a good thing because I am quite poor. 

Well, rich people don't usually have time for these "stupid" things. Poor people don't have time nor money. I suppose the vast majority of us are "frightfully" middle class. 

[George]

Well, rich people don't usually have time for these "stupid" things. Poor people don't have time nor money. I suppose the vast majority of us are "frightfully" middle class. 

Yes, I am middle class, but I buy like a rich man.  0:)

[Antoine Marchand]

Yes, I am middle class, but I buy like a rich man.  0:)

Me too!  (and, for sure, we are not alone here). 

[George]

Me too!  (and, for sure, we are not alone here). 

Yeah, I am just gonna get myself out of this hole before buying any more stuff.

[dirkronk]

Yeah, I am just gonna get myself out of this hole before buying any more stuff.

Now, now, George...don't be making any promises you KNOW you can't keep.


Dirk

[George]

Now, now, George...don't be making any promises you KNOW you can't keep.


Dirk

No, trust me, I gotta stop for at least 3 or 4 paychecks to get caught up. I had done well for a number of years, only buying when I had cash in hand. But now I have been buying beyond that. 

[dirkronk]

No, trust me, I gotta stop for at least 3 or 4 paychecks to get caught up. I had done well for a number of years, only buying when I had cash in hand. But now I have been buying beyond that. 

'Tis always thus with addictions. It's like...well, trying to convince Todd that he doesn't really need another Beethoven sonata cycle. One of course wishes the best to the afflicted person,  but in one's heart of hearts whispers a tiny voice, saying "Oh yeah...I really believe THAT."

Remember...cold showers, simple diet, and do NOT let yourself log onto Amazon for any reason, lest you contemplate selling your grandma's false teeth to finance an eighth or ninth Well-Tempered Clavier.


Dirk

[George]

'Tis always thus with addictions. It's like...well, trying to convince Todd that he doesn't really need another Beethoven sonata cycle. One of course wishes the best to the afflicted person,  but in one's heart of hearts whispers a tiny voice, saying "Oh yeah...I really believe THAT."

Well, I did it for over 3 years, with no exceptions, so I see no reason why I couldn't get back there. To me, right now it is more important for me to be financially responsible than to buy that next item on my wish list.