Great Performers: Clara Haskil
"In my lifetime I have met three geniuses: Professor Einstein, Winston Churchill, and Clara Haskil." These words of Charlie Chaplin indicate the reverence that would be afforded Haskil, a Romanian pianist who regrettably only knew international success in the last decade of her 65 years. Today revered as one of the supreme pianists of the 20th century, she faced a host of challenges throughout her life, with physical ailments that ranged from scoliosis to a brain tumour, and stage fright held back her success until she reached her 50s.
Read more…Born in Bucharest in 1895, Clara Haskil studied in Vienna with Richard Robert (who also taught Rudolf Serkin) before moving to Paris to train with the legendary Alfred Cortot, although it was the distinguished pedagogue Lazare-Lévy who was her primary instructor. She was awarded a Premier Prix at 15 not only in piano but also in violin, and some have postulated that her beauty of tone came from her mastery of this instrument.
The defining characteristic of Haskil's pianism is the stunning clarity of her interpretations: it sounds as though she is using a piano without keys or hammers, so liquid is her tone, so seamless her phrasing, so natural her conceptions. Her golden sonority, cohesive fluidity of the singing line, and breathtaking lightness of touch all bring to her playing a disarming candidness that fuses childlike innocence with a deeper understanding of the suffering that life can bring.
Haskil recorded very little Bach – most of what we have come from concert performances – but her transparent textures and singing touch reveal the composer's contrapuntal music with astonishing clarity. It is as a supreme interpreter of Mozart that Haskil may be best known, her unaffected playing making audible the paradoxical qualities of simplicity and depth found in the composer's oeuvre, crisply defined articulation never compromising her flowing melodic phrasing.
In Beethoven, her vivacious rhythm and beautiful tone bring to life both the stormy clouds and sunny skies found in the too-few sonatas and concertos that she recorded. Of Chopin we have only the Concerto in F Minor, which showcases her limpid tone, effervescent phrasing and feathery lightness. Haskil's Schumann is justly legendary for the same reasons as her Mozart: mournful one moment and joyful the next, simultaneously innocent and profound, revealing the quixotic nature of his works with remarkable transparency.
A rare recorded exploration of 20th century music is Falla's sensual Nights in the Gardens of Spain, where Haskil's impeccable timing, crystalline sonority, and stunning vitality make the limited repertoire of her studio discography all the more regrettable. We are fortunate to have what we do, and that Haskil's eventual success granted us enough of a glimpse into her artistry to make her recordings required listening over a half century after her death.
[Due to geo-blocking restrictions, some tracks might be unavailable in certain territories.]