3. Molto Presto - Music

Monique Haas October 20 1909 – June 9 1987 Was A French Pianist.
Born In Paris She Studied At The Conservatoire There With Joseph Morpain And Lazare Lévy Taking A Premier Prix In 1927. She Went On To Study With Rudolf Serkin And Robert Casadesus. As A Performer She Toured All Over The World Winning Much Praise For Her Performances Of 20th-Century Music. The Composer Francis Poulenc Himself An Accomplished Pianist Praised Her As "the Adorable Monique Haas Who Plays The Piano Ravishingly" And Henri Dutilleux Described Her As "a Celebrated Interpreter Of The Music Of Ravel" 1 Contents Show Edit Repertoire Recordings Like Many Of The French Pianists Who Grew Up In The Aftermath Of The First World War Monique Haas's Repertoire Was Characterised By An Avoidance Of Romantic Composers And A Significant Representation Of French Music. Pieces By François Couperin And Jean-Philippe Rameau Appeared Regularly On Her Programmes As Well As That Of Mozart And Haydn. The Music Of Schumann Was The Significant Exception To Her Neglect Of Romanticism Though She Also Included Chopin's Studies In Her Repertoire.
However It Was As A Performer Of Twentieth-Century French Music That Haas Is Best Remembered. Her Recordings Of Debussy Include The Comparatively Neglected Douze Études Which Won A Grand Prix Du Disque And The Préludes. She Also Recorded Both Of The Ravel Concertos The G Major Twice As Well As His Complete Solo Piano Music.
She Was A Noted Interpreter Of Bartók's Music And Performed His Third Piano Concerto Only A Few Days After Its World Premiere By György Sándor. Another Non-French Composer Whose Works Appealed To Her Was Hindemith She Made A Valuable Recording Of His Suite For Piano And Strings The Four Temperaments. Edit Style French Piano Players Of Haas's Generation Were Moving Away From The Facile And Often Brittle Technique Associated With Marguerite Long Frequently Referred To As The "diggy-Diggy-Dee" Style 2 . Haas Combined The Cleanness And Precision Associated With The Older School With A Warmth Of Tone Colour That Reflected The Influence Of Alfred Cortot. Her Unsentimental Readings Especially Of Debussy And Ravel Give A Different View Of Their Music Presenting Them As Both Modern And As Inheritors Of The Tradition Of Couperin And The Clavecinistes Of The 18th Century.
Fascinating Contrasts Can Be Found Between Her Two Recordings Of The Ravel Concerto In G. The Earlier One Made In 1948 Makes Much Of The Work's Connections With The Jazz Idiom Of The Twenties. The Later Recording Made In 1965 On The Other Hand Is Far More "Mozartean" Reflecting Ravel's Self-Confessed Debt To Mozart When He Wrote The Concerto. 3 Edit Discography Selection Ravel The Piano Concertos. Orchestre National De L'ORTF Cond. Paray. Deutsche Grammophon CD Ravel Oeuvres Pour Piano Vol. 1 Erato Classics - 1968
Claude Debussy Piano Music Complete The Musical Heritage Society MHS 1536/41 Edit Private Life Monique Haas Was Married To The French-Romanian Composer Marcel Mihalovici. read less