Great Pianists Play Beethoven Opus 111 - Clara Haskil

[@marksmale827]

Clara Haskil suffered a lifetime of poor health and resulting pain, and also was reputedly prone to stage fright. She played the piano as it should be played, with a superb velvet tone. Undoubtedly one of the greatest of the great pianists, one of the creme de la creme. RIP Clara. And profound thanks for sharing your supreme artistic gift with so many of us.

[@hyramesshiramess1035]

It's tempting to express anger at those who do not understand how very great this is, but it makes more sense to feel pity for them, because they are obviously incapable of experiencing the joy and ecstasy the ability to project the spiritual essence of Beethoven's vision brings to those who truly love music of this sublime a caliber. Anyone with half and ear can spot "errors" but career nitpickers who hear only wrong notes or smeared passagework miss the entire point of why the music was ever written in the first place. Haskil had one of the finest sets of fingers in the business, but she often went far beyond mere expertise into the realm of Mystical Union with the Holy Spirit -- a rare capacity she shared with Beethoven, himself. This may not be my very favorite reading of Opus 111, but I give it full marks for being fully ALIVE.

[@millriv1792]

+Hyramess Hiramess AMEN!

[@rubensiedner4584]

VERY TRUE INDEED

[@vasiliykosolapov2740]

Восхищаюсь композитором и исполнителем . Благодарю канал за это.

[@gurugeorge]

She really is one of the most extraordinary pianists ever, it's a shame there's so little of her to hear.

[@boonyboony100]

Anyone who mentions poor technique - you're mad. This sonata is so difficult that nobody with a poor technique could ever play it, let alone in a recital by memory. Finger slips are normal, she may have been unwell on the day, or nervous. This may not be the greatest recording ever, but she could well be the greatest pianist ever in my opinion.

[@EABussi]

Best piano trinnus I`ve heard

[@seanmarshall7529]

not mad, just incapable of weeding through imperfections.. I find she is a great female pianist.. a male pianist would not play that way, great because she highlights things never heard before.. the chiaro scuros. for example.

[@eytonshalomsandiego]

in fact, as an amateur who can barely record a beginning piece without mistakes, its great to hear a great like her with finger slips..! thank you Madame Haskill!!!

[@MrInterestingthings]

This woman could say anything at a piano . the thing she does with time and statement in the exposition is unlike anyone else. a Miracle liek yudina in last Schubert sonata . she is out of this world . This is her in concert I am always amazed when I se the programmes of this woman Debussy etudes Scarlatti sonatas she did it all ! Chaplin and Lipatti and everyone else is right about her . A MARVEL !

[@iyadkanaan5991]

Great musicality. I think she understood the best the intentions of Beethoven.

[@whatadump8093]

Unfathomable musicality. Clara Haskil was 'une musicienne de génie' in tune with the Divine. This is Mount Helicon.

[@kristianhansen6013]

what a gift to humanity from Clara and Ludwig

[@MimmoCioffi]

Una delle più grandi interpretazioni della 111. Quello che mi ha impressionato di più è l'inizio dell'arietta: un tempo perfetto e una intensità emotiva da far venire la pelle d'oca. Bravissima e chi se ne frega di qualche errorre!

[@seanmarshall7529]

ma perche limitarsi all'ammatisima arietta? e' bravissima, non ostante alle molte imperfezzioni e a qualche momento di essersi permessa di non stare al tempo!.. LOL

[@mauriziolivraghi5572]

Grande Clara!

[@Sophiestelle]

Clara Haskil, absolutely one of the best

[@laszlolatzkovits4071]

An unforgettable farewell to the sonata by Beethowen.

[@singtatsucgc3247]

What a rare treasure! Thanks so much for uploading!

[@labemolmineur]

The end of the first movement and the beginning of the second define a great pianist for me. The way they take your hand and transport you from the lowest depths of despair to a ray of light that washes your soul with hope, a gentle embrace that is Beethoven's almost painfully beautiful vision for humanity. The planning of that connection says it all, how charged that moment is. Clara's gave me goosebumps. (I first felt this way about Op. 111 during an incredible performance of the last three Beethoven sonatas by a Korean pianist, Jeong-In Kim, whom I hope more people get to hear.)

[@michelvachha5073]

Beautiful playing....spiritual!!! Bravo Clara!!!!!!!!!!

[@alombredeslava2468]

Je suis conscient qu’il n’y a rien à dire sur cette interprétation, que tout a déjà été dit. Mais je ne peux résister au besoin d’ajouter une chose: je porte son interprétation de l’ arietta en moi depuis près de 50 ans, et la retrouve chaque fois intacte, miraculeuse à chaque audition (au moins une ou deux fois par an): Comme la cicatrice d’un moment de bonheur devenu presque une souffrance. Clara Haskil pouvait par instant, “s’envoler”, atteindre je ne sais quelle cime. Il m’a semblé quelque fois m’étouffer en cherchant à la suivre : sans doute l’ivresse de l’altitude.

[@Alix777.]

It was recorded in 1953. Haskil was not in good health and had a lot of anxiety problems. When she was younger during the 20's her "cheval de bataille" like we say in french was the 3rd Rachmaninov concerto, she could play it like no one but sadly we have no recording.

[@cortootify]

A very rare recording. Thanks

[@seanmarshall7529]

what a great composition

[@4980cbs]

I love her and I love Annie Fischer too even them being so different.I despise those who talk of technical mistakes, They don´t know what music is about.A robot will suit them perfectly.

[@germancardoso3587]

People who know nothing about music care a lot about technical mistakes, but do not perceive feelings in music, and this is what really matters, music is feeling not technical perfection!!!!

[@Starritt_Piano]

following this sonata competition was the drama competition of a prepared script or improvisation on a medical topic, such as any incidents involving medication or treatment or representing different diseases. the group which earned the first prize based their piece on a patient with advanced cancer and the second prize went to another who did theirs on alzheimer's disease, however i don't know who came third.

[@uhartchristian]

it was for sure a friendly lough as she did respect the art of Fischer. What is sure she was a fantastic musician and her early death was a tragedy.Its in her favour to say she did not want to record it a second time to get out the little mistake at the beginning. Everybody knows the notes but nobody can play like her. She was one of the very best musicians ever existing.We are happy to have the recordings of Clara Haskil and your comment is just stupid.

[@MrGer2295]

Beautiful performance! Thanks for sharing!

[@wnaenni]

Fascinating!

[@advisorC101]

Thank you.

[@tuxedomoon]

Strange people playing strange music with strange ways. That's the secret of the old school. Today there is no Mystagogia. There is a nice performance which in the end doesn't leave you something in your gut. The Unpredictable is not there.

[@plutonio74]

there is a fail right at the start of the firts movement..but..great sound..and i would say superb interpretation..those were other time..the artists were probably less obsessively perfectionist..in favour of research of an original sound..probably Benedetti michelangeli was the first that introduced the modern standard (although still with a magnificent sound..) .i find the clara haskil intepetation unique..a master piece. thanks for posting it!

[@Starritt_Piano]

i forgot to mention that this competition was for people aged 25 and ober :)

[@4980cbs]

Artur Schnabel,Artur Rubinstein, Anton Rubinstein,Cortot,Rachmaninof, Haskil all of them made mistakes and so what ? They are considered the greatest and with reason. The important thing is: Has the music touched you? Has reached your soul?

[@randysills4418]

Cristino Bermudez Salcines Exactly! We are only human, and everyone makes some occasionally...

[@posamsaso]

22222222

[@jesseatwater393]

Her conception of the Arietta sound to me like it owes a lot to Schnabel, FWIW.

[@oliviachen692]

We want to feel B's feeling when he composing this piece.

[@dido93]

Very profound...

[@loboris1995]

Horowitz it's for you :P(But I agree,that's why I prefer live recording then studio ones)

[@IsraelMedrano]

Guys Clara didn't make mistakes, the piano just couldn't keep up with her ;)

[@whatadump8093]

What a glorious and perceptive comment! I agree 100%.

[@上田進-r2g]

ウォルフガングヴァンベートーヴェン ピアノソナタ作品111 クララ・ハスキル 大 賛 辞

[@АркадийХаритонов-ъ5ц]

настоящая бетховенистка.

[@zugzwang2007]

Horowitz? There seems to be a recording of Op 101, but I can't find any trace of Horowitz ever playing Op 111 (other than the Schumann Fantasiestucke, which have the same Op number).

[@Starritt_Piano]

oh yes, the group in the drama competition who came third produced a sketch on a woman developing foreign accent syndrome. because of this she ends up in such depression she commits suicide at the end. however, there were bursts of comedy when the woman speaks with her new accent which soon ware off as she realises that this is affecting her whole life and nobody wants to know her. at the end she is a suicidal recluse.

[@seanmarshall7529]

a great female artist, artist in as much as she highlights things that belong to herself.. female because of her way of chiaro scuro... a man would not play that way, I think!... her imperfections.. part of the matrix of the art!

[@lorrainelager852]

The playing is definitely good, but playing wrong notes or lack thereof doesn't automatically give it a special "power" above the others. My sympathies for her tough life.

[@tonycosworth]

Tout en approuvant le tempo de l'Allegro, on peut regretter celui de l'Arietta; toutefois ce parti pris ne l'empêche pas de rester musicale dans les 4° et 5° contre-variations, c'est à dire là où tant de pianistes mécanisent à l'excès. Les 6° et 7° sont un peu dans la même veine avec des effets lyriques parfois trop appuyés. Globalement pas inintéressant mais il ya vraiment mieux ailleurs

[@loboris1995]

A pity in the begining :p

[@ymat111]

8:22

[@zugzwang2007]

In each movement, the coda is wonderfully other-worldly. Yet the path to these sublime conclusions is often painful. Also surprisingly lacking in logic. In the the Arietta, the theme is not really "adagio" at all (and not molto semplice, either). Her tempo for the third variation is not the "istesso tempo" that Beethoven marks, but about a third slower than before, though still very scrambly. Generally, there is quite a lot of scurrying, less poise. But ending well is a great thing.

[@AaronPetitPiano]

So Horowitz must have had very limited technique than because he made over a hundred mistakes in his Rachmaninov Concerto 3... need I say more?

[@JanJPoulsen]

@newFranzFerencLiszt Amen! I am also so tired of hearing 100% mistake-free performances...it isn't human, and it takes the life out of the music - perfect comes with a cost, and that is liveliness...

[@Starritt_Piano]

a very fascinating performance And the insertion of mistakes And finger slips Make me think that All pianists are human. However, I wouldn't classes performance as professional Because it was played By a famous pianist, But more as amateur. When listening to this performance, I get the impression immediately That clara wasn't a child prodigy, Even though she actually was From an early age. If nobody told you it was Clara Playing, You would have thought a student from a college.

[@Starritt_Piano]

dyna'r recordiad o'r berfformiad haskil yn y steddfod rhwngladol yn ludwigsburg yn y flwyddyn 1953. cafodd hi'r drydydd wobr o'r berfformiad ma yn y gystadleuaith sonata dros 25 oed. y flwyddyn cyn hynny mae hi wedi cystadlu yn yr un peth ac ar ol ei berfformiad o'r sonata yn e fflat op.31 rhif 3, cafodd hi'r aul wobr.

[@tonycosworth]

Passons sur le début... mais le reste recèle pas mal de bizarreries (3 36, 3 39, 4 13 etc... etc...) Finalement de nombreux défaux (pas seulement techniques) mais pas mal de bonnes choses aussi dans les effets de tempo. L'ensemble manque de rigueur. Bon on est très loin de Sviatoslav ! Il est vrrai qu'à côté de lui, tous les autres me font de la peine (puissance entre autres)

[@alexovenden8698]

I don't mind the mistakes in the first movement that I just heard, but the second just started and it's so fast I cannot stand it. Hit the Stop button. Sorry.

[@alexovenden8698]

But I didn't hit the Stop button, I stuck with it and the rest sounds wonderful. Still has a few mistakes but as James B said, this is so difficult to play and it's Beethoven, maybe at his best, and the music shines through. It can't help itself.

[@spacebln]

OMG Sorry, but too many mistakes in the Arietta......in her 1956 recording she even misses the beginning octave jumps.....why did she play works she couldn't really handle but laughed about Edwin Fischer and his mistakes.

[@Alix777.]

Because she had a lot of health issues at the end of her career dumbass, on her prime she had a tremendous technique and she would play rach 3 flawlessly very often in her concerts

[@daniela.harris9052]

Forgive me, but heavy-handed and rushed. Tonal clarity without affectionate touch.

[@spacebln]

Ah my comment is stupid? Then maybe you can explain to me what makes you write such idiotic things like "she did not record it a second time" (it was a live recital) and that she was one of the best musicians ever existing? Pah.....she had a more than limited technique, made tons of mistakes (just listen to her ridiculous 2nd Chopin concerto or some other Beethoven sonatas) and today is almost forgotten.....that`s the truth. She was a poor woman with a bad fate....that's all..

[@_PROCLUS]

8:22