Monique Haas facts for kids

Monique Haas (born October 20, 1909 – died June 9, 1987) was a talented French pianist. She was born in Paris and studied music at the famous Conservatoire de Paris. Her teachers included Joseph Morpain and Lazare Lévy. She earned a top award, a Premier Prix, in 1927. Later, she continued her studies with other great pianists like Rudolf Serkin and Robert Casadesus.

Monique Haas traveled and performed all over the world. People highly praised her for playing music from the 20th century. The composer Francis Poulenc, who was also a skilled pianist, said she played the piano "ravishingly." Another composer, Henri Dutilleux, called her a "celebrated interpreter" of Ravel's music.

What Music She Played and Recorded

Like many French pianists after World War I, Monique Haas often chose not to play music by Romantic composers. Instead, she focused a lot on French music. Her concerts often featured pieces by François Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau. She also played music by Mozart and Haydn.

One important exception to her focus away from Romantic music was Schumann. She also included Chopin's studies in her performances.

However, Monique Haas is best known for playing 20th-century French music. Her recordings of Debussy's works include the Douze Études, which won a special award called the Grand Prix du Disque. She also recorded Debussy's Préludes. For Ravel, she recorded both of his piano concertos. She even recorded the G major concerto twice! She also recorded all of Ravel's solo piano music.

Haas was also a well-known performer of Bartók's music. She played his third piano concerto just a few days after its first-ever performance by György Sándor. Another composer she liked, who wasn't French, was Hindemith. She made a valuable recording of his Suite for Piano and Strings, called The Four Temperaments. She also recorded his Konzertmusik For Piano, Brass & Harp with Hindemith himself conducting.

Her Unique Piano Style

Pianists from Monique Haas's time were changing how they played. They moved away from a very light and sometimes harsh style. Haas combined the clear and precise playing of older musicians with a warm sound. This warmth showed the influence of another famous pianist, Alfred Cortot.

Her performances, especially of Debussy and Ravel, were not overly emotional. This gave a fresh look at their music, showing them as both modern and connected to the traditions of earlier French composers like Couperin.

You can hear differences between her two recordings of Ravel's Concerto in G. The first one, from 1948, highlights the work's connection to the jazz music of the 1920s. The later recording, made in 1965, sounds much more like Mozart. This reflects how Ravel himself said he was inspired by Mozart when he wrote the concerto.

Selected Recordings

• Ravel: The Piano Concertos. Orchestre national de l'ORTF cond. Paray. Deutsche Grammophon (CD)
• Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit, Jeux D'Eau and Miroirs - Erato Presence EPR 15552, Eglise du Liban (Paris), July 1968
• Ravel: Oeuvres pour piano (Vol. 1) Erato Classics - 1968
• Claude Debussy: Piano Music (Complete), The Musical Heritage Society MHS 1536/41

Her Personal Life

Monique Haas was married to the French-Romanian composer Marcel Mihalovici.

See also