This 7-disc Original Masters compilation restores the solo and concerto material included in Philips’ 1995 12-CD edition of Clara Haskil’s complete recordings for the label. Despite the pianist’s physical frailty and “sainted” reputation, she was anything but a gentle, retiring player. Cases in point: her assertive, fully-voiced Schumann selections; her rollicking finale to Beethoven’s Tempest sonata and angular phrasing throughout Op. 31 No. 3 (Philips includes Haskil’s mono and stereo versions of both sonatas); and the transparent, deliciously timed Scarlatti (K. 193, 87, and 386) and Ravel (the Sonatine).
Organic lyricism and nervous energy lock horns in the pianist’s long-heralded Schubert B-flat Posthumous Sonata (D. 960), although not to the intense degree of her live 1957 Salzburg performance (type Q1540 in Search Reviews). She imbues the solo parts of four Mozart concertos (K. 271, 488, and 491, and two versions of 466) with harmonic tension, elegance, and wit, notwithstanding inconsistent orchestral support. However, the vivid Falla Noches en los Jardines de Espana and Chopin F minor concerto (utilizing Alfred Cortot’s orchestration) with Igor Markevitch at the helm, remain the finest of Haskil’s orchestral collaborations. Let’s hope Original Masters plans to revive the five discs devoted to Haskil’s Beethoven and Mozart sonata encounters with Arthur Grumiaux.
