Classical music
Clara Haskil
Clara Haskil (1895-1960) is one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century, celebrated above all for her Mozart. Born in Bucharest into a Jewish family, a child prodigy on both piano and violin, she had a career hampered by fragile health and by considerable stage fright that appeared as early as 1920. Fleeing the war, she took refuge in Switzerland at the end of 1942 and settled in Vevey, where she would spend the last eighteen years of her life: first on the Rue de Lausanne, then at the former Hôtel d’Angleterre on the Quai Perdonnet, with a chalet rented in Cornaux, towards Montreux. Naturalised Swiss in 1949, she died in Brussels in 1960. The Riviera has not forgotten her: every two years Vevey hosts the international piano competition that bears her name.
Clara Haskil: exile, stage fright and Chaplin’s piano
The flight to the Riviera
Clara Haskil arrived on the Riviera as a refugee. Born in Bucharest into a Jewish family, she fled occupied France and crossed into Switzerland at the end of 1942. She was forty-seven, with a career that had never taken off.
She settled in Vevey and would never leave: first on the Rue de Lausanne, then at the former Hôtel d’Angleterre on the Quai Perdonnet. She also rented a chalet in Cornaux, towards Montreux. Naturalised Swiss in 1949, she would spend the last eighteen years of her life here.
A life against her own body
A child prodigy on both piano and violin, trained in Vienna under Richard Robert, the teacher of Rudolf Serkin and George Szell, and briefly under Ferruccio Busoni, Clara Haskil had everything for a dazzling career.
She did not have one. Fragile health, recurrent illness and considerable stage fright that appeared as early as 1920 long barred her from public and financial success. Real recognition came only in her final years, when her Mozart established itself as an absolute benchmark.
The evenings at the Manoir de Ban
In Vevey, Clara Haskil found an unexpected friendship: that of Charlie Chaplin, settled at the Manoir de Ban since 1952. He often invited her to his table, especially at Christmas, and had a Steinway placed in his villa so that she could play after dinner.
Chaplin had just acquired a good-quality tape recorder. He used it to record those evenings: on the tapes Clara Haskil can be heard playing Schumann’s “Scenes from Childhood”, Louis Daquin’s “The Cuckoo”, two Scarlatti sonatas and the Largo of Beethoven’s Seventh Sonata. The tapes also caught snatches of conversation between the guests, the only known recordings of the pianist’s voice.
Of his friend, Chaplin said: “I have known three geniuses in my life: Clara Haskil, Professor Albert Einstein and Sir Winston Churchill.” Her death, at sixty-five, affected him deeply.
What remains on the Riviera
The Clara Haskil International Piano Competition, founded in Vevey, is held every two years and ranks among the most demanding in the world. A silhouette from the “Rencontres & Inspiration” trail stands on the Quai Perdonnet, in front of the building where she lived.
The Manoir de Ban, where she played for Chaplin, became the Chaplin’s World museum in 2016. She died in Brussels on 7 December 1960, on the eve of a concert.
Related places
▸Chaplin’s World, Manoir de BanMuseum / Charlie Chaplin’s homeOpen the place →
© Visit Montreux The house where Charlie Chaplin spent his last twenty-five years. His son Eugène grew up here before becoming a sound engineer at Mountain Studios in Montreux.
▸Silhouette de Clara Haskil“Rencontres & Inspiration” silhouetteOpen the place →
Photo coming soonOn the quays of Vevey, a silhouette recalls the pianist who lived here from 1942 until her death, and whose international competition still bears her name.
