Werner Haas

Who was Werner Haas?

Werner Haas was a German classical pianist. He was known for his performances of early 20th century compositions, particularly those of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. He had a wide repertoire that also included works by Frédéric Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitry Kabalevsky, and the complete works for piano and orchestra by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

He was born in Stuttgart, Germany and attended the Stuttgart Academy of Music. Later he was a private student of Walter Gieseking. After a successful recital career throughout Europe in the 1950s, he signed a multi-year recording contract with Philips Records. His recording of the complete works of Debussy was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque in 1970. Other recordings of Ravel by Haas were given the Amsterdam Edison Prize, also in 1970.

He died in an auto accident in France in 1976.