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Bio en français

Caroline Haffner has been acclaimed by connoisseurs, critics and star performers for the brilliant virtuosity, profound musicianship and dramatic intensity of her playing. In particular she is a greatly admired colleague of artists such as Placido Domingo, Maxim Vengerov, Zubin Mehta and Mstslav Rostropovich, who has spoken about the imagination, colour and poetry in her performances.

Caroline Haffner's highly romantic and dramatic style of playing links up directly with a generation of legendary pianists with whom she studied. As a child prodigy she took lessons with Alfred Cortot and was deeply affected by the limpidity, fluidity and spontaneous expressiveness of his playing. She later studied with Samson Francois, Pierre Sancan and the famous Russian pianist and teacher Lev Oborin. All these greatly different artists strongly influenced her artistic thinking and affected the development of her notably eclectic outlook. Meanwhile, Caroline Haffner's own prodigious technical and musical gifts brought her a string of prestigious awards: Laureate of the Marguerite Long International Competition in Paris, prizewinner of the Busoni International Competition in Bolzano, and winner of the Geneva International Piano Competition. These events signalled the start of her international career as a solo and concerto artist, and since then she has played at the world's major musical centres and collaborated with leading conductors and orchestras around the globe.

The mix of powerful dynamic temperament and highly disciplined control in Caroline Haffner's playing has earned her the reputation amongst artists and critics of being a great romantic pianist. She is also highly regarded as a virtuoso performer of contemporary music and has inspired several composers to write new works for her, notably Philippe Fenelon, whose music she has recorded with the Ensemble Intercontemporain.

Caroline Haffner is also greatly in demand as an accompanist and chamber musician, and she has devoted some of her career to working alongside outstanding artists such as Maxim Vengerov, Teresa Stich Randall and Bruno Pasquier. She has been a coveted guest accompanist for celebrity singers' recitals at the Paris Opera, New York Metropolitan Opera, St Gallen Opera and Monte-Carlo Opera.