The Henryk Szeryng pupil enjoyed an international performing career and taught generations of violinists at the Royal Academy of Music in London
The distinguished Franco-Venezuelan violinist and pedagogue Maurice Hasson has died aged 92. Born in France on 6 July 1934, Hasson studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Line Talluel and Joseph Calvet, winning the First Prize for violin and the Grand Prix for chamber music. He was also awarded the institution’s Prix d’Honneur, reportedly the first to be given in 60 years.
In 1953 he was a laureate of the Thibaud Violin Competition, where he met violinist Henryk Szeryng, who became his teacher and an important influence on his career. The two later recorded Bach’s Double Violin Concerto together in 1976 with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields under Neville Marriner.
Hasson moved to Venezuela in 1960 with his first wife, pianist Monique Duphil, and their two daughters. During his 13 years there he became closely involved in the country’s musical life, playing in the first violin section of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela and appearing with the orchestra as a soloist 34 times between 1961 and 2004.
After moving to London in 1973, Hasson made his debut at the BBC Proms, performing Paganini’s Violin Concerto no.1. His US debut followed in 1978 with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Lorin Maazel. He went on to perform widely in Europe, Israel and the US, working with conductors including Colin Davis, Yehudi Menuhin, Kurt Masur, David Zinman, Simon Rattle and Andrew Davis.
Pedagogy formed a significant strand of his career. From 1986 until 2015 he was professor of violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he lived with his second wife, Janet Hoogesteijn, and their two children. He retired from the concert platform at the age of 80, giving a farewell recital at Wigmore Hall in 2015 with pianist Tadashi Imai, in a programme of French repertoire.
Among the honours he received was the Médaille de Vermeil from the City of Paris. The violin concerto by Venezuelan composer Gonzalo Castellanos Yumar was dedicated to him. Hasson also owned the 1727 ‘Benvenuti, Halphen’ Stradivari violin until 2005.
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