Solomon Plays Bliss and Liszt

My recent post of Arthur Bliss' Checkmate ballet score elicited a request for more music by that composer. So here is the first recording of his fascinating piano concerto, with the distinguished British pianist Solomon, who is making his blog debut.

The concerto was written for the 1939 New York World's Fair, and was premiered by the New York Philharmonic on a program that also included Vaughan Williams' Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus (which can be heard here) and Bax's Seventh Symphony. Solomon was the pianist for that program, which was led by Sir Adrian Boult, who also is the conductor here.

Arthur Bliss in 1937

This particular recording comes from a 1943 session with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. It is in good sound, and the orchestra, while hardly glossy sounding, provides a sturdy backing. [Note (July 2023): this has now been remastered in ambient stereo and sounds even better.]

The concerto's first movement is in the knock-'em-dead virtuoso style that was even then out of fashion. It is all very impressive in its own way, not the least because of Solomon's sovereign command of the proceedings. The Adagietto second movement could not be more of a contrast. It is introspective and quite ravishing. The third movement is motoric, as was common in concertos of the time. Its conclusion is impressive.

My transfer comes from a World Records LP release, with a cover (at right) that gives Solomon's skin an unearthly glow. The album coupled the Bliss concerto with Solomon's fine 1948 recording of Liszt's Hungarian Fantasia, perhaps because the latter's romantic style is a predecessor of the Bliss concerto.

The Liszt was made with the Philharmonia Orchestra in Abbey Road Studio 1, and has quite good sound, displaying Solomon's beautiful tone and remarkable technical control. Conducting was Walter Susskind, then a 35-year-old Czech expatriate who had become the music director of the Scottish Orchestra in 1946. He later led the orchestras of Melbourne, Toronto and St. Louis.

Solomon's career was cut short by a 1956 stroke that paralyzed his right arm. He was 54.

1952 Steinway ad