Maryla Jonas Remastered

Ten years ago I transferred three LPs with the playing of a forgotten pianist named Maryla Jonas (1911-59).

Jonas led a difficult life, well chronicled in a Wikipedia entry. From Poland, she fled the Nazis to Brazil and eventually the US. She was able to reestablish her career enough that she made a series of recordings for Columbia, centered on Chopin.

These performances are extraordinary, combining technical control with depth of feeling - often melancholy.

The LPs I transferred, all of Chopin, are newly remastered.

Piano Music of Chopin

Jonas' first album came from 1946, with a mixed program as follows:

Mazurka in B-Flat major

Mazurka in F minor, op. 68, no. 4

Mazurka in G minor, op. 67, no. 2

Mazurka in B minor, op. 30, no. 2

Nocturne in E minor, op. 72, no. 1

Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op posth

Waltz in D-flat major, op. 70, no. 3

Waltz in G-flat major, op. 70, no. 1

Polonaise in B-flat major, op. 71, no. 2

LINK

Chopin - Mazurkas

Jonas recorded two programs of Mazurkas, in 1947 and 1949. These were combined in a 1953 Columbia Entré LP:

Mazurka in F major, op. 68, no. 3

Mazurka in G major Op posth

Mazurka in C minor, op. 56, no. 3

Mazurka in E minor, op. 41, no. 2

Mazurka in A-flat major, op. 41, no. 4

Mazurka in C minor, op. 30, no. 1

Mazurka in A-flat major, op. 24, no. 3

Mazurka in A minor, op. posth. 'Notre temps'

Mazurka in C-sharp minor, op. 30, no. 4

Mazurka in E minor, op. 17, no. 2

Mazurka in C major, op. 24, no. 1

Mazurka in A minor, op. 17, no. 4

Mazurka in A-flat major, op. 17, no. 3

Mazurka in A minor, op. 59, no. 1

Mazurka in G-sharp minor, op. 33, no. 1

Mazurka in A minor, op. 67, no. 4

Mazurka in C-sharp minor, op. 63, no. 3

Mazurka in C major, op. 7, no. 5

LINK

Chopin - Nocturnes

In 1950, Columbia recorded Jonas in five Nocturnes:

Nocturne in E-flat major, op. 9, no. 2

Nocturne in B major, op. 32, no. 1

Nocturne in G minor, op. 15, no. 3

Nocturne in B-flat minor, op. 9, no. 1

Nocturne in F minor, op. 55, no. 1

LINK

Noel Mewton-Wood

In the early days of this blog, I often featured the Australian Noel Mewton-Wood, who died very young, leaving a striking legacy of inspired piano playing.

In all Mewton-Wood appeared here seven times, in concertos by Schumann, Chopin, Stravinsky, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky.

I've now gone back to the original files and greatly improved the sound, due both to improved tools and many years of experience. The downloads now also include complete scans. 

All the Mewton-Wood records here - and most of the ones he appeared on - were for the Concert Hall Society. Almost all the discs below were issued in the 10-inch format on its budget subsidiary, the Musical Masterpiece Society.

Very little documentation survives as to when these recordings took place, and the orchestras usually were pseudonymous. The Classical Discography dates then from 1951 to 1954. The latter must be the year of issue. Mewton-Wood died in December 1953.

About Mewton-Wood

Mewton-Wood was born in Melbourne in 1922. A prodigy, he moved to England at a young age to study at the Royal Academy of Music. His debut performance at the Queen's Hall was in 1940 - Beethoven's third concerto with the London Philharmonic and Sir Thomas Beecham.

His death was by his own hand at age 31. He blamed himself for his partner's death of a ruptured appendix.

His obituary in The Times of London described the effect of his 1940 debut: "At once his remarkable control and his musicianship were apparent: the ascending scales in octaves, with which the pianist first enters, thundered out with whirlwind power, but he could summon beautiful cantabile tone for the slow movement and the phrasing of the rondo theme was admirably neat for all the rapidity of the tempo." You will find all that captured in the recordings below.

Walter Goehr

Walter Goehr

A word about the hugely skillful conductor Walter Goehr, who is in charge of the varied orchestral forces in all these recordings.

Born in 1903 in Germany, he came to England in the 1930s, soon becoming a house conductor for EMI. He became a free-lancer later on, making many recordings for the Concert Hall Society. Goehr also was a composer - as was Mewton-Wood. Goehr son, Alexander, was also a well-known composer who died last year. Walter Goehr died in 1960.

Schumann - Piano Concerto

The recordings all were made over the period of a few years and the dates are uncertain; the discussions below are not in chronological order.

The Schumann concerto was apparently released in 1954, which suggests but does not prove that it was one of the last ones recorded. (The Pristine release dates it as "circa 1952.")

As with several of these records, the orchestra is billed as the "Netherlands Philharmonic." While there is an orchestra by that name today, it did not form until 1985. The band accompanying Mewton-Wood is thought to be either a Dutch radio orchestra, or an ensemble chosen from players in those orchestras.

This was a good recording and a superb performance by the pianist. Goehr, as always, is highly effective.

LINK to Schumann Concerto

Chopin - Piano Concertos No. 1 and 2

The Chopin piano concertos, both masterfully done, date from about 1952 and 1953 respectively. (Please note that the Pristine release dates the latter as being from 1948.)

The sound of the first concerto was a trifle tubby, which I've tamed. The second concerto has an "empty hall" sound and was somewhat steely sounding, which I have again addressed.

The first concerto is with the "Netherlands Philharmonic." The ensemble in the second concerto is listed as the Radio Zurich Orchestra, which as far as I can tell was a pseudonym. A Classical Discography lists the performers as the Radioorchester Beromünster, but that ensemble did not exist under that name until 1957.

That said, the performances are fine. As others have noted, the orchestras are nothing special, but Goehr has them on alert.

LINK to Chopin Concerto No. 1

LINK to Chopin Concerto No. 2

Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 4

The majestic Beethoven concerto comes from 1952, per the Pristine release. The accompaniments are by the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra, which actually existed, but had changed its name to the "Utrechts Stedelijk [Municipal] Orkest" by the time this record was made. To complete the circle, that ensemble was to become part of the newly formed Netherland Philharmonic in 1985.

Neither the recording nor the orchestra is the equal of the Vienna Philharmonic, who recorded this concerto with Maurizio Pollini and Karl Böhm, recently uploaded here. The pianist is another matter.

LINK to Beethoven Concerto No. 4

Tchaikovsky - Piano Concertos No. 1 and 3, Concert Fantasy

By the time the Tchaikovsky first concerto came out circa 1954, the Musical Masterpiece Society had run out of pseudonyms, so it just listed the band as the "MMS Symphony Orchestra." It seems likely that this is a Dutch ensemble of some complexion.

The third concerto - coupled with the rarely heard Concert Fantasy - comes from Winterthur, Switzerland and 1951. (Pristine says 1952.) Concert Hall Society listed the orchestra as the "Winterthur Symphony," which is likely the Winterthurer Stadtorkester. (It later became the Musikkollegium Winterthur.)

The recording of the first concerto is OK; the third was fog-bound, which I've tried to dispel. The latter was also well off pitch, which has been corrected.

The performances seem fine to me, but I am far from a Tchaikovsky piano concerto aficionado.

LINK to Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1

LINK to Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 3 and Concert Fantasy

Stravinsky - Firebird (1919 Suite), Concerto for Piano and Winds

The Stravinsky disc is the only one where Goehr is given a solo turn, so to speak. He leads a lively reading of the 1919 suite from Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird, a 20th century masterwork.

Mewton-Wood is heard in Stravinsky's neo-classical Concerto for Piano and Winds, from 1923-24 and often described as "spiky." That it is - except the work begins with a dirge-like Largo.

The performance does show Mewton-Wood's range - at least after he joins in to a motoric passage following the Largo. He has this work well in hand - and the orchestra is much better too.

These performances are listed as by the "Netherlands Philharmonic." A Classical Discography claims the concerto is with the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague. It dates the concerto as being from 1952 and The Firebird from 1956.

LINK to Stravinsky works

Solomon Plays Tchaikovsky and Chopin

The pianist Solomon made many great records - a number of which have appeared on this blog recently. But none, to my ears, are quite as dazzling as his 1949 version of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, made with Issay Dobrowen and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Today's post combines that performance with most of Solomon's Chopin recordings from the 1940s.

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1

Issay Dobrowen was an exceptional accompanist and was often used in that role by HMV. He and Solomon had a rare rapport, never so much as in this recording of the Tchaikovsky.

Issay Dobrowen

I will admit that I had my fill of this particular concerto about 40 years ago, but the work of Solomon and Dobrowen made me rethink my prejudice against it. Solomon handles the insane difficulties of the piece with such aplomb - always in perfect concert with Dobrowen - that one's only reactions can be fascination and admiration. The entire work proceeds in such a manner.

This 1949 edition was the pianist's second go at the concerto in the recording studio, although he had been performing it regularly since he was 12. In 1929 he traveled to Manchester for a Tchaikovsky session with Hamilton Harty and the Hallé Orchestra. This was Solomon's first concerto recording, following a few Liszt pieces made a week or so beforehand. He was to record no more concertos until the Bliss in 1943, followed by the Beethoven third in 1944, both with Boult. The Brahms Concerto No. 2 with Dobrowen came in 1947, the Liszt Hungarian Fantasia with Walter Susskind in 1948, and the Scriabin and Tchaikovsky concertos in 1949.

Solomon's biographer Bryan Crimp noted, "[Producer Walter] Legge was particularly keen to have a brand new recording of the Tchaikovsky concerto for HMV's entry into the LP market while the release of a recording of the Scriabin concerto would in all probability, have resulted in a premiere recording. The Tchaikovsky recording did indeed become the first HMV ‘plum label' LP record."

The Scriabin concerto remained unissued until 1991. Solomon undertook it as a favor to Legge, although neither he nor the conductor had played it before. According to Crimp, "the reservations of both pianist and conductor are, regrettably, plain for all to hear." My own view is that it is well worth a listen, although the transfer that has been issued is below pitch and screechingly bright, not flattering either to the Philharmonia strings or the pianist. Rebalanced, it sounds fine. (Anyone interested in my redo of a lossy copy of the concerto can leave a note in the comments.)

The Tchaikovsky was set down May 26-28, 1949 in Abbey Road Studio No. 1. The sound is very good, with this transfer coming from the HMV LP issue of the 1950s (cover above), from my collection. I also have a later LP reissue with marginally cleaner sound, but the engineer had added unnecessary reverb to that disc, so I went with the earlier edition. The concerto and the Chopin pieces discussed below have been mastered in ambient stereo.

Nine Pieces by Chopin

"Those familiar only with Solomon’s work in the post-World War Il years, an era in which he was recognised as the pre-eminent Beethoven interpreter, might find this earlier reputation as an incomparable Chopin player something of a surprise," wrote Bryan Crimp, "though proof, if needed, can be readily found in his recordings for Columbia made during the first half of the 1930s and for HMV during the early- and mid-1940s."

Solomon began his Chopin recordings with two Polonaises, a Fantasie and an Ėtude in 1932, none of which are repeated in this set from the 1940s. In late 1934, he took up two F major Ėtudes, Op. 10, No. 8 and Op. 25, No. 3, the latter of which he remade in 1942, and which is included in this collection.

The earliest Chopin recording here also dates from 1942, the Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 9, No. 2. Later in September, he began recording three Ėtudes - the F major Ėtude mentioned above, along with two Ėtudes in F minor - Op. 10, No. 9, and Op. 25, No. 2, completing them in October.

Solomon's final Ėtude disc was the Op. 10, No. 3 in E major, made in June and July 1945. He concluded the recordings in this set in early April 1946 - the Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, the Waltz No. 14 in E minor, Op. Posth., and the Mazurka No. 48 in A minor, Op. 78, No. 2.

Abbey Road Studio 3

All these recordings come from Abbey Road Studio No. 3 and have good sound. These transfers were cleaned up from 78 needle-drops found on Internet Archive.

Solomon recorded no additional Chopin works after 1946, and for the final decade of the pianist's career, he and HMV focused on the works of Beethoven and Mozart. Crimp observed, "By the late-40s Solomon’s repertoire became more concentrated. There was less Schumann and certainly less Chopin. Beethoven began to dominate."

The Beethoven concerto cycle has been posted here (1 and 3, coupled with Grieg and Schumann) and here (2, 4 and 5). Mozart's Concerto No. 15 was packaged with the second set of Beethoven concertos. A post with more Mozart concertos and sonatas is forthcoming.

Chopin Nocturnes from Maryla Jonas

Here is my third and final post collating the remarkable Chopin recordings of Polish pianist Maryla Jonas.

This 10-inch LP brings together five Nocturnes in February 1950 recordings from Columbia's 30th Street studio in New York. The results are just as sensitive and atmospheric as the two previous collections I have posted. Columbia's sound is good.

The drawing of Jonas on the cover is based on the photo at left. Without checking, I have the sense that it was unusual for Columbia to use a drawing of the artist on their covers at the time; naive cartoons were more common (cf., this cover for Barber's Knoxville, Summer of 1915).

A more animated (but still apprehensive looking) Jonas is depicted below. Instead of Chopin, that seems to be Stravinsky looking over her shoulder, in Picasso's sketch.

LINK (newly remastered in ambient stereo, April 2025)

More Chopin from Maryla Jonas

As a follow-up to the recent post of Polish pianist Maryla Jonas’ set of Chopin mazurkas, here is the first Chopin program she recorded for Columbia, during April 1946 sessions. This more varied selection contains three additional mazurkas, two nocturnes, two waltzes and a polonaise. Once again, the pianism displays the short-lived artist’s impressive command and ability to create mood.

The set was issued first in a 78 album with a Alex Steinweiss cover (above), and then in one of Columbia’s first 10-inch classical LPs in 1948, with the generic “tombstone” cover at top.

A Classical Discography does not list a location for the recording. The quality was somewhat boxy; I have ameliorated this a bit.

These were Jonas’ first records; my two posts comprise three of the six LPs she produced during her lifetime. She died in 1959.

LINK (April 2025 remastering in ambient stereo)

1948 Musical America ad
(click to enlarge)

Chopin Mazurkas from Maryla Jonas

This recording was the subject of a discussion on one of the classical sharing sites, which motivated me to transfer my very good copy of the LP, which contains an exceptional performance of 18 Chopin mazurkas by the neglected Polish pianist Maryla Jonas.

My friend Fred of the Random Classics blog also offered this album some time ago, but the links are now dead. I hope he doesn’t mind if I quote some of his description of the performance, because my reaction is the same: “This is not the Chopin that you are used to hearing and it is a polar opposite from the elegant, aristocratic approach of Rubinstein.” Fred’s response on first hearing the record: “Never had I heard such melancholy, such world weariness, from these brilliant miniatures. Indeed, Chopin had painted, below the surface, a sadness of seeing his Polish nation subjected to rule and desecration by others.”

Postwar promotional leaflet

Jonas herself had a most difficult life, and was the victim of Nazi persecution, which may have contributed to her early death at the age of 48. Her small discography, made in the US for Columbia in the post-war years, centers on Chopin but also includes a smattering of other composers. This particular LP reissue from 1956 combines two sets of mazurkas, which Jonas inscribed in September 1947 (set M-810) and September 1949 (set M-897), both of which also came out on 10-inch LPs. Sessions for the latter set were in Columbia’s 30th Street studios in New York. No location is listed for the 1947 dates in Michael Gray’s discography, but since that predates Columbia’s use of the 30th Street location, the site may have been Liederkranz Hall. The sound is quite good.

A note about the cover: Columbia had engaged the relatively new design firm Push Pin Studios to prepare a series of covers for its Entré reissue series. Push Pin had been founded by Seymour Chwast and Edward Sorel, who both were to become noted graphic artists. Sorel, soon to leave Push Pin, designed the cover of the Jonas LP in a style far removed from the biting political caricatures that he is known for today.

LINK (remastered in ambient stereo, April 2025)

Mewton-Wood, Part 5

I'm very excited to be able to present an addition to our collection of recordings by pianist Noel Mewton-Wood. I recently found an unplayed copy of his recording of Chopin's second piano concerto. This record gives the best rendition yet of his beautiful tone, and is a spectacular performance as well.

As always, the conductor is the reliable Walter Goehr, who on this occasion leads the Radio Zurich Orchestra, which has a subtle tonal allure reminiscent of Spike Jones' City Slickers. But no matter - the piano is the attraction in Chopin, and no small attraction when the pianist is Mewton-Wood.

I can't recommend this highly enough.

LINK

Mewton-Wood, Part 4

We're completing our series of recordings that Noel Mewton-Wood made for Musical Masterpiece Society with this fine performance of Chopin's first concerto.

Fine on Mewton-Wood's part, that is. The orchestral contribution is a little wan, but then this music isn't really about the orchestral contribution.

The pianist displays his typical combination of sensitivity and combustibility here, making this a fitting end to our series.

I haven't exhausted Mewton-Wood's recordings in presenting this series, just the ones in my possession. Pristine Classical has started a new Mewton-Wood series that also includes the Tchaikovsky concerto. They also have several of the items here in professional remasterings and perhaps will be offering other performances that I don't have.

I hope this series has served to inform a few people about the legacy of recordings by this tragically short-lived artist.

LINK