Solomon - Mozart Concertos and Sonatas

We have heard a great deal from Solomon in recent months, and for good reason - he was an exceptional pianist who played the classical and Romantic repertoire superbly.

Today we look into his 1952-55 Mozart discs, encompassing three familiar concertos and two sonatas. These are the entirety of his recordings of this composer, save for a 1943 sonata disc that I don't have. Solomon's career was cut short by a paralyzing stroke in 1956, when he was 54.

I transferred the Mozart works on this program from a 1970s reissue. The cover images you see below are from the original LPs. Scans of the reissue and the originals are in the download.

Concertos in A major, K488, and C minor, K491

Solomon's traversals of the Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K488, and No. 24 in C minor, K491, came on May 10-12, 1955 in Abbey Road Studio No. 1. Conducting the Philharmonia was Herbert Menges, a childhood friend of the pianist who was one of his favorite accompanists.

Solomon's biographer, Bryan Crimp, wrote, "Unlike his recent concerto collaborations in the studio with Kubelik and Cluytens, Solomon felt no sense of disappointment with any of these recordings. Much of their success can be attributed to the rapport Solomon enjoyed with Menges." He added that while Menges was not considered a top-rank conductor, "He was, however, a thorough and hard-working professional who was quite prepared to collaborate before the sessions, as is apparent in the resulting accompaniments."

The two works are contrasted - the A major being generally optimistic and the C minor powerful and dark. Solomon is fully up to the demands of the music, technically and artistically. The orchestra plays elegantly and the sound is very good, enhanced - as these all are - by ambient stereo.

Herbert Menges

The Gramophone's Robin Golding was in awe of the performances: "This is classical playing at its very best, with no suggestion of sentimentality or self-indulgence, yet with what Harold C. Schonberg (whose tribute to Solomon from his book The Great Pianists is reproduced on the sleeve) describes as 'an incomparable blend of intellect and heart', adding, 'It was an intellect which both respected the text and comprehended the architecture of the score; the heart inspired a lyrical warmth and a radiant generosity. The resultant performance was an act of genuine recreation.'"

He continued, "AP [earlier reviewer Andrew Porter] thought that Solomon’s account of K488 - one of the most familiar of all Mozart’s concertos, but one of the most difficult to bring off really convincingly - was the best he had ever heard, on records or off, and I am still inclined to agree with him. Here is a blend of delicacy and strength, of crisp articulation and a feeling for the long breathed phrase, which give to the first movement and the finale a suppleness and resilience that elude many pianists, while Solomon’s shaping of the wide curves of the melodic line in the Adagio is extraordinarily poignant."

Golding adds that the minor-key K491 is a worthy foil to K488: "strong and purposeful in the outer movements, but never melodramatic, wonderfully limpid in the Larghetto; and it is in this latter movement that the playing of the Philharmonia Orchestra ... and particularly that of its princely wind section, is to be heard at its superlative best."

Concerto in B flat major, K450, Sonata in A major, K331

The concerto in B flat, K450, is largely a sunny work, which may conceal its real difficulties for the soloist. Solomon, in his pearly perfection, does not give a hint that any of these passages are challenging.

This concerto recording, from 1953, comes from Kingsway Hall rather than Abbey Road, and has more spacious sound. The conductor here is the Romanian Otto Ackermann, then resident in Switzerland. He was another reliable leader who made a good number of records for EMI, often as accompanist.

The concerto has appeared here before, in a pressing issued in the US. This is a new transfer.

The Sonata in A major, K331, is one of the composer's most often heard pieces - at least the finale. It is the movement Mozart marked Rondo "alla Turca;" it is sometimes called the Turkish Rondo. The music echoes the distinctive sound of the Turkish Janissary bands, which was then (1784) in vogue. The style also can be heard in Mozart's 1782 opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail, set in Turkey.

This Sonata and the K576 Sonata discussed below were recorded in 1952 in Abbey Road Studio No. 3. For the reissue, HMV coupled them on one 36-minute LP side, and in order to squeeze them both in, apparently sped up the tapes so that the music played quite sharp. I've adjusted the speed, hopefully accurately.

Sonata in D major, K576

The D major Sonata, K576 first came out on one side of a 10-inch LP, coupled with a Haydn sonata I don't have.

In The Gramophone Robin Golding wrote that the Sonata "with its taut, two-part contrapuntal writing, suits Solomon particularly well, and it provides an impressive tailpiece to a group of performances that are regrettably small in number though gigantic in stature. The mono recordings, like Solomon’s interpretations, do not seem to have aged at all." Nor have they 45 years later.

The sonata was Mozart's last. On the reissue LP it is identified as Sonata No. 17, but these days it is usually numbered No. 18. I've tagged the sonatas here solely by their Köchel catalogue number to avoid confusion. 

More Beethoven Concertos from Solomon

I recently posted the Beethoven first and third piano concertos in the 1956 stereo recordings from the great instrumentalist Solomon. Today we have his discs of the other three concertos, which date from 1952-55.

These all possess the remarkable control and gorgeous tone that Solomon always displayed. Like the later concertos, many still consider them reference recordings.

In addition to the Beethoven, this set includes the pianist's traversal of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 15.

Beethoven Concerto No. 4

Sessions in early November 1952 produced both the Concerto No. 4 and No. 2, the latter of which is discussed below.

As with the recordings in the previous post, the orchestra was the Philharmonia, but the recording location and conductor were different. EMI's Walter Legge had wanted to match Solomon with conductor Herbert von Karajan, but the pianist refused to work with Karajan, per Solomon's biographer Bryan Crimp. Otto Klemperer was not available, so the Belgian-born French conductor André Cluytens (1905-67) was engaged. Unfortunately this arrangement was not ideal, not so much because of soloist-conductor incompatibility, but because Cluytens did not get along with the orchestra, Crimp tells us.

André Cluytens

However, there is little evidence of this in the final product. As with Solomon's later concerto recordings, this is notable more for refinement than temperament. The Gramophone reported, "Solomon and the Philharmonia play exquisitely... A beautifully clear, limpid style on the part of the soloist is matched by a perfect orchestral partnership..." However, the Saturday Review disagreed, complaining that the first movement was "unduly slow and lacking in animation," a point echoed in other reviews.

There were complaints, too, about the sound, particularly the piano tone. The notes to the RCA Victor pressing report that EMI used two microphones for the orchestra and an additional spot for the piano. This all took place in the Kingsway Hall, famed for its acoustics, and it's true that there is a bit of empty-hall sound to the proceedings, particularly on the piano. But in general, things are well balanced and pleasing.

Beethoven Concerto No. 2; Mozart Concerto No. 15

Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 was actually his first essay in the form, although published second. It is the most Mozartian of the five; accordingly, EMI coupled it with the older master's Concerto No. 15 for this release.

The Beethoven reading has the familiar Solomon hallmarks - clarity, elegance and insight. The reviews I have included in the download generally approve of the recorded sound, and most praise the Philharmonia's orchestral backing, led again by Cluytens.

Otto Ackermann

Mozart's Concerto No. 15 had not been recorded many times in the 1950s, although that is not true today. It is a rewarding work that Solomon handles splendidly. This recording comes from September 1953, with the Kingsway Hall as the location. The Philharmonia again is the orchestra, although this time the conductor is the Romanian Otto Ackermann (1909-60), who is remembered primarily for his operetta recordings.

Beethoven Concerto No. 5

The final recording in today's group is also Beethoven's final essay in the form - the Concerto No. 5, dubbed the "Emperor," although not by the composer. While the work has nothing to do with empire, it is indeed a majestic work, done full justice by the soloist.

Harold Schonberg in The New York Times contrasted Solomon in the work with a contemporary LP from Emil Gilels: "If you want a muscular, exciting reading... Gilels is your man. If your taste in "Emperors" runs to the elegant, intimate style, Solomon will fill the bill. Both of these are excellent performances of their kind."

Herbert Menges

For this recording, HMV again paired Solomon with the Philharmonia, this time not in the Kingsway Hall but in Abbey Road Studio No. 1, with sessions in May 1955. For this date, the label engaged Herbert Menges, a longtime friend of the pianist and perhaps his favorite accompanist.

Unlike the recordings in the previous Solomon post devoted to Beethoven, all these were recorded in mono. The Concerto No. 5 may be the best of them, with the orchestral colors more vivid and the piano tone well caught. The slow movement is exceptionally fine, both as a recording and performance. [Note: these are newly (July 2023) available in ambient stereo versions with much more vivid sound.]

Just a reminder that the earlier post of Beethoven concertos from Solomon also includes the Grieg and Schumann concertos, and there is another with the Bliss concerto and Liszt's Hungarian Fantasia.

Solomon's Final Recordings

A debilitating stroke ended the career of the great English pianist Solomon (1902-88) in late 1956, a few months after he had made several concerto recordings with the Philharmonia Orchestra and conductor Herbert Menges.

Today's post gathers those four works together - Beethoven's first and third, and the Grieg and Schumann concertos. These are all mainstays of the repertoire, just as Solomon's recordings have been standards by which others have been judged for nearly 70 years.

This is a follow-up to my recent post of Solomon in works by Bliss and Liszt, which was well received. Some personal sentiment enters into it as well, for I have owned all these recordings for several decades, and remain fond of them.

The artist who recorded these four concertos was different from the phenomenon who had dispatched the difficulties of the Bliss concerto seemingly effortlessly. These final sessions were afflicted with technical problems that left the pianist almost in despair. Solomon's biographer, Bryan Crimp, wrote that the Grieg concerto sessions "proved to be a desolate and wholly demoralizing experience, with Solomon's incapacity at its worrisome height, possibly exacerbated by the intensive work of the previous days." Even so, none of these travails are evident on the final product. The success of the recording, Crimp noted, "is a reflection of the skill and patience of all concerned: producers and editors, orchestra and conductor, but above all to the supreme effort of the soloist." The slow movement is a particular delight, with lovely horn playing, presumably by Dennis Brain.

Herbert Menges

The conductor Herbert Menges had been Solomon's friend since they were fellow piano students of Mathilde Verne. Menges had been associated with the Old Vic and was the conductor of the Brighton Philharmonic and its successors. EMI engaged him fairly frequently as a concerto accompanist, and these performances are successful in that regard.

Contemporary reviews of these recordings generally fall into two camps - those who were satisfied with the pianist's refinement and poetic playing, others who longed for more passion, which Solomon may no longer have been able to summon. Reviewing the Beethoven first concerto in the American Record Guide, C.J. Luten writes, "He has a pearly, singing tone, a genuine legato, and a fine mechanism. Moreover, his general culture and musical manners are as refined as anyone could wish for. His work invariably gives the pleasure of order and beauty of sound. Solomon's playing would be unforgettable if only he had temperament."

The wonder is that these performances have seldom been out of the catalogue since they were issued, a few years after they were made. Despite what Luten wrote above, I find the Beethoven concertos to be entirely successful, as is the Grieg. But to me, the Schumann finale would benefit from the some of the fire Solomon brought to the Bliss concerto, but may have no longer been able to ignite.

On the LP, Beethoven's first concerto is paired with his Sonata No. 27, which Solomon also handles well. (Note that the Sonata also appears on the transfer of the Beethoven third concerto that I used.) The sonata comes from an August 1956 session, also in stereo.

The recordings were all made in Abbey Road Studio No. 1 and are in true stereo, which is one of the delights of the set. Later reviewers would complain that there was little "stereo spread," having become accustomed to the use of multiple microphones in orchestral recordings. But these simply-miked performances have a convincing coherence that is unobtrusively right. My only cavil is that there is little bloom on the strings, possibly an artifact of the studio, which is not all that large. 

The HMV covers

I did not transfer my well-used records for this post, relying instead on good copies I found on Internet Archive and refurbished for the purpose. The Beethoven Concerto No. 1 is from a US Angel pressing, the Concerto No. 3 is from a EMI reissue from the 1960s, and the Grieg and Schumann are from a Classics for Pleasure 1976 reissue. The downloads include complete scans along with the original HMV covers. The latter were designed in a simple, elegant form by Atelier Cassandre, which did quite a few such covers for EMI at the time, probably through its French associate, La Voix de son maître. The download also has many reviews of the three LPs.