Solomon

The pianist known professionally only as Solomon enjoyed two distinct phases of accomplishment in his native England. A prodigy from the age of eight through his early adolescence, he became a nationwide sensation before the First World War. Advised by conductor Sir Henry Wood, he later abandoned the keyboard for several years after developing an aversion to it. In the late 1920s he returned as a fully formed adult artist and sustained an international career that extended through the Second World War and into the 1950s.

Born in London to an impoverished East End tailor, Solomon surprised those around him at seven by performing his own piano transcription of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. He subsequently studied with Mathilde Verne, once a pupil of Clara Schumann. His official debut came in 1910 with the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, instantly establishing his reputation. The ensuing round of recitals, tours, and further study overwhelmed him, and by fifteen he had come to detest the piano. He withdrew from music for six years before reappearing at twenty-one.

As an adult Solomon earned admiration for the lucidity, technical finish, and poetic sensibility of his interpretations. Fellow musicians especially valued his pristine technique and the effortless, unshowy nature of his virtuosity. Observers repeatedly noted an unmatched restraint and a complete lack of pianistic display; his ego seemed absent from the stage, allowing the composer’s intentions to emerge with unusual directness.

Although he never recorded the complete cycle, Beethoven’s sonatas and concertos formed a central part of his repertory, alongside works by Mozart, Chopin, Brahms, and Debussy. He also championed twentieth-century scores, premiering Sir Arthur Bliss’s Piano Concerto at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York and later committing it to disc for EMI. His concert and recording activity remained steady into the 1950s. A projected set of the Beethoven concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Wilhelm Furtwängler was abandoned after Solomon refused to collaborate with the conductor because of the latter’s musical activities in Germany during the Nazi period; other, less prominent conductors were therefore engaged. In 1955 Solomon joined violinist Zino Francescatti and cellist Pierre Fournier to form a trio that proved short-lived. The following year, while vacationing in France, he suffered a stroke that paralyzed his right side and terminated his performing career.

His EMI recordings, which began in the 1930s, continue to appear on compact disc either directly from the label or through the Testament imprint. Even after the 1956 stroke he managed to tape a few works in stereo. Whether captured in mono or stereo, these performances remain compelling; the transparency of his playing compensates for any limitations in the original engineering. His account of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” in particular, stands out for its lyrical poetry and unforced intensity.