{"product_id":"solomon-plays-beethoven-schumann-bach-chopin-brahms","title":"Solomon plays Beethoven, Schumann, Bach, Chopin, Brahms","description":"Admirers of Solomon will know that a number of years ago APR                     released a two disc set of his Berlin recitals [APR7030]. This                     set replicates those performances, but for the significant addition                     of the Carnaval performance. \u003cbr\u003e                    \u003cbr\u003e                    According to Bryan Crimp’s biography, Solomon spent eight days                     in Germany in February 1956. He performed the Beethoven Second                     Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic and Cluytens, and played                     recitals in Detmold, Wuppertal, Hamburg and Frankfurt. Whilst                     in Berlin he was taped in two broadcast performances by RIAS.                     These are the surviving performances, excellently reproduced,                     though quite drily recorded. Regarding the differences between                     the APR and this new Audite transfer I will note that Audite’s                     is reproduced at a slightly lower level than APR’s but otherwise                     I don’t find any dramatic differences between them. \u003cbr\u003e                    \u003cbr\u003e                    The recital plays to Solomon’s accustomed strengths. The Op.2                     No.3 sonata is purposeful and intrepid. Solomon’s sculpting                     of dynamics in the central movement is especially noteworthy;                     voicings are brought out with unselfconscious definition – refined,                     meditative or via the sepulchrally interjectory bass. The brilliant                     clarity of his articulation is fully audible in the finale,                     which is played with seemingly effortless control, but not a                     trace of false urbanity. The companion Beethoven sonata is the                     \u003ci\u003eMoonlight\u003c\/i\u003e. Earlier in his career Solomon had taken the                     opening movement with gravely deliberate slowness. Now he had                     seemingly reconciled himself to a greater sense of spine in                     the music, so his tempo is several notches faster for the \u003ci\u003eAdagio                     sostenuto\u003c\/i\u003e, a feature I welcome. There is still, however,                     something unavoidably funereal – not ponderous – about the tempo                     he adopts. The Allegretto acts as both relief from this introspection,                     and also a motor for the crispness of Solomon’s playing of the                     finale. \u003cbr\u003e                      \u003cbr\u003e                    He made an admired recording of Carnaval in the summer of 1952                     for Walter Legge and EMI. This live performance four years later                     is, not surprisingly, similar in outline, though occasionally                     it differs in detailing. What impresses yet again, however,                     is the real consonance of the playing, a marrying of tonal production                     and expressive control. The result is not, perhaps, the most                     lavish of readings but it builds cumulatively, never allowing                     incident or detail to override architecture. His \u003ci\u003ePreambule\u003c\/i\u003e                     is manly, the rubati in the \u003ci\u003eValse noble\u003c\/i\u003e splendidly realised,                     and \u003ci\u003eFlorestan\u003c\/i\u003e marvellously characterised. \u003cbr\u003e                    \u003cbr\u003e                    We lack a significant body of Bach recordings from Solomon.                     There are some transcriptions, a couple of Preludes and Fugues,                     and one such arranged by Liszt, but the return is small from                     a player so distinguished. His Italian Concerto is thus greatly                     to be welcomed. There’s nothing withdrawn or sturdy about his                     playing of it, with smartly etched rhythm in the outer movements                     and delicate refinement in the central one. It makes one wish                     he’d recorded the Goldberg Variations, or some of the French                     Suites. Note the little sulphurous bass detonations in the finale,                     where drive and clarity are armed together. There are three                     pieces each by Chopin and Brahms to be negotiated. Of the former,                     the Fantasie is elegant, musically refined, and full of dappled                     control and poetic spirit. The Brahms trio include a performance                     of the E major Intermezzo that enshrines introspective probity,                     assured balances between the hands and no false gestures. You                     seldom, if ever, got those with Solomon. \u003cbr\u003e                      \u003cbr\u003e                    His admirers, who will probably have the APR, will now be faced                     with dilemma of this previously unreleased Carnaval. There is                     surprisingly little live Solomon, so my view is to go for it.                     \u003cbr\u003e                    \u003cbr\u003e                    -- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International","brand":"Audite Musikproduktion","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49607568294168,"sku":"4022143234223","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/1719271.jpg?v=1736511401","url":"https:\/\/hbdirect.com\/products\/solomon-plays-beethoven-schumann-bach-chopin-brahms","provider":"HBDirect","version":"1.0","type":"link"}