SECOND RECITAL

Evening Star, Issue 25894, 11 September 1946, Page 9

SECOND RECITAL

SOLOMON AGAIN TRIUMPHS . Repeating his remarkable success of •a week ago, Solomon, the British pianist, won the enthusiasm of another large audience in tlie Town Hail last nignt at his final Dunedin recital. His outstanding technical resources and interpretative skill were again fully demonstrated, and. gave a new freshness to music which, although representative of the , achievements of great composers, had come to be hackneyed through constant' repetition by recital pianists. The conservatism of virtuoso performers in programmes is unfortunate, as it tends to lead to an adulation of a performer rather than of the music j which is always the more important. Apart from the composers who had been represented at the first concert, Solomon played several pieces by Debussy, which, although the more popular works by the French impressionist, were quite typical. In this pianists hands the music of Debussy had more strength than usual, and, although the delicate atmospheric effects were faithfully reproduced, the works acquired a greater stature than is usually realised. 1 The Submerged Cathedral was played with confidence, and. was worked, up to a powerful climax, lhe Joyous Island ’ was. another successful venture into the impressionistic school which stamped Solomon as a fine interpreter of Debussy. The outstanding, item on the programme was undoubtedly .the ‘ Appassionata ’ Sonata of Beethoven. Solomon gave full point to the dramatic and foreboding opening, and developed the movement powerfully. The whole sonata had a grand conception, which made acceptable and enjoyable still another performance of the hackneyed sonata. In Liszt’s' arrangement, Bach s organ. Prelude and Fugue in A Minor gave * excellent scope for the < pianist, and was ,an admirable opening. A charming Scarlatti Sonata was. a gem in performance and interpretation. Doming immediately after the Debussy, a generous section of Chopin items, particularly the Ballade in ,F Majof, sounded thinner than usual, but the idiom ...of the composer was developed through a group of studies, a waltz, and the exquisitely restrained Cradle Song to the fine Scherzo in B Flat Minor, which was a tour de force. Other Chopin pieces, including a nocturne and a polonaise, were presented as encore items.