Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
two classic performances from the past, 21 Dec 2005
This is a wonderful disc for the money! You get one of the best Beethoven 3 Piano Concertos ever recorded, a great pianist absolutely in sympathy with his conductor so that the performance has unusual unity and commitment, coupled with the first recording of a fine 20th. century Concerto which was premiered by these artistes (at the New York World's Fair, I think). The sound is very decent transferred 78, fully enjoyable and faithful. No-one need hesitate - this is a fine disc.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wartime Shellacs and a Great British Pianist, 27 May 2008
Great Pianists: Solomon Cutner [1902 - 1988] plays Beethoven and Bliss. This CD contains two works: 1. Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Adrian Boult. Recorded on 8th, 9th and 11th August 1944 at Bedford Grammar School, Bedford. Originally released on 4 78 rpm schellac discs by HMV. 2. Arthur Bliss, Piano Concerto in B flat major, performed by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Adrian Boult. Recorded on 13th and 14th January 1943 at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. Originally released on five 78 rpm shellacs by HMV.
Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn. This CD (Naxos Historical 8.110682) appeared to coincide Solomon's 100th birthday in 2002. Total playing time: 71'44".
Even "His Master's Voice" had to yield to the pressures of wartime, and it is noticeable that these recordings from 1943 and 1944 do not quite match up to the sound quality of some of their better pre-war productions. With the Beethoven concerto, one factor is the slightly echoey acoustics which appear to have prevailed at Bedford Grammar School, where HMV was forced to retire for this recording to avoid bombing in London; the difference in sound quality from, say, the Abbey Road studios is noticeable, as also is the louder "hiss" provided by the wartime shellacs. (Assuming that Mark Obert-Thorn was working as carefully here as he has done on many other Naxos Historical productions.) The performance of the Beethoven is, of course, magnificent, with Adrian Boult keeping a tight rein on proceedings and Solomon as soloist being embedded sound-wise in the orchestra rather than being put on a pedestal way out in front. Solomon plays here the cadenzas by Clara Schumann. Nothing can match (in my humble opinion) the Beethoven recordings by Artur Schnabel which HMV made a decade earlier (and which Naxos Historical have also rereleased), but this Solomon version is indeed a pleasure to listen to, and the recording is a wonderful reminder of the talent of this great British artist who, unfortunately, suffered a stroke a few years later which left him unable to continue his career. - This career was, indeed, distinguished, and he had played the Beethoven already as a boy under Henry Wood. Solomon was also the choice for the world première performance and recording of the Bliss concerto which was written for the 1939 World Fair in New York, Solomon giving it its first public outing at the Carnegie Hall. The recording was made after the same concerto had been successfully pioneered at the Proms in 1943. Since that time, the Bliss concerto has been, on the whole, neglected by pianists and orchestras. Personally, I felt that although it was brim-full of musical ideas, the coherence of these was not immediately apparent; but then again, I bought this for the Beethoven and am in no wise a fan of the music of the 20th century.
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