Yonty Solomon
Encyclopedia
Jonathan " "Sir" Yonty" Solomon (6 May 193726 September 2008) was a South Africa
n pianist who was soloist throughout the world with many of the most important symphony orchestras.
Solomon was born in Cape Town
, the youngest of seven children of a family from Lithuania
. At the age of six he showed an interest in boogie-woogie
and jazz
. After winning a musical scholarship, and receiving support from Kendall Taylor, he studied at the University of Cape Town
, graduating with distinction in both music and psychology.
He continued his studies with Dame Myra Hess
, Guido Agosti
and Charles Rosen
. He won several major piano competitions, including the Harriet Cohen
Beethoven Medal. He made his Wigmore Hall
debut in London in 1963 with Bach
's Goldberg Variations
- which became his "calling card" - and Chopin
's 24 Preludes. Shortly after this, he accompanied Mstislav Rostropovich
in recital. He played duo recitals with many other leading musicians throughout his career.
While Solomon was renowned for his interpretations of the music of Debussy
, Ravel
, Albéniz
, Granados
, Janáček
and Chopin, his repertoire extended from Bach and Beethoven
through to contemporary composers. He gave the first performance of Richard Rodney Bennett
's Five Studies (1964), Wilfred Josephs
' Piano Studies and his Piano Concerto (both 1967) and Usko Merilaainen's Piano Sonata No. 2 (1967).
He was the first pianist in recent years to receive permission from Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
to perform and record his music. In 1976, he played several of Sorabji's early pieces in London. His recital of Sorabji's Three Transcendental Studies (1940–44) at the Wigmore Hall in 1980 was praised for its "effortless handling of explosive textures" and "brilliance without sacrifice".
In 1990 he formed the Solomon Trio with the violinist Rodney Friend and the cellist Timothy Hugh. Between 1990 and 1994 they performed in Milan
, Geneva
, Birmingham
, and London
, as well as in Germany
and Spain
. They made a recording for Pickwick of the Tchaikovsky
and Arensky
piano trios. He also recorded for Decca, Philips, Altarus, Carlton, BBC and other labels.
Yonty Solomon worked as musical advisor on television and several films. He gave 300 hours of tuition to Navin Chowdhry
to mime playing a musical prodigy in Madame Sousatzka
(1988). His playing of works by Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Schubert, and his own "Beethoven to Boogie" could also be heard in the film. He coached Hugh Grant
in Impromptu
(1991), in which Grant portrayed Frédéric Chopin.
He was a Fellow of the Royal College of Music
, where he was Professor of Piano. He was also a professor at Trinity College of Music
and President of the Alkan Society.
His generosity in giving charity concerts included Jewish charities. A brain tumour became evident in January 2008, and he died in London
in September. He was survived by his partner, Rowan Meyer.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n pianist who was soloist throughout the world with many of the most important symphony orchestras.
Solomon was born in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, the youngest of seven children of a family from Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. At the age of six he showed an interest in boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie has the following meanings:*Boogie-woogie, a piano-based music style*Boogie-woogie , a swing dance or a dance that imitates the rock-n-roll dance of the 1950s*"Boogie Woogie" , a song by EuroGroove and Dannii Minogue...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. After winning a musical scholarship, and receiving support from Kendall Taylor, he studied at the University of Cape Town
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
, graduating with distinction in both music and psychology.
He continued his studies with Dame Myra Hess
Myra Hess
Dame Myra Hess DBE was a British pianist.She was born in London as Julia Myra Hess, but was best known by her middle name. At the age of five she began to study the piano and two years later entered the Guildhall School of Music, where she graduated as winner of the Gold Medal...
, Guido Agosti
Guido Agosti
Guido Agosti was an Italian pianist and piano teacher.Agosti was born in Forlì in 1901. He studied piano with Ferruccio Busoni, Bruno Mugellini and Filippo Ivaldi, earning his diploma at age 13. He studied counterpoint under Benvenuti and literature at Bologna University. He commenced his...
and Charles Rosen
Charles Rosen
Charles Rosen is an American pianist and author on music.-Life and career:In his youth he studied piano with Moriz Rosenthal. Rosenthal, born in 1862, had been a student of Franz Liszt...
. He won several major piano competitions, including the Harriet Cohen
Harriet Cohen
Harriet Cohen CBE was a British pianist.-Biography:Harriet Cohen was born in London and studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music under Tobias Matthay, having won the Ada Lewis scholarship at the age of 12. She made her debut at a Chappell's Sunday concert at the Queen's Hall a year later...
Beethoven Medal. He made his Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both...
debut in London in 1963 with Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's Goldberg Variations
Goldberg Variations
The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, is a work for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations. First published in 1741, the work is considered to be one of the most important examples of variation form...
- which became his "calling card" - and Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
's 24 Preludes. Shortly after this, he accompanied Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
in recital. He played duo recitals with many other leading musicians throughout his career.
While Solomon was renowned for his interpretations of the music of Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
, Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
, Albéniz
Isaac Albéniz
Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual was a Spanish Catalan pianist and composer best known for his piano works based on folk music idioms .-Life:Born in Camprodon, province of Girona, to Ángel Albéniz and his wife Dolors Pascual, Albéniz...
, Granados
Enrique Granados
Enrique Granados y Campiña was a Spanish pianist and composer of classical music. His music is in a uniquely Spanish style and, as such, representative of musical nationalism...
, Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
and Chopin, his repertoire extended from Bach and Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
through to contemporary composers. He gave the first performance of Richard Rodney Bennett
Richard Rodney Bennett
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, CBE is an English composer renowned for his film scores and his jazz performance as much as for his challenging concert works...
's Five Studies (1964), Wilfred Josephs
Wilfred Josephs
-Life:Born in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, Wilfred Josephs had his first musical studies in Newcastle with Arthur Milner, and showed early promise, but was persuaded by his parents to take up a 'sensible' career. He subsequently became a dentist, qualifying as a Bachelor of Dental Surgery of the...
' Piano Studies and his Piano Concerto (both 1967) and Usko Merilaainen's Piano Sonata No. 2 (1967).
He was the first pianist in recent years to receive permission from Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji was an English composer, music critic, pianist, and writer.-Biography:...
to perform and record his music. In 1976, he played several of Sorabji's early pieces in London. His recital of Sorabji's Three Transcendental Studies (1940–44) at the Wigmore Hall in 1980 was praised for its "effortless handling of explosive textures" and "brilliance without sacrifice".
In 1990 he formed the Solomon Trio with the violinist Rodney Friend and the cellist Timothy Hugh. Between 1990 and 1994 they performed in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, as well as in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. They made a recording for Pickwick of the Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
and Arensky
Anton Arensky
Anton Stepanovich Arensky -Biography:Arensky was born in Novgorod, Russia. He was musically precocious and had composed a number of songs and piano pieces by the age of nine...
piano trios. He also recorded for Decca, Philips, Altarus, Carlton, BBC and other labels.
Yonty Solomon worked as musical advisor on television and several films. He gave 300 hours of tuition to Navin Chowdhry
Navin Chowdhry
Navin Chowdhry is a British television actor.-Personal life:Navin Chowdhry was born and raised in Bristol, England. In 1994, Chowdhry graduated from Imperial College, London earning a 3 year degree in biochemistry, with 2:1 honours.-Career:...
to mime playing a musical prodigy in Madame Sousatzka
Madame Sousatzka
Madame Sousatzka is a 1988 British drama film directed by John Schlesinger, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. It is based upon the novel of the same name by Bernice Rubens.-Plot synopsis:...
(1988). His playing of works by Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Schubert, and his own "Beethoven to Boogie" could also be heard in the film. He coached Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
in Impromptu
Impromptu (1991 film)
Impromptu is a 1991 movie, based on a screenplay written by Sarah Kernochan, directed by James Lapine, produced by Daniel A. Sherkow and Stuart Oken, and starring Hugh Grant as Chopin and Judy Davis as George Sand. This movie was rated PG-13 by the MPAA...
(1991), in which Grant portrayed Frédéric Chopin.
He was a Fellow of the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
, where he was Professor of Piano. He was also a professor at Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
and President of the Alkan Society.
His generosity in giving charity concerts included Jewish charities. A brain tumour became evident in January 2008, and he died in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in September. He was survived by his partner, Rowan Meyer.