JOHN SOLUM

• John Solum

 "The opening movement of Hummel’s D major Sonata is bright and lightly played on this live recording by American flute player, John Solum. The slow movement demonstrates his warm and colourful tone, while the finale once again gives an opportunity for fast-paced energy... Solum is a distinguished flutist with an impressive pedigree.  Respected as an editor and recording artist, his professional career has spanned over fifty years...this live concert recording lives up to the high standards we have become accustomed to on disc... Solum performs a wide range of repertoire... Rheinberger’s Rhapsodie is a beautiful work, in which Solum displays his excellent control of tone colours and expressive range. He is accompanied in this recital by Irma Vallecillo, whose playing is both sensitive and expressive... The combination of these two players is a winning formula... Listening to Solum it is clear that he is not bound up in the diva mentality of some flute players. His technical security is merely a tool of his work as a musician – this programme does not ‘show off’ or ever once lose its musical focus... played with polish and artistry with expression and musicality at its essence... Richard Wilson’s three movement Music for Solo Flute [is a] well written work which shows an understanding for the capabilities of the flute... This is a highly enjoyable work, lyrical at times and technically challenging at others, and always full of character and personality... As an encore, Solum adds a previously unreleased studio recording of Kohler’s Flight of the Swallows for flute and orchestra... Kohler’s music provides an entertaining ‘lollipop’ at the end of an excellent disc.."

Carla Rees, MusicWeb International - February 2008

"Solum is an artist catholic taste and heightened sensitivity to stylistic diversity. He alters weight of tone, vibrato, articulation and other subtleties to suit the personality of the music he's playing. Aside from an expressive intelligence and tonal lustre that touch each work, Solum has a chameleon-like way of entering the specific sonic world that you might think a slew of flautists is performing the disc's repertoire...a superb artist in action."

Gramophone - September 2008

"John Solum is a distinguished performer... well-executed account of diverting music."

International Record Review - March 2008

There are two types of recordings, those made in a studio and those made at a live performance. All of my published recordings to date have been made in recording studios (or in a venue similar to a studio) with carefully-positioned microphones and the opportunity to re-record anything which doesn’t meet certain standards.

Recently a number of my recitals and live broadcasts from bygone years were transferred from analog to digital format for preservation purposes. In listening to these live recordings, I was struck by their immediacy and the feeling of interaction between the performers. There was risk-taking and an abundance of musical inspiration. It came to my mind that perhaps one or more of these could be released commercially.

So, for this release I have chosen a concert I played at Vassar College on September 19, 1985. The hall’s microphone placement just happened to be nearly ideal, giving excellent balance between flute and piano and allowing the sound to expand with a natural bloom. Moreover, pianist Irma Vallecillo and I seemed to be having fun exploring the varied repertoire, none of which we had ever previously performed together. This recording also gives you the opportunity to hear Irma’s extraordinary pianism, the lightness of her touch, her natural musicality and superb musicianship.

For this recording I have changed the order of the original program. What may make a good program order for the concert hall is not necessarily best on a recording. My preference here is to place the pieces in chronological order. (If you are interested in listening to the program in its original order, it was Hummel, Wilson, Rheinberger, Caplet, Milhaud, Enesco and Taffanel.) At the conclusion of this live recording, I have added a special encore, an unreleased studio recording which I made in 1978 of Ernesto Köhler’s "Schwalbenflug" or "Flight of the Swallows". - JOHN SOLUM, DECEMBER 2007

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John Solum began playing the flute professionally at the age of 17. In an international career spanning more than 50 years, he has performed as a flute soloist and chamber music player in 37 countries. His many recital appearances include the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and the Frick Collection in New York. In 1983 he became the first American flutist to give recitals in Moscow and Leningrad (St. Petersburg). He has appeared as soloist with important orchestras throughout the world, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. His discography includes over 100 works for flute and reflects his interest in both modern and historical flutes. Among his recordings are the Mozart Flute Concertos (EMI) and the Bach Flute Sonatas (Arabesque), all recorded on period instruments, and the concertos of Ibert, Jolivet, Honegger and Malcolm Arnold (EMI), recorded on modern flute. He has edited many editions of music for Oxford University Press, the publishers of his book, The Early Flute. More than 20 works have been written for him by distinguished composers. Aaron Copland composed his Duo for Flute and Piano in response to his invitation to write a piece in memory of the late William Kincaid, who was Solum’s flute teacher.

JOHANN NEPOMUK HUMMEL (1778-1837)
SONATA IN D MAJOR, OP. 50

JOSEPH RHEINBERGER (1839-1901)
RHAPSODIE (1856)

PAUL TAFFANEL (1844-1908)
ALLEGRETTO GRAZIOSO (1877)

ANDRE CAPLET (1878-1925)
REVERIE AND PETITE VALSE (1897)

GEORGES ENESCO (1881-1955)
CANTABILE ET PRESTO (1904)

DARIUS MILHAUD (1892-1974)
SONATINE (1922)

RICHARD WILSON (b.1941)
MUSIC FOR SOLO FLUTE (1972)

ERNESTO KÖHLER (1849-1907)
FLIGHT OF THE SWALLOWS, OP.72 - CONCERT-ETUDE FOR FLUTE AND ORCHESTRA
 

MSR Classics