Yonty Solomon

Jonathan "Yonty" Solomon (6 May 1937 – 26 September 2008) was a South African 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's Piano Studies and his Piano Concerto (both 1967) and Usko Merilaainen's Piano Sonata No. 2 (1967).

...
Wikipedia