Jorge Bolet was a giant among pianists. He was especially fond of the music of Liszt and considered a leading interpreter of Liszt's works. Here is the Liszt sonata in B minor performed by Jorge Bolet in Berlin, Germany, October 29, 1969.
Jorge Bolet was my hero! Thank you very much, Mr. Prior, for sharing this with us. There are literally hundreds of other fine performances of this monumental work, but none of them surpass what Jorge Bolet has done here. He has a firm grasp of the architecture of the piece like nobody else, and the total technical mastery to pull it off. In spite of all the exciting risks he takes, he never succumbs to the urge to "show off". What makes this piece so difficult is not the mastery of all the octaves and fast passages, but the balance of inner voices and the scaling of certain developments (dynamically and agogically) over passages that go for quite a stretch coupled with an emotional intensity that leaves one breathless and satisfied at the end. When he plays one note, you know exactly where the rest of the notes is going to go. Jorge Bolet was truly a giant among pianists.
A giant indeed. I never listen to any Bolet performance without gaining some insights into the music, piano technique, and pedalling. And always that elusive feeling that here is a performance deeply felt and intended to do honour to the composer.
Bolet is one of those pianists, listening to whom, you can forget all other pianists- he has that kind of authority, presence, and overarching concepts in his interpretations. The sound quality of this is EXCELLENT and I'm wondering if this is a Hamburg Steinway? The piano sounds simply stunning, mostly because of JB but also because of its own excellent personality THANK YOU SO MUCH!
An epic performance. At lonely heights, only accompanied by Horowitz, there, far up in piano heaven. Having performed this piece myself, every note I hear is my ultimate musical wish to perfection -unattainable for mortal earthlings. Wow. Thanks for sharing.
Bolet was definitely one of the best Liszt performers of all time. There is another recording of this sonata from nine years earlier which is just as good as this one, maybe a bit less patient.
+Cameron Ferguson He liked Kawai, but he has a contract with Baldwin. He played in Baldwin everywhere, making incredible music out of these instruments.
+Cameron Ferguson As far as I remember he was using Baldwin pianos in the US and Bechstein in europe. In liszt he his definitively my favourite pianist.
