Jorge Bolet (piano)
His earliest recordings
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Thor Johnson
rec. 1952-53, venue unknown
APR 6009 [2 CDs: 138]
Despite that fact that many piano lovers, myself included, regard Jorge Bolet as one of the giants of 20th century pianism his career was a bewildering mix of highs, lows and false starts that must be unique amongst artists of his stature. As an example he impressed Serge Koussevitsky enough that he promised to engage him to play only for Koussevitsky to die before the promise could be fulfilled; it was a similar story with Mitropoulos, Rodzinsky and Furtwängler. His performance of the Prokofiev second concerto led to the recording included here but it was not with a major company and would have brought him little recognition. His incredible performance at the International Piano Library benefit concert in 1970 (the two works he played on that occasion can be heard on Marston 56003-2 review, review) led to a contract with RCA records and his magnificent 1974 Carnegie Hall recital and international fame at last but even here a change of management led to Bolet being let go to make way for Ormandy recommendation Tedd Joselson; a chance to record Bolet’s complete concerto repertoire and eight solo discs lost with the stroke of a pen. His later years, though latterly dogged with illness, were more successful; he had a devoted following and his concerts were his own, not as a stand in for some indisposed artist as was very often the case in his earlier years. He signed with Decca records and recorded a series of LPs for them that feature some wonderful playing; his Godowsky disc was a revelation for me after eagerly buying so many recordings that proved…let’s say inadequate (Decca 425059-2) and I played his encores disc endlessly (Decca 417361-2).
Thankfully his earlier years have been partly documented with live recordings, some as early as 1937 – I remain hopeful that his incredible 1936 performances of the Bach/Liszt G minor Fantaise and Fugue, Liszt’s Valse impromptu and Liszt/Busoni la Campanella will appear on CD at some point. To add further detail to the portrait of Bolet the pianist APR now release these four LP transfers, his first commercial recordings, two Boston LPs made in 1952 and two Remington LPs from the following year. In December 1952 the Schwann Catalogue announced his first release Airs of Spain featuring works by Lecuona, Granados, De Falla and Albéniz. Bolet is so convincing in this repertoire that it is quite difficult to understand why he apparently played it so little in later years. Other than a scorching live recording of Joaquin Nin’s Danza Iberica from 1964 (unreleased to my knowledge) his affinity for this repertoire has scarcely been documented. Lecuona had heard Bolet play as a young lad in Cuba and Bolet chose two of his Danzas afro-cubanas to open his first commercial venture. Apart from the staggering technical facility there is a buoyancy to the rhythms and a lightness of touch that is common to all the tracks here. Bolet is also happy to make one or two minor alterations to the text for greater effect be that the chord before the return to the major key in y la Negra Bailaba!, now with an augmented third or at the end of Danza de los Ñañigos where he continues Lecuonas’s pentatonic scale idea through the final six bars, each time more delicate than the last. Talking of a light touch the octaves in y la Negra Bailaba! dance in a way I have never heard or expect to hear. We might have expected Lecuona’s famous Malagueñabut instead he opts for the less familiar version of the dance by Albéniz alongside two of his more well known pieces and what a delight it is, a captivating serenade that Bolet sings with just a the right amount of rubato. Fiery rhythms and subtle rubato abound elsewhere from de Falla’s tribute to Cuba with its deliciously languid opening or Albéniz’ Cordoba taken a touch faster than I am accustomed to.
The second LP, recital favorites is more along the lines of what we expect of Bolet, the romantic pianist with his dazzling fingerwork and flamboyant sense of style in the waltz étude of Saint-Saëns and Moszkowski’s quicksilver tribute to Autumn. The latter along with the Mendelssohn and Liszt were only the first of his recordings of the works but neither the Saint-Saëns nor Beethoven appeared again. As far as I can see this is the only Beethoven in his commercial discography; he did play several of the sonatas and live versions are available as is a recording of theEmperor Concerto but he was evidently in no rush to lay them down for posterity or wasn’t given the opportunity.
We should be glad he decided to gift posterity with his Prokofiev G minor concerto. It is hard, perhaps impossible to listen to this and not be completely bowled over. Conductor Thor Johnson led the Cincinnati players from 1947 to 1958 and had taken over from Fritz Reiner and Eugene Goosens who had moulded the orchestra into an outstanding ensemble. It was an orchestra accustomed to new music and it is clear that the virtuosity of the orchestral writing held no fears in this gripping and at times edge-of-your-seat performance. Bolet may have been the ultra romantic but he responds with eager vigour to Prokofiev’s modern language and pretty unrelenting challenges and the audacious playing with pin-point accuracy leaves me breathless. The two cadenzas are stunning, especially that in the final movement. This was the concerto’s first recording, complete but for ten bars in the first movement cadenza; it came nearly three decades after Prokofiev revised it into a virtually new concerto – his fourth as he joked – and premiered it with Koussevitsky conducting and one can easily see how impressed Koussevitsky would have been that Bolet had it under his fingers and would have wanted to work with him on the piece.
Bolet kept the Chopin Scherzi in his repertoire for many years and his first Remington disc featured all four. We can take the technical command for granted and though Bolet was always one for a beautiful sound I don’t think he is at his most magical in the lyrical hearts of the first two for all his charm. For me he comes into his own in the final E major scherzo with startling legerdemain and a keen sense of the drama that is absolutely magisterial. It is wonderful that APR have filled this important gap in the Bolet discography; it appears that his inhibitions with regard to the cold, audience-less atmosphere of the recording studio must have come later as the pianism here is full of freedom and joyful communication. Remington may have not used the best vinyl for their recordings but the transfers by Seth B. Winner, sparkling and full of detail are marvellous. With Farhan Malik’s valuable booklet notes to top it all this is a set to welcome for anyone interested in pianism of the very highest order.
Rob Challinor
If you purchase this recording using a link below, it generates revenue for MWI and helps us maintain free access to the site
Contents
CD1 Boston LPs rec.1952
Recital favorites (sic)
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Étude en forme de valse Op.52 No.6
Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925)
En Automne Op.36 No.4
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Hunting Song Op.19 No.3
Andante and rondo capriccioso Op.14
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Funérailles S.173 No.7
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Andante Favori in F
Airs of Spain
Ernesto Lecuona (1895-1963)
Danzas afro-cubanas No.3 y la Negra Bailaba!
Danzas afro-cubanas No.4 Danza de los Ñañigos
Enrique Granados (1867-1916)
Danza españolas No.5 Andaluza
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
Pièces espagnoles No.4 Andaluza
Pièces espagnoles No.2 Cubana
Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
Cantos de España Op.232 No.1 Prelude
España Op.165 No.3 Malagueña
Cantos de España Op.232 No.4 Cordoba
CD2 Remington LPs rec.1953
Serge Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor Op.16
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Scherzo No.1 Op.20
Scherzo No.2 Op.31
Scherzo No.3 Op.39
Scherzo No.4 Op.54
