Berlin Radio Recordings Vol.3, 1961 – Jorge Bolet

   in Piano International (May, 2019)
This third and final volume of Jorge Bolet’s Berlin recordings (1961-1974) provides ample confirmation that he was one of the finest pianists of the 20th century. For Gilels he was ‘the only great pianist in America’, while Alicia de Larrocha could only exclaim, with characteristic candour, ‘Jorge, you’re wonderful. The rest, they’re all sh*t’.

Bolet’s playing ranges from ‘blow your socks off’ virtuosity (heard here in the Strauss- Godowsky paraphrase on Die Fledermaus) to a ‘safety comes first’ approach. His Emperor Concerto (with Moshe Atzmon) is as poetic as it is imperious, and his performance of Schumann’s Third Sonata (the ‘Concert sans orchestre’) features tonal opulence and grand sweeping lines. Bolet …