1987
'An ambassador from the age of nocturnes and nightingales'
1987 January/ February
'Bolet's individuality has its pros and cons'
'His final faculty recital (1987) drew the largest audience ever seen in the room then called Curtis Hall (formerly Casimir Hall after Hofmann’s father, and now named Field Concert Hall in honor of a donor in the early 2000s). Jorge agreed to audience seating on the tiny stage because of the overflow crowd. Truly an unforgettable event because his playing was still remarkable because of his consummate technique, gorgeous sound, and sensitive musicianship.'
'He was a Baldwin artist who had 2 Baldwin grands installed in a studio (courtesy of Baldwin) in an all-Steinway school. Many feathers were ruffled. He played that last recital on a Baldwin concert grand which is very slightly larger than a Steinway model D and it did not fit on the stage elevator. He paid for the installation and tuning himself and we blocked the hall for 2 days (my memory is a bit hazy on that that), so that Jorge could practise and work with the Baldwin technician on tuning and voicing the instrument.'
Robert Fitzpatrick, Dean at Curtis from 1986 to 2009
Thursday 8 January, Jorge was guest soloist with the Orchestra of St. Luke's in a performance of Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat and his Hungarian Fantasia in Carnegie Hall. The orchestra also played Liszt's Hungarian March and Dvorak's Symphony No. 6 in D. Julius Rudel conducted.
Tuesday, 20 January, 1987: Salle Pleyel, Paris, France
· Haydn: Andante & Variations in F minor, Hob.XVII:6 (Un Piccolo Divertimento)
· Haydn: Piano Sonata No.62 in E-flat major, Hob.XVI:52
· Schumann: Fantasy in C major, Op.17
· Grieg: Ballade in G minor (in the form of Variations on a Norwegian Folk Song), Op.24
· Liszt: Venezia e Napoli, S.162
This appears to be the major recital programme for this European tour.
22 January, 1987: same programme in the Teatro La Fenice, Venice, Jorge's only appearance (?) in this illustrious house (1792), site of many famous operatic premières by Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi; also Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress (11 September 1951, directed by the composer himself).
24 January, Palau de la Música, Barcelona: Grieg, Brahms, Liszt, Chopin.
Monday, 2 February, St John, Smith Square, London at 1pm. Grieg, Ballade in G minor, Op 24 Rachmaninoff, Four Preludes; Polka de W. R. (advertised but apparently not played); Kreisler, transcribed Rachmaninoff, Liebesleid; Liebesfreud. The Kreisler/Rachmaninoff can be heard here (from a BBC Radio 3 broadcast).
10 February, Manchester Free Trade Hall, England. BBC Philharmonic Orchestra with Jorge Bolet.
Sunday, 22 February, recital in Amsterdam (parts of which can be heard on Marston CDs vol. 2: Chopin, Etude in E Minor, Op. 25, No. 5 & Minute Waltz, Grieg, Ballade in G Minor, Op. 24, Bizet/Godowsky, Adagietto (from L’Arlésienne, Suite No. 1)
'The Cuban-American pianist Jorge Bolet, who has been a familiar face on the Dutch music stages for over thirty years, is known as a passionate Liszt admirer and interpreter. The two concerts he gives in our country prove that he is also on good terms with other composers (tonight - Friday 20 February 1987 - at 8 p.m. in De Vereeniging, Nijmegen; Sunday evening at 8:15 p.m. in the Main Hall (Grote Zaal) of the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam). Yet Liszt is also on the programme here, namely his three-part version of Venezia è Napoli from 1853, with which Bolet concludes his performance. It begins with Haydn, then he plays the Fantasy in C op. 17 by Schumann and — before showing that his old love for Liszt does not rust — the Ballade in G minor op. 24 by Grieg.'
(Cas Wichers, De Telegraaf)
![[Recueil_Jorge_Bolet_Photographies___[...]Anna_Birgit_btv1b106108159 (1).JPEG](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/89bab5_6a6b0681f561442ba9fac9495dc3f537~mv2.jpeg/v1/crop/x_2,y_159,w_1000,h_1341/fill/w_408,h_547,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/%5BRecueil_Jorge_Bolet_Photographies___%5B___%5DAnna_Birgit_btv1b106108159%20(1)_JPEG.jpeg)
Paris, 1980s. Photo: Anna Birgit
NRC Handelsblad's critic Salvador (?) Bloemgarten (23.2.87) entitled his review 'Eigenzinnigheid van pianist Bolet heeft voor- en nadelen' (Bolet's individuality has its pros and cons) and said that he 'found Bolet's vision of Haydn and Schumann not only unappealing, but also somewhat irritating. On the other hand, I was completely captivated by the simultaneously controlled and virtuoso playing he developed in Grieg and Liszt. It is of course not surprising that this predominantly romantic pianist in Haydn did not immediately find the right tone. Bolet built up the Andante con variazioni so strictly and tautly that the playful pleasure of ingenious variation in a simple tune was largely lost. [...] The mercury-like liveliness and sensitive cantabile in Schumann's Fantasie were also largely lost. It was in Liszt that Bolet found his top form. His rendition of Venezia e Napoli is therefore so clever, because he does not use his fabulously technical mastery of the keyboard ...'
It is interesting that Jorge D'Urbano was similary unimpressed by Bolet's Haydn way back in 1955 when he first played in Buenos Aires: 'In terms of style, the Haydn was the furthest thing from the spirit of Haydn that I have ever heard in my life.'
25 February, Meany Centre, Washington DC
Australia & Far East in February/March, 1987
The Australian Jewish News (Melbourne, Victoria) 23 January, 1987 reports:
Jorge Bolet, pianist, will give seven performances in Australia when he visits for a series of concerts with the Melbourne and West Australian Symphony Orchestras and solo recitals in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide during February and March. He comes to Melbourne direct from a triumphant European tour, during which the critical acclaim has been overwhelming and concert halls completely sold out.
For the programme of his solo recitals, Jorge Bolet has chosen as the major items
Schumann’s superb Fantasy in C Major and Liszt’s hair-raising Venice and Naples, the composition with which he won the 1984 Gramophone Magazine award for Best Instrumental Record of the Year. (This is, I think, an error for the 1985 Award to Liszt's Suisse.)
These concerts will commence an exciting year for the Michael Edgley International Concert Division (executive producer Reuben Fineberg), in conjunction with ABC. Jorge Bolet will appear with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hubert Soudant on 28 February (Beethoven 3, Rachmaninov/Paganini), 4 March (Beethoven 4, Schubert/Liszt Wanderer) & 7th (Beethoven 5) in Melbourne Concert Hall, with a solo recital on 22 March. This was advertised as Bolet 'at the height of his international acclaim as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century'. (On 9 & 22 March he was in Hong Kong: see below)
Kenneth Hince in The Age (6 March) said that 'In the Schubert [/Liszt, Wanderer, 4 March], it seemed that it seemed that Bolet's approach to the music was very set, preconceived, and cut and dried. It was as if he expected Soudant and the orchestra to follow his lead strictly and absolutely, so that he did not have to establish with them a relation of tact and compromise... The whole performance wa a bit stilted and rigid.'
He will give solo recitals in Adelaide, 24 March, and Sydney, 26 March, afterwards appearing with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra under Dobbs Franks in Perth Concert Hall on 28 March. In actual fact, the conductor was Patrick Thomas who began with Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini and then JB played César Franck's Symphonic Variations and then, after the interval, Rachmaninov 2.
The Age, Melbourne, Saturday 28 February 1987 published an interview with Jorge in his suite of the Hyatt Hotel, on Collins Street.
Hong Kong
Monday 9 March 1987: a recital in the City Hall Concert Hall, Hong Kong. Haydn's Andante con variazioni Hob XVII/6 and Sonata in E flat, Hob XVI/52; Schumann's Fantasy in C major Op. 17; Grieg, Ballade in G minor Op. 24 and ending with Liszt's Venezia e Napoli.
Singapore ?
Concerts on Friday and Saturday, 8:15pm, 13/14 March 1987 were advertised in late 1986 (Straits Times 22 December advises that artists and programme are subject to change): Rachmaninov 3 with the Singapore Symphony under Choo Hoey, followed by the challengingly severe Symphony No 4 in F minor by Vaughan Williams (a Singapore premiere in the presence of the composer's widow, Ursula VW). This was to be in Victoria Concert Hall, the oldest concert hall in Singapore. But the Straits Times for 9 March indicates that Xue Wei would play the Brahms violin concerto on those evenings. The RWV symphony received appreciative applause but one common exclamation by people leaving the hall was "Aiyah, so loud!" (Business Times 16.3.87)
Choo Hoey (朱暉, born 20 October 1934, Palembang, Sumatra), Singaporean musician, founded the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 1978 and was also its first resident conductor and music director. From 1968 till 1977, he had been principal conductor of the Greek National Opera.
Jorge also seems to have performed in Seoul, South Korea (no details).
On 18/19 March he performed Schubert/Liszt's Wanderer Fantasy with the HK Philharmonic under Kenneth Jean. Of interest are some comments from a memorandum regarding the arrangement of the 9 March concert. Harrison Parrott Ltd. had informed the Department that JB would be touring the Far East in March 1987. His concert with the Hong Kong Philharmonic had been arranged but he 'will be interested to give a recital under the auspices of the Urban Council while he is in the region'. The programme which he proposed 'is considered attractive though a bit substantial'.
'The agent has requested a fee of US $6000 inclusive of airfare share, hotel accommodation in one double and one single for two nights for Mr Bolet and his representative Mr Finley (the artist is now 71 years old and has to be looked after by his representative).'
But in the Chrysanthemum Empire...?
The previous year Larry Tucker (Columbia Artists Management) had sent a telegram to a Japanese agent Masahide Kajimoto dated 4 April 1986: 'Mr Mac Finley, who is business manager of the great pianist Jorge Bolet, will be in Tokyo May 7 and 8. It is my hope that you could meet with him to discuss possible tour with Mr Bolet in the near future. He will be touring the Orient in March 1987 and still has March 8-11 as well as 28-31 available.'
Kajimoto Concert Management had been founded in May 1951 in Osaka by Masahide's father Naoyasu. It was based in the Tokaido Ginza Bldg., 6-4-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo.
In 1970 it had extended the first invitation to Japan to Martha Argerich; Vladimir Horowitz (1983, 1986), Herbert von Karajan (1984, 1988). An email (April 2022) from the present Kajimoto CM states: 'We have checked our files, and it seems KAJIMOTO has never worked with Mr. Bolet. According to our senior colleagues, he might have worked with either Kanbara or another agency in Japan, but both of them do not exist anymore.' (It transpires that JB did work with Kanbara: see 2 November 1988.)
Claudio Arrau's sixth return in May to Japan. Performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.5 Emperor with the Japan Broadcasting Corporation Symphony Orchestra [NHK - Nippon Hoso Kyokai S.O.] conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch at Tokyo's Suntory Hall on 17 May.
Back in Australia again
The Sydney Morning Herald for 24 March, 1987: JB has told his agent that he wants three months off next year for a photographic safari through Kenya. 'And then I want to go to Bayreuth to see The Ring, Parsifal and Tristan.' His diary for that period seems to indicate that he did indeed go to Bayreuth.
The Age, Melbourne, Victoria: Tuesday, 24 March, 1987 (Kenneth Hince):
'On Sunday night Jorge Bolet ended his visit to Melbourne with a solo recital in grand imperial tradition. There were no Scarlatti sonatas. There was no Chopin. But the program was laid out in the best romantic carpet-bagging fashion, and the playing matched it precisely. Bolet started with two works of Haydn, the F minor Andante with Variations and the last of the Piano Sonatas, both played with great tact but rather coolly. After a passionate performance of the C major Fantasy of Schumann, he moved towards the kernel of his recital, the three movements from the close of the Italian pieces of Liszt's 'Years of Pilgrimage'. These were splendidly done, with fire and great bravura. Between the Schumann and the Liszt, Bolet played the G minor Ballade of Grieg, music dressed in some external brilliance but really as prim and reserved as your typical maiden aunt (compare that with Richard Morrison's very different review above in November 1986). It was a sad waste of programming time. This astonishing virtuoso should have taken something more rewarding from his repertory for this farewell recital. And Michael Edgley International, Reuben Fineberg, and the Victorian Arts Centre should take a bit more care with their printed program. It was dotted with misprints, and Jonathan Cook's annotations were inaccurate and ungrammatical.'
Fred Blanks (Australian Jewish News, 9 April) reports: 'As Bolet was ending the first movement [does he may mean the second, the March? ] of Schumann’s Opus 17 Fantasy, which has three movements, a great burst of clapping erupted - not after the last note of the movement, but during it, while the sustaining pedal was still in full control. Bolet was clearly upset, and waved with his free hand impatiently at the audience. To be fair, let me add that it was not an ABC nor a Musica Viva audience, but an Edgley audience, and these private management audiences are usually the worst with what can be called incontinence.
'The actual Schumann performance was full bloodedly romantic, which is what we expect from Bolet. Much less satisfactory was his playing of Haydn’s F Minor Variations and the Sonata No. 52; this lacked classical poise and purity, and sounded more like Chopin. Bolet is one of those musicians who achieved international fame late in life, and for a particular area of the repertoire, mainly the 19th century. Outside this, he has severe competition.'
Jorge was filmed in a Chopin & Liszt recital here. Rippon Lea House and Gardens, 192 Hotham Street, Elsternwick, Victoria 3185.
Built in 1869 by Frederick Sargood and named after his mother's maiden name, Rippon. Lea is an English word for a meadow. The Australian National Trust inherited the property in 1972.
Splendid photos here.
The recorded recital here is in good picture quality.
New Zealand
Publicity states "Jorge Bolet is making a return visit to the country to perform as guest soloist with the NZSO. He was last here in 1964."
4 April, 1987 New Zealand SO, Franz-Paul Decker, conductor, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington & Town Hall, Auckland on Saturday 11 April.
7 April, 1987 Town Hall, Wellington
William Dart reviewed the Wellington concert featuring Cuban-American pianist Jorge Bolet and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, performing the Beethoven C minor concerto (No. 3) in Listener (Wellington, N.Z.), 16 May 1987 under the heading "Liability becomes an asset" (unseen review).
Filmed in Atlanta, Georgia
1987, 19-20 April: video recordings of Bolet performing were made by Frank Bell in the Georgia-Pacific Center Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia. They have unusual shots from above the piano of Bolet's hands which really do look long and spidery. This may explain in part why he was not keen on some of Chopin's etudes which would not suit his manual physiognomy.
Poster: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections
Reuben Fineberg
Reuben Fineberg (1937-1996), pianist, conductor, art dealer, had produced Bolet’s 1987 tour of Australia, some of which was videotaped at Rippon Lea House, outside Melbourne. In the art world, he had started a gallery on the top floor of the Kozminsky building, Bourke Street, Melbourne, specialising in etchings and lithographs by French masters such as Jean-Claude Picot. The USSR State symphony Orchestra’s 1986 tour under Yevgeny Svetlanov 'had an extraordinary sense of excitement… the whole tour was stage-managed to perfection'. (Obituary, The Age, 22 January 1997)
Venezia e Napoli
In his tours, during the late 1980s, Jorge was keen to programme Liszt'sVenezia e Napoli, which comes as a supplement to the Italian volume of "Years of Pilgirmage II".
'The music is usually waved away as a rather insignificant group of encore pieces, but while they are obviously lighter fare, they merit high praise for their sheer beauty and ingenuity. Each piece is based on what was familiar material in the streets of Italy at the time of their conception.' (The Tarantella incorporates themes by Guillaume Louis Cottrau (1797–1847), a Frenchman living in Naples.)
Leslie Howard
This short clip (lasting 2m25s) was filmed during Bolet's tour of Australia & Far East in February/March, 1987 at Rippon Lea House, outside Melbourne. Bolet has said in discussion with Gregor Benko that he incorporates a few little extra notes of Josef Hofmann (see link below to a recorded conversation in Manhattan, NYC on 9 April 1987).
'An ambassador from the age of nocturnes and nightingales'
Teatro alla Scala, Milan 1987
21-22 May 1987 St.Eustache, Montreal (recording session)
Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit
[a] TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor Op.23
[b] RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor Op.18
8-10 June 1987 St.Barnabas, Woodside Park, London: recording (issued in September 1988)
CHOPIN Preludes Op.28; four Nocturnes Op.27, Op.55/1 & Op62/2
Pr: Michael Haas, Eng: John Dunkerley
Sunday 14 June 1987, Teatro alla Scala, Milan at 8pm: recital (Mendelssohn Prelude & Fugue in E minor, Chopin Preludes Op.28, Franck, Prelude, Chorale & Fugue, Liszt paraphrases on Donizetti & Verdi). This is Jorge's only appearance in that fabled house. 'Jorge had scheduled his first public performance of Bellini/Liszt Norma for this concert. He invited me to Milan and we met in the Principe de Savoy Hotel. Jorge told me he had changed his plans about Norma. When I asked him why, he answered: "The piece finally got me and now I need more time to get it. It would be stupid to give it a try in this sacred hall where all the great singers of the past have given magnificent performances of the original. So I decided to play the "stuff" which I already know since childhood, - music that is already difficult enough!"
'Jorge initialy did not like Norma. He told me several times: "Too much Thalberg!" Jorge apologised for disappointing me, and arranged for Elisabeth Kittel and myself to have seats in the Royal Loge.'
(Mattheus Smits)
Abram Chasins (1903 – 1987) died on 21 June. 'A composer and pianist and the former music director of radio station WQXR, died Sunday at his home in Manhattan. He was 83 years old and had a second home in Los Angeles. Mr. Chasins, who was associated with WQXR from 1941 to 1965, became the music director in 1946, two years after the station's acquisition by The New York Times. With his help, it became one of the country's most celebrated and emulated AM-FM music stations.'
The Manhattan School of Music held a concert in his honour (date?) and JB took part. Baldwin had very thoughtfully flown Bolet's personal piano from the west coast for this event. JB played four pieces: Prelude and Fugue in E minor Op. 38 and Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso Op. 14 by Mendelssohn; Prelude in E flat minor Op. 12 No. 2 and Prelude in B flat minor Op. 12 No. 3 by Chasins. It was the E flat minor Prelude that a generation came to know because Abram used it as the theme for his famous radio program "Piano Pointers". (Robert M Taylor)
30 August 1987. The Aberdeen Press & Journal (12.8.87) reports that JB will record a recital in Findhorn, Morayshire (Scotland) for future broadcast on the BBC. This is the Chopin-Godowsky recital (coupled with an interview by Michael Oliver) which in the end went out in January 1989.
1 Nov 1987, Palermo, Sicily
On 4 November 1987 in the auditorium RAI « ARTURO TOSCANINI », Via Rossini/Piazza Rossaro, Turin at 9pm, Jorge gave a recital.
Mendelssohn (Preludio e fuga in mi minore e Rondò capriccioso in mi maggiore op. 14), Beethoven (Sonata in fa minore op. 54 «Appassionata»), Franck (Prelude, choral et tugue) e Llszt (Rémlniscences de Norma, tratte dal Bellini).
The reviewer described the 'pure ideas of Bellini's melodies which seem to have been grafted monstrously onto the trunk of harmony and instrumental virtuosity' («li spunti «puri» delle melodie belliniane sembrano innestarsi mostruosamente sul tronco dell'armonia e del virtuosismo strumentale).
'It seems legitimate to pose some doubts regarding the choice of Beethoven's Sonata in F minor (Appassionata), after having noted, of course, that here too Bolet's best and most characteristic qualities have the opportunity to fully reveal themselves, with the noble arrangement of the second theme compared to the first in the Allegro assai'. The fault lies with 'the apparent ataraxia of the slow tempo: that is, in the lyrical and ecstatic places that constitute the necessary exception to confirm the ardor, the directionality, the structural richness that must be consolidated in a single global arc... The concert overall was however successful and and sealed by a couple of encores.' Giorgio Pagliaro
(Can anyone improve the translation?)
'Qualche dubbio sembra invece legittimo porlo per la scelta della Sonata in fa minore (Appassionata) di Beethoven, dopo aver rilevato, beninteso, che anche qui le doti migliori e più caratteristiche di Bolet hanno modo di svelarsi appieno, col nobile disporsi del secondo tema rispetto al primo nell'Allegro assai, con l'atarassia apparente del tempo lento; cioè nei luoghi lirici ed estatici che costituiscono l'eccezione necessaria per confermare l'ardore, la direzionalità, la ricchezza strutturale che devono essere rinsaldate in un unico arco globale; in mancanza di questo, l'Appassionata si riveste di panni eleganti, di toni apollinei, di una medietas che ne tradisce la sostanza espressiva.
19/20 May 1987, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, Montreal, Canada: Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal under Charles Dutoit.
Rachmaninoff , Piano Concerto No.2; Bartok's Music for string, percussion and celeste; Ravel's La Valse.
"Carrying coal to Newcastle"
Jorge Bolet brings Italian opera
(in paraphrase form) to the famous
opera house in Milan
Or, as the ancient Anthenians would say, "Owls to Athens"
"This photo was taken when Jorge visited Bayreuth (July/August 1987?) and was invited to visit Wahnfried. In Bayreuth Jorge also visited Liszt's grave. Some people accompanied him to the site where Liszt's tomb is. Arrived at the graveyard, Jorge kindly asked everybody to stay behind as he wanted to be alone with Liszt. This event shows in a moving way an important part of Jorge's personality." (Photo and text courtesy of Mattheus Smits)
November/December 1987
13 November: an unfortunate performance of Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 2 with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and Charles Dutoit at the Barbican Centre, London. ‘That the concerto was the successful outcome of Dr Dahl’s hypnotic therapy for Rachmaninov’s depression is well known, but I have not, previously, heard a performance which aimed to recreate the hypnotic state.’ David Murray, Financial Times 16.11.87
Another view...
Don Juan (Strauss); Piano Concerto no.2 (Rachmaninov); Petrushka (Stravinsky)
'Jorge Bolet is a virtuoso of such undisputed authority that he doesn't need to assert it continually. In Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto no.2 in C minor he was perfectly content with the accompanimental role that the soloist should frequently occupy, but often doesn't. Those looking for a bravura, throat-grabbing performance might have been disappointed, for Bolet markedly reined in the emotionalism. In exchange, however, he continually encouraged us to listen to the familiar work with new ears, not least in the last movement's big tune, which he handled with exceptional sensitivity. Without the
benefit of such artistry, Dutoit's Petrushka had far less to offer. It was a well-oiled subtly balanced performance, but lacking rhythmic incisiveness and any sense of drama." (Barry Millington)
Monday 23 November, Theatre des Champs-Elysees , Paris (including Beethoven's Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op.75 Appassionata, Franck's Prélude, choral et fugue and Bellini/Liszt Réminiscences de Norma). Baldwin piano supplied by Pianomobil d'Anvers.
On Saturday 5 December 1987 at 11:15am on BBC Radio 3, Bolet was heard in a wonderfully musical performance of Liszt's Piano Concerto No 1 in E flat with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic conducted by Czech conductor Libor Pešek (see below). The programme also included Mozart Symphony No 36 in C (K425) Linz, Liszt Totentanz G.126 and Dvorak Symphonic poem: The Golden Spinning Wheel.
Libor Pešek was a major supporter of the music of his homeland including works by composers such as Suk, Dvořák, Novák and Janáček. Under his baton Liverpool Philharmonic was dubbed ‘the best Czech Orchestra this side of Prague’ and in May 1993, became the first non-Czech orchestra to open the prestigious Prague Spring Festival. Pešek was appointed an honorary knighthood (KBE) in 1996 by HM The Queen for services to music in Britain. He died on 23 October 2022 and one obituary revealed that 'he became something of a local celebrity (in Liverpool), not least for his habit of buying large quantities of broccoli in local supermarkets and taking it home in his suitcases because fresh produce was in short supply in Prague.'