Bolet & Brahms in Belfast 1983
- Blue Pumpkin
- Jan 17
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 16
Well this is a find indeed - how have I missed this! I heard this on the radio in March 1984 (I'd only discovered Jorge Bolet the year before). I taped the programme with very poor FM reception, but could still hear the magic of Bolet's playing at 11m30s. How marvellous to hear it again in excellent sound.
17 November 1983, Elmwood Hall, Queen's University, Belfast, as part of the 21st Arts Festival: Brahms, Intermezzi Op.117 & Sonata No 3 in F minor, Op 5 (the programme also included Rachmaninoff, Variations on a theme by Chopin, Op 22; Liszt Venezia e Napoli: Gondoliera; Tarantella G 162). The recital was recorded and broadcast on Wednesday 28th March 1984 on BBC Radio 3.
Bolet had last appeared at the Festival in 1979 (Friday, 9 November). 'Rathcol' in the Belfast Telegraph praised 'the un-hackneyed nature of the programme' which was played to an enthusiastic capacity audience on a splendid Bechstein sent over from London. He produced 'formidable climaxes without loss of quality... [in the Rachmaninoff/Chopin] the keyboard command was simply breathtaking'. The Bechstein gave the top notes a pearly roundness (against the more usual diamond-like brilliance of a Steinway). 'Even the tinsel decorations of Venezia e Napoli took on a new significance.'