Chile: June 1984

Santiago , Chile: 5 & 7 June 1984 (Jorge had previously performed in Chile on 14 and 16 June 1983. Claudio Arrau had returned to Chile after a long absence in May 1984.)

Romantic Programme

Teatro Municipal, Santiago, Chile

Liszt , Concertos 1 & 2

Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago/ Simón Blech (1924-1997, Polish-Argentinian)

The British Council is one of the sponsors of the concerts, but I don’t know why.

‘The eleventh performance of the Santiago Philharmonic at the Municipal Theatre provided a beautiful romantic experience. It was headlined by Liszt's Concertos, performed by pianist Jorge Bolet and conductor Simón Blech, with perfect mutual understanding.

‘A virtuoso par excellence, Bolet possesses a dazzling technique, with exquisite clarity of phrasing, and he is formidable in the thunderous power of his octaves. With poetry and passion, he conveyed the composer’s message, which, as the printed reviews by Mariana Silva so aptly put it, ranges ‘from dreamy tenderness to glittering heroism’.

‘Blech did a superb job with the orchestra, bringing out the brilliance of the original instrumentation. Ever alert, he worked in unison with the soloist to capture the thematic and spiritual unity of both works. In No. 2 (A major), which was performed first, the solos by the oboe (Daniel Vidal) and cello (Jorge Román) were particularly striking.

‘The pianist’s dazzling technique and the rock-solid rapport between him and Blech were equally impressive in the melodic sweetness and graceful flight of No. 1. Here, apart from the brass and percussion, the concertinos and the clarinet stood out. In the piece added to the programme, Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 15 No. 2, Bolet once again displayed an enveloping musicality and delicacy.’

Federico Heinlein

Federico Heinlein Funcke (Berlin, 1912 - Santiago, 1999), was a Chilean composer and journalist. In Buenos Aires, he had worked between 1935 and 1940 as an assistant to Fritz Busch and Erich Kleiber at the Teatro Colón. From 1954 he was music and dance critic for the newspaper El Mercurio.

Sansón León Júpiter Blech (Warsaw 1924 - Buenos Aires1997)

Wikipedia (with sources) has an interesting note which involves an Argentine music journalist Jorge D'Urbano who was critical of Jorge Bolet.

‘In 1956, the dictator Pedro Eugenio Aramburu appointed Jorge D'Urbano, until then an unknown show business entrepreneur loyal to the regime (un desconocido empresario de espectáculos adeptas al régimen), as administrator of the Teatro Colón . D'Urbano dismantled the Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ballet, provoking a reaction from the musicians' union and the orchestral faculty association. This led to the biggest conflict in the theater's history, causing its closure during 1957. [ Sáenz Quesada, María (2007). La Libertadora. Buenos Aires. Editorial Sudamericana. p. 446 ]

‘The appointment of the new director was seen as a sign of the favoritism prevalent in Argentine culture during the Aramburu dictatorship. He closed the main hall and forced men under 50, artists, to begin their retirements prematurely. It also forced dozens of members of the Orchestra into exile in neighboring countries and Europe, along with musicians and conductors, including Blech, who, due to his career, managed to go into exile in Santiago, Chile in November 1955. [La Historia del teatro Colón: 1908-1968, tomo II, Roberto Caamaño, Buenos Aires : Cinetea, 1969]

’In 1995 he commissioned the Argentine composer Gabriel Senanes to write "Hercules in the Perfumery" (Hércules en la perfumería), which was dedicated to him and premiered by Blech himself and the National Symphony Orchestra on June 7 of that same year.’