Rotterdam, April 1962
12 April 1962
Recital in the hall of the Rijnhotel, Mauritsweg, Rotterdam, incl. Chopin's Sonata No. 3 in B minor Op.58, Beethoven's Appassionata and Liszt's Mephisto Waltz.
[The recital by American pianist Jorge Bolet for the Rotterdamsche Kunstkring has been moved from April 3 to April 12. Jorge Bolet will then perform in the AMVJ Hall of the Rijnhotel.]
Pianist with Fabulous Technique, Audience in Utter Ecstasy. See full review
It is extremely rare for a recital to be awaited with such high expectations as was the case with the performance by Cuban pianist Jorge Bolet last night in the fully booked Grand Hall of the Rijnhotel . Even less often does an audience become so enraptured that they do not cease applauding until the soloist has played four encores. Jorge Bolet was not restrained in this regard, choosing them from the most difficult works by Liszt and Chopin. Now that the almost superhuman task he had set himself had been accomplished, it seemed as if all he knew was to possess fingers capable of ruling in absolute dominion over the recalcitrant material of keys and note complexes. Fingers that know no fatigue, no uncertainty, no fear, and not even problems.
But Jorge Bolet is more than the virtuoso whose performances are heard and watched with astonishment. He is also the responsible man who, in all his greatness, feels small in the face of the enormous task he finds himself faced with at the beginning of his concert. It is not the technical grandmaster Bolet , who does not yet fully reach his full potential in the first movement of Chopin's Sonata in B-flat (mistake for B minor?), who possesses his playing in essence. It is the man, aware of his artistic calling, who reacts in this way. But then comes the Scherzo, and Bolet 's *molto vivace* storms forth like a whirlwind. Here it is the wondrously powerful fingers that take possession of the situation. It is also to whom Jorge Bolet can entrust the apotheosis at the end of the finale. Who is capable of such a grandiose climax? Sviatoslaw Richter perhaps, or Shura Cherkassky. A very rare individual from the small circle of the world's most imposing keyboard virtuosos. One of the few who can imbue such a page with the breathtaking magical sound that the author must have heard in his dreams. The touchstone for Bolet 's artistic merits, however, even more than Chopin, has been Beethoven's Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 (the "Appassionata"). In assessing this, one must proceed from the premise that an instrumentalist, who is given the ability to evoke the most intense sonic contrasts imaginable, thinks in smaller proportions than one whose dynamic curve shows a more gradual progression. In both Allegros, Bolet 's attention to detail represented an asset solely regarding the structure of the work. Beethoven must have envisioned his composition with such charged and abrupt dynamic contrasts. He may possibly have intended the Andante with wider arcs, tighter lines, and less poetic tone-to-tone progression. But let us not forget, viewed on a larger scale, that such extreme vehemence must necessarily be counterbalanced by a more intensified resting point for the sake of the proper balance.
Jorge Bolet ended his recital with a group of Liszt, the style in which he is greatest of all. Just as during his recent performance with the R.Ph.O., he plumbed depths within Liszt's tinsel, to which hardly anyone seems to have yet arrived. It is understandable, when an artist is so superior to piano technique, that pieces such as the Rigoletto paraphrase and the Mephisto waltz appear on the programme. The Kunstkring audience allowed themselves to be swept along and overwhelmed by it, and all the more so because the serious, highly concentrated man at the piano showed not a trace of pride for a single moment.
Elly Salom(é), Het Rotterdamsch Parool
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