Most famous?

[Pianorak]

Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert today 13:00

Jorge Bolet is most famous perhaps as the pianist behind the performances on Dirk Bogarde's film 'Song Without End' subtitled 'The Story of Franz Liszt' in 1960. . .

I'm sure Bolet would be thrilled to know that.

[Richard Tarleton]

Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert today 13:00

Jorge Bolet is most famous perhaps as the pianist behind the performances on Dirk Bogarde's film 'Song Without End' subtitled 'The Story of Franz Liszt' in 1960. . .

I'm sure Bolet would be thrilled to know that.

Unpicking that a bit - I'm quite sure few filmgoers outside a small circle of anoraks would know that, or have heard of JB - would they? And as a Jorge fan, with a small pile of his CDs, that's a bit of his CV that had eluded me. So wrong either way? I can't remember if I've seen the film - I remember the appalling A Song To Remember ( imaginitive titles, these) about Chopin.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Well, if the statement were true (and, like RT, I seriously doubt this) there are worse things to be remembered for - for example, suggesting that a performer who has played a work longer than it took the composer to write it somehow "knows" the work better than the composer - and is therefore licensed to alter it as he sees fit!

[seabright]

"Song Without End," according to most sources, was a gigantic flop. It was Dirk Bogarde's only Hollywood movie but evidently he didn't fit into their 'leading man' category, as he wasn't masculine enough on screen, so he never returned! ... The Bolet tracks were all recorded in advance and Bogarde took three weeks to learn the fingering, so that his miming of the piano playing matched the pre-recorded Bolet tracks. You get an idea of the results from this clip where he plays a Hungarian Rhapsody ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyh8YR4Va_8

Incidentally, if you tap "Jorge Bolet" in the You Tube 'search field' you get a great many uploads of his performances, so for those who've heard of You Tube, take your pick ...

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jorge+bolet

[gradus]

Funnily enough I also associate Bolet with the film although I'd never heard of him before the film appeared.

[gurnemanz]

I saw the film ages ago and was unaware he was the pianist involved until reading it here. The first time I remember coming across his name was in his brilliant performance of the Liszt Tannhäuser Overture transcription. I also like his Liszt/Schubert song transcriptions.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Jorge Bolet is most famous perhaps as the pianist behind the performances on Dirk Bogarde's film 'Song Without End' subtitled 'The Story of Franz Liszt' in 1960. . .

This is exactly like the STUPID headlines that appear on the BBC Radio 3 Facebook page. Since the new Radio 3 Chief was appointed, much has improved, but it's still run a on a day to day basis by a bunch of i****s.

[Pulcinella]

Did they perhaps mean infamous?

[Richard Tarleton]

I think I'd forgotten that (as the announcer reminded us) he was a spiritual grandson of Liszt, having studied with (among others) Liszt pupil Moriz Rosenthal....

his brilliant performance of the Liszt Tannhäuser Overture transcription.

I have that on the Live at Carnegie Hall CDs, in the Great Pianists series, but you prompted me to look on You Tube where there's this, an "accidental" RCA studio recording from the year before...

[cloughie]

Funnily enough I also associate Bolet with the film although I'd never heard of him before the film appeared.

I did not know about the association with the film. I just think of Bolet as that great pianist - the Liszt boxed set and several other recordings for Decca.

[seabright]

The Wiki entry on Bolet says that "his playing was condemned by American music critics for decades as being too focused on romantic virtuosity." In that respect he was probably in the same category as Earl Wild and to a lesser extent Ivan Davis, two other great American pianists who were noted for their virtuosity in romantic and out-of-the way repertoire, particularly incredibly difficult transcriptions. Bolet studied with Godowsky who made a whole bunch of arrangements of Chopin "Etudes," including one 'Study' that involved two "Etudes" that were to be played simultaneously by one pianist!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Bolet

[ahinton]

The Wiki entry on Bolet says that "his playing was condemned by American music critics for decades as being too focused on romantic virtuosity." In that respect he was probably in the same category as Earl Wild and to a lesser extent Ivan Davis, two other great American pianists who were noted for their virtuosity in romantic and out-of-the way repertoire, particularly incredibly difficult transcriptions. Bolet studied with Godowsky who made a whole bunch of arrangements of Chopin "Etudes," including one 'Study' that involved two "Etudes" that were to be played simultaneously by one pianist!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Bolet

Two such, actually! - and there were another dozen or so Chopin/Godowsky étude transcriptions that were never published, including one combining all three A minor études and one can only presume that Godowsky might not have considered them good enough for publication as part of that immense project that occupied him over at least two decades. In addition to his movie credit, he enlisted in the US Army during WWII and was sent to Japan as part of the Army of Occupation; during his sojourn there, he conducted the Japanese première of The Mikado (although I don't think that he ever got famous for that!).

[richardfinegold]

Didn't he have a brief diplomatic career as well? I think he was a Cuban Ambassador to the US in the pre Castro days

[johnb]

Many, many decades ago I went to a lunch time concert Bolet gave at St Georges Bristol. It was in the depth of winter, the ground was icy and there was no heating in the hall. That isn't quite true - someone had brought in an industrial paraffin blower/heater and positioned it on the platform. Nevertheless the hall was freezing cold with all the audience wearing their overcoats.

Bolet gave the recital as though there was nothing out of the ordinary - finishing with Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy. Very impressive.