The best playing!More than Arrau even...And he also studied with a Liszt student:Moritz Rosenthal and with Josef Hoffmann,Anton Rubinstein¨s pupil...not just Arrau...I wonder why he is less known than other pianists not as good as him!
He is an will always be my fav pianist of all time! He is so great, that people dont understand it! He was the most underrated pianist in the 1960ths because his technique and musical expression was toooooo perfect and not from this earth!!
I discovered this video only a few days ago.I play piano and listen to piano music from many years, but never found a interpretation like this one: deep, intimate and ripe, great colors and tone, but in function of the meaning and the structure.
I like Horowitz's interpretation better. I'm playing this piece, and I notice that Bolet takes it much slower, and some of the parts in the music that say forte, he plays piano. Also, the piano is a bit out of tune. But these are minor quibbles that fortunately don't mar a great performance. Bravo.
Worth remembering Liszt's original vocal version,equally poignant,and the poem beautifully translated into English by Sir Thomas Wyatt: " I find no peace,and all my war is done, I fear,I hope,I burn,and freeze like ice.
I soar above the sky,and am prostrate on the ground. I love another,I feed on pain.I cry and laugh.... Death and Life I hate alike. In this state I am ready for you."
He was one of about a half-dozen veterans who could convincingly bring Romantic music to life. He had a colossal technique that never was used for its own sake; at all times his playing was subtle, refined, elegant. He could summon great masses of sound when necessary, but like the great Romantic pianists he never pounded.
that´s the way this sonetto have to be played....and who tell you this is a liszt especialist. "Jorge Bolet" no more fire works this is a piece from a more mature liszt.
I like the version of Arrau I think both are "sublime" the version of Mr Horowitz is beautiful at the beggining but then he knock down the musicality with fire works.
I have frozen this and looked REALLY carefully on hi def monitor it IS a STEINWAY and almost at the end you can read it ! perhaps its prewar? also if you play the things you can always tell a steinway against a yamaha shame it wasnt a bosendorfer then wed have the best of it!
That way he gets the approval for his rightful praise for Bolet's masterful version and the disapproval of the unwarranted snipe at Horowitz, whose performance of this sonnet is no less beautiful.
Steinway. The proof is you really can see the logo. As for the sound, 99.9% of the time most people hear a Steinway, it is in a large open hall of some kind. This recording was done in a "listening room" so it has a "smaller, warmer, duller, more intimate" sound to it. That combined with the fact that it was recorded on analog tape (considering the date of performance) helps make it sound more "Baldwin" like too.
@tnmtemerity I stand by my first sentence in my last comment. Watch from 5:54-6:15 in 480p. You will see on the key cover "Steinway & Sons" with the Steinway Symbol just above it. Said proof.
@soulvacuum@soulvacuum I'm sorry, I see what looks like an artifact from the poor quality video but, I don't see a Steinway emblem and if it were they why wouldn't it be visble at the angle 1m in? the video anymore than I see a ghost. What Brand is the upright in my video? :-p
@tnmtemerity You should note that the logo you claim is an "artifact" from video compression does not move relative to the key cover and keys. As the camera zooms/moves to follow his hands the "artifact" remains in place. The "artifact" if not seen clearly can be noted to consist of a long word followed by a short word. (Yamaha) or (Steinway & Sons)?
This piano is a Steinway and can be seen at 5:37 to 5:47 (Steinway grands have a separate diagonal strut bolted to the plate).
But to be sure, an experienced piano technician can voice a piano to make it sound dramatically different - so we cannot assume the piano simply by its tone...
Whilst your comment about assuming a piano make simply by its tone is correct, in general most of the better pianos can be told by their tone regardless of voicing as some characteristics shine through regardless.
Technicians can voice a piano to make it sound dramatically different of course and whilst on that topic, it amazing how many badly voiced pianos we hear even in top recordings by top artists.
Voicing a piano is easy. Voicing it so it sounds sweet, is another story..
It is true that for many pianos (brands) one can sometimes guess their make simply by general characteristics (some are bright, thin etc..). But as a concert technician myself, I am assured that a given piano can be made to sound either bright or mellow, muffled or clear, powerful or weak, full of dymanics and sustain or completely devoid.
It is indeed a shame that so many recordings suffer from such poor piano care!
@lamorlayefrance I've never seen a Steinway with a Yamaha style interior rim like that and Steinway concert Grand fallboards have the part that cover the front of the keys on a hinge so that it doesn't protrude from the sides of the piano when it is open...
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
This performance is good for this gorgeous living room and fine atmosphere with people sipping enjoyably fine wine. Horowitz's performance is just great for enourmously big concert halls...
Since Listz wrote this in his late years, this song is more philisophical and meditating; contrasting colorfully to his early years. For this instance at least Bolet plays this piece in the correct context, whereas other pianists play this way too flamboyantly. Bolet is an excellent pianist and I just love his depiction of this petraca
I love Jorge Bolet too and I fully about his interpretation - it is unique and wonderfully serene.
But I must disagree about the time of writing. Liszt composed the three Petrach sonnets in the middle of 1840s and few years later, when he had already settled in Weimar, he revised them. When the final versions of these lovely pieces were published Liszt was not yet 40 years old.
My piano teacher was a student of Bolet. He now wants me to work this piece up. I hope i can play it half as well as Bolet. Best version on the web, hands down!
bravo!! I love this kind of mature, deep performances. Every single note is so clear and transparent. The 'pianissimo' at 6:42 is just fantastic. I suggest to complement this legendary version with the reading of the Petrarch's sonnet (134 in modern editions): Liszt's insight as reader and composer, and Bolet's extremely purified way of playing are amazing. The best version I've heard of this piece.
I never heard something so deep. Every single voices of this Sonetto in evidence in the right moment. So great performer. I think he goes over Horowitz and Arrau. Today there's a pianist who remind me him. He is Michail Pletnev
Bolet's playing of this piece bring tears to my eyes. Heard Horowitz version too but didn't do much for me. Really he was the greatest Liszt interpreter bar none. He always brought out beauty and poetry in Liszt's Music rather than just showing off the technical aspects. Anyone who criticizes Bolet's technique, let's see how well you'll play when you are his age when he recorded this. Even Horowitz had to slowdown as he aged.
There is a recording by Horowitz that I have on a cassette tape (cassette tape...lol). It has Au Bord D'Un Source and his version of Hungariah Rhapsody No. 2 on it as well. That tape features the most sublime performance of Sonnetoo 104 del Petrarca that I've ever know. I would still go with Horowitz, despite the fact that I like Bolet. Or perhaps Arrau's.
To hear Bolet at his best, you have to go to his earlier recordings. By the time he was recording these videos, he was already suffering from his illness. It was not just a matter of age. His rendition of Sonnet 104 on Decca (still available)is far more dynamic, well paced and nuanced. There is another version on an LP he did for Baldwin Piano Company, which is truly stunning.
This is Bolet the old man playing, not the young virtuoso. This interpretation is very deep and pensive -- he's going for an "other-wordly" place, and I think it is masterful. You must be able to hear it with your spirit.
Your point is well taken - I would not think to question Bolet's musicality - however...music is at least partly of this world as well - (not to be overly esoteric) - and I need, at least on some level, more rhythmic and melodic vitality in order to get to that place of the spirit - I need that link... But thanks, just the same, for your very meaningful insight!
While this is not bad I have a studio recoring by Bolet here that I think is far better than this one. Of the three versions you posted I'd go with Horowitz.
The best playing!More than Arrau even...And he also studied with a Liszt student:Moritz Rosenthal and with Josef Hoffmann,Anton Rubinstein¨s pupil...not just Arrau...I wonder why he is less known than other pianists not as good as him!
137uc14 1 month ago
Extraordinary expression! Incredibly moving.
sallyt8888 2 months ago
btw he played on Baldwin Pianos but in this Video its a Steinway!!!!
Will84ABA 2 months ago
He is an will always be my fav pianist of all time! He is so great, that people dont understand it! He was the most underrated pianist in the 1960ths because his technique and musical expression was toooooo perfect and not from this earth!!
Will84ABA 2 months ago
Superb playing.TY Sissco for posting.
paulostroff99 6 months ago
Bolet usually imparts the most emotional depth to whatever he is playing.
carlhopkinson 6 months ago
I discovered this video only a few days ago.I play piano and listen to piano music from many years, but never found a interpretation like this one: deep, intimate and ripe, great colors and tone, but in function of the meaning and the structure.
And the Chopin ballate 4 elsewhere...
Tears to my old eyes......
garix51 6 months ago in playlist pianoforte
I like Horowitz's interpretation better. I'm playing this piece, and I notice that Bolet takes it much slower, and some of the parts in the music that say forte, he plays piano. Also, the piano is a bit out of tune. But these are minor quibbles that fortunately don't mar a great performance. Bravo.
meiji274 7 months ago
Agree completely
eramireztmd 8 months ago in playlist CLÁSSICAS
awesome! His fingers seem to be very flat when he plays! oh well, it obviously works for him!! very well too
observer6mm 10 months ago
is that his house!?
dacorsua 1 year ago
absolutely masterful
programkill 1 year ago
@donaldcallen
Worth remembering Liszt's original vocal version,equally poignant,and the poem beautifully translated into English by Sir Thomas Wyatt: " I find no peace,and all my war is done, I fear,I hope,I burn,and freeze like ice.
I soar above the sky,and am prostrate on the ground. I love another,I feed on pain.I cry and laugh.... Death and Life I hate alike. In this state I am ready for you."
illyriato
illyriato 1 year ago
@illyriato wyatt came almost 300 years before liszt...
chiccolatxe 1 year ago
He was one of about a half-dozen veterans who could convincingly bring Romantic music to life. He had a colossal technique that never was used for its own sake; at all times his playing was subtle, refined, elegant. He could summon great masses of sound when necessary, but like the great Romantic pianists he never pounded.
figensco 1 year ago
that´s the way this sonetto have to be played....and who tell you this is a liszt especialist. "Jorge Bolet" no more fire works this is a piece from a more mature liszt.
I like the version of Arrau I think both are "sublime" the version of Mr Horowitz is beautiful at the beggining but then he knock down the musicality with fire works.
figensco 1 year ago
Amazing artist - every note counts!
jpbracey 1 year ago
Too bad, bolet was underated, even now horowitz, and arthur rubenstein keeps getting all the views, Bolet it's also a legend.
lesengir 1 year ago
@lesengir his playing is even so much better than horowitz's, in fact...
godelike 1 year ago
the poet speaks
88alan8800 1 year ago
This video of my Curtis Institute piano coach Jorge Bolet was filmed at the Rothschild Estate in Nice, France.
PAULanthonyROMERO 1 year ago
I have frozen this and looked REALLY carefully on hi def monitor it IS a STEINWAY and almost at the end you can read it ! perhaps its prewar? also if you play the things you can always tell a steinway against a yamaha shame it wasnt a bosendorfer then wed have the best of it!
billythedingo 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I also love the little bits he adds to the score; some octaves he adds the harmony in the RH, the 8vb bass at the end...
michanso2 1 year ago
I also love the little bits he adds to the score; some octaves he adds the harmony in the RH, the 8vb bass at the end...
michanso2 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Is that a Yamaha CF with the decal removed?
tnmtemerity 1 year ago
is that a Yamaha CF with the decal removed?
tnmtemerity 1 year ago
4.20 till 4.30...what a fantastic melody!great work, great performance...
stereotype19 1 year ago
Comment removed
stereotype19 1 year ago
Comment removed
stereotype19 1 year ago
Comment removed
stereotype19 1 year ago
Bolet and Cziffra - my favorite Liszt performers !
GMoralesRCflight 1 year ago
2:43 - 2:55 What a great idea to alternate the hands in playing the melody! This part was always very annoying to cross hands on.
Mattlzpf 2 years ago
bicker all you want about the very big instrument, he plays the piece as brilliantly as Liszt must have done...
taf7060 2 years ago
No cares to comment on the fact that this is not Chopin, as it was introduced at the start of the video? This is a piece by Liszt.
kjm777777 2 years ago
I now see that the correction quickly followed the Chopin comment with Bolet plays Liszt .... phew.
kjm777777 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
this is so boring interpretation. he is pathetic.
musikgeni 2 years ago
you are patetic
francocerri74 2 years ago 4
man!, hes damn good!
stagesix6 2 years ago 5
Bolet played on Bechstein pianos.
dido93 2 years ago
You are quite correct. I saw his last Carnegie Hall recital and he played a Bechstein. The only time I have heard a Bechstein played there.
AulicExclusiva 2 years ago 5
Such eloquence and logic in his interpretation - both lacking in Horowitz's obviously inferior version.
Haeronthegreat 2 years ago
I want to give you both a thumbs up and thumbs down for that comment but YouTube doesn't have that function.
acorntechnique 2 years ago 3
I'll give him the thumbs down for you.
That way he gets the approval for his rightful praise for Bolet's masterful version and the disapproval of the unwarranted snipe at Horowitz, whose performance of this sonnet is no less beautiful.
demosj 2 years ago 3
Thanks for your help.
Was on the phone to heaven today. Seems that Horowitz has been putting his time up there to good use.
He's taken up training with a brass knuckle duster and is looking for some deserving soul to practise with.
I put in a good word for Haeronthegreat, when his time eventually comes.
Horowitz can hardly wait....
acorntechnique 2 years ago
Supreme care and attention to detail = Bolet's playing.
Nobody play the Années de Pèlerinage suites as he did.
A true master of the piano.
acorntechnique 2 years ago 4
As Shakespeare might have said - F*CKING BRILLIANT!!
moogsource 2 years ago 25
Can't read the fallboard. Steinway? Not Baldwin I'm pretty sure.
aardvaark069 3 years ago
steinway !
elbartorowitz 2 years ago
You reckon?
your probably right as Steinways are so common place, though it doesn't really sound like a Steinway.
acorntechnique 2 years ago 2
Steinway. The proof is you really can see the logo. As for the sound, 99.9% of the time most people hear a Steinway, it is in a large open hall of some kind. This recording was done in a "listening room" so it has a "smaller, warmer, duller, more intimate" sound to it. That combined with the fact that it was recorded on analog tape (considering the date of performance) helps make it sound more "Baldwin" like too.
soulvacuum 2 years ago 2
@soulvacuum I'd bet $100 that is a Yamaha...
tnmtemerity 1 year ago
@tnmtemerity I stand by my first sentence in my last comment. Watch from 5:54-6:15 in 480p. You will see on the key cover "Steinway & Sons" with the Steinway Symbol just above it. Said proof.
soulvacuum 1 year ago
@soulvacuum @soulvacuum I'm sorry, I see what looks like an artifact from the poor quality video but, I don't see a Steinway emblem and if it were they why wouldn't it be visble at the angle 1m in? the video anymore than I see a ghost. What Brand is the upright in my video? :-p
tnmtemerity 1 year ago
@soulvacuum okay looking at it 4 times now looks like it could indeed say that - doesn't look like any Steinway I've seen otherwise though.
tnmtemerity 1 year ago
@soulvacuum okay looking at it 4 times now looks like it could indeed say that - doesn't look like any Steinway I've seen otherwise though.
tnmtemerity 1 year ago
@tnmtemerity yes, it clearly says Steinway and Sons at 4:13, with the emblem above it
Mattlzpf 1 year ago
Comment removed
tnmtemerity 1 year ago
@tnmtemerity You should note that the logo you claim is an "artifact" from video compression does not move relative to the key cover and keys. As the camera zooms/moves to follow his hands the "artifact" remains in place. The "artifact" if not seen clearly can be noted to consist of a long word followed by a short word. (Yamaha) or (Steinway & Sons)?
soulvacuum 1 year ago
Yeah, a Hamburg Steinway.
hachoi23 2 years ago 2
Steinway i am sure. Baldwin's have a woodier sound.
acorntechnique 2 years ago
Why has someone given me a thumbs down for my comment?
Baldwin pianos have a woody sound. That's what they're famed for!
acorntechnique 2 years ago 3
This piano is a Steinway and can be seen at 5:37 to 5:47 (Steinway grands have a separate diagonal strut bolted to the plate).
But to be sure, an experienced piano technician can voice a piano to make it sound dramatically different - so we cannot assume the piano simply by its tone...
lamorlayefrance 2 years ago 3
Whilst your comment about assuming a piano make simply by its tone is correct, in general most of the better pianos can be told by their tone regardless of voicing as some characteristics shine through regardless.
Technicians can voice a piano to make it sound dramatically different of course and whilst on that topic, it amazing how many badly voiced pianos we hear even in top recordings by top artists.
Voicing a piano is easy. Voicing it so it sounds sweet, is another story..
acorntechnique 2 years ago 3
You make some good points.
It is true that for many pianos (brands) one can sometimes guess their make simply by general characteristics (some are bright, thin etc..). But as a concert technician myself, I am assured that a given piano can be made to sound either bright or mellow, muffled or clear, powerful or weak, full of dymanics and sustain or completely devoid.
It is indeed a shame that so many recordings suffer from such poor piano care!
lamorlayefrance 2 years ago
@lamorlayefrance I've never seen a Steinway with a Yamaha style interior rim like that and Steinway concert Grand fallboards have the part that cover the front of the keys on a hinge so that it doesn't protrude from the sides of the piano when it is open...
tnmtemerity 1 year ago
Comment removed
tnmtemerity 1 year ago
It's notorious that Bolet did not play Steinways.
AulicExclusiva 2 years ago 3
genius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
satsatur 3 years ago
Beautiful performance!!!!
MillerMusicStudiosTV 3 years ago
best version ever!
justinneversleep 3 years ago
I agree this is lovely accurate playing - just the top #D/F at 6.46 jarred a little. The piano perhaps - or just hit a touch too hard.
bear940x 3 years ago
Just love the inwardness of this approach; nice contrast with his recording(s) of the piece...
kelleypb2008 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Extremely dull right from the beginning.
jero13595 3 years ago
Simply stunning!
Flawless playing and -GOOD LORD- what color and sentiment!
Can not be outdone!!!
OLD-SCHOOL-PIANO-PLAYING at its very best!!!
Similar to Wild, Brailowsky, Fiorentino and nowadays most likely Katsaris, Jandó; just to mention some.
Regards
charlesalkan 3 years ago 4
he is a genius, that knows what he´s doing
atlikatli 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This performance is good for this gorgeous living room and fine atmosphere with people sipping enjoyably fine wine. Horowitz's performance is just great for enourmously big concert halls...
katkula 3 years ago
He doesn't seem to dig into the keys, but rather to float above them. This was a masterful perfomance of this piano masterpice!
jjp009 3 years ago
<3 i love it
toalltheangels 3 years ago
Since Listz wrote this in his late years, this song is more philisophical and meditating; contrasting colorfully to his early years. For this instance at least Bolet plays this piece in the correct context, whereas other pianists play this way too flamboyantly. Bolet is an excellent pianist and I just love his depiction of this petraca
sunflower3600 3 years ago
I love Jorge Bolet too and I fully about his interpretation - it is unique and wonderfully serene.
But I must disagree about the time of writing. Liszt composed the three Petrach sonnets in the middle of 1840s and few years later, when he had already settled in Weimar, he revised them. When the final versions of these lovely pieces were published Liszt was not yet 40 years old.
Spiritakis 3 years ago
My piano teacher was a student of Bolet. He now wants me to work this piece up. I hope i can play it half as well as Bolet. Best version on the web, hands down!
siyahambe 3 years ago
Ele tocando parece até fácil.
Fedidovisk 3 years ago 3
Love the thempo.
Profitos 4 years ago 4
damn this is nice
qu33n410 4 years ago
thanks youtube, and Sissco. Bolet is neat!
jsthorne24 4 years ago
This so wonderful performance, now I have tears in my eyes. Thank you so much for posting it!
PavelPrebral 4 years ago
bravo!! I love this kind of mature, deep performances. Every single note is so clear and transparent. The 'pianissimo' at 6:42 is just fantastic. I suggest to complement this legendary version with the reading of the Petrarch's sonnet (134 in modern editions): Liszt's insight as reader and composer, and Bolet's extremely purified way of playing are amazing. The best version I've heard of this piece.
felipilloo1984 4 years ago 5
I never heard something so deep. Every single voices of this Sonetto in evidence in the right moment. So great performer. I think he goes over Horowitz and Arrau. Today there's a pianist who remind me him. He is Michail Pletnev
principecalaf 4 years ago 4
Bolet's playing of this piece bring tears to my eyes. Heard Horowitz version too but didn't do much for me. Really he was the greatest Liszt interpreter bar none. He always brought out beauty and poetry in Liszt's Music rather than just showing off the technical aspects. Anyone who criticizes Bolet's technique, let's see how well you'll play when you are his age when he recorded this. Even Horowitz had to slowdown as he aged.
CoolWJL 4 years ago 3
I second you on that. And LET US NOT FORGET, that at this stage in his life, he was also afflicted with the AIDS... that terrible terminal disease.
zkool5 4 years ago
There is a recording by Horowitz that I have on a cassette tape (cassette tape...lol). It has Au Bord D'Un Source and his version of Hungariah Rhapsody No. 2 on it as well. That tape features the most sublime performance of Sonnetoo 104 del Petrarca that I've ever know. I would still go with Horowitz, despite the fact that I like Bolet. Or perhaps Arrau's.
tcphilosopher 5 years ago
To hear Bolet at his best, you have to go to his earlier recordings. By the time he was recording these videos, he was already suffering from his illness. It was not just a matter of age. His rendition of Sonnet 104 on Decca (still available)is far more dynamic, well paced and nuanced. There is another version on an LP he did for Baldwin Piano Company, which is truly stunning.
ly776 5 years ago
This is Bolet the old man playing, not the young virtuoso. This interpretation is very deep and pensive -- he's going for an "other-wordly" place, and I think it is masterful. You must be able to hear it with your spirit.
PrinceYuca 5 years ago 2
Your point is well taken - I would not think to question Bolet's musicality - however...music is at least partly of this world as well - (not to be overly esoteric) - and I need, at least on some level, more rhythmic and melodic vitality in order to get to that place of the spirit - I need that link... But thanks, just the same, for your very meaningful insight!
lourak 5 years ago
Bolet is too focused on individual notes here. The performance lacks momentum and developmental tension.
lourak 5 years ago
True! Movement in the piece is very important.
katkula 3 years ago
What a romantic way to play Liszt...I love it...
As a music lover I must not agree with one of them in a profesional point of view....just love it...
egrosz 5 years ago
sweet golden tones...
rabbit787 5 years ago
I agree, Horowitz any time
danshorer 5 years ago
While this is not bad I have a studio recoring by Bolet here that I think is far better than this one. Of the three versions you posted I'd go with Horowitz.
denisbehr 5 years ago
very good
maxpayne123 5 years ago