Jorge Bolet - Ambassador Auditorium Recitals [CD], Jorge Bolet, CD

The two recitals in this collection come from the lastdecade of Jorge Bolet's career. While his CarnegieHall recital from 1974 was recorded and releasedby RCA, very few other live performances of Boletrecorded under professional conditions have beenreleased commercially. This archival recording giveus a wonderful opportunity to hear Bolet performingfor an audience - something he preferred to workingin the recording studio. Bolet was a strict, controlledand serious musician who could sometimes soundemotionally constrained in his studio recordings. Onoccasion though, he would give a recital performancethat transcended his studio work with everythingseeming to fall into place, and this first concert from11 November 1981 has that quality to it. Bolet wasevidently on form as he gave five encores to anenthusiastic audience.The two Preludes by Chasins do not appear in Bolet'scommercial discography.Located on the campus of Ambassador College inPasadena, California, the 1262 seat AmbassadorAuditorium was a major West Coast concert hallbetween 1974 and 1995 presenting around 2,500concerts, and attracted the greatest instrumentalistsand orchestras.