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Jorge Bolet, in spite of his massive technique and impeccable musicianship, did not, early on, have as big a career as one might have expected. But in 1974 he mounted an unusual recital at Carnegie Hall that brought him to greater attention, and a few years later he recorded a large Liszt series to general acclaim. It was that latter series that put him on my own pianistic radar screen, and he remained a favorite.

This 2-CD set, part of the Philips 'Great Pianists of the 20th Century' collection, contains a live recording of that landmark 1974 recital. The main substance in that recital was a traversal of the Chopin Preludes. There are other complete Preludes in the Philips collection, those of Argerich, Arrau, Cherkassky and Cortot. I wouldn't want to be without any of them (except perhaps those of Argerich; for all her élan, she is too much the speed merchant for my taste). Of all these sets, Bolet's is the least idiosyncratic. Considering they are 'live,' they are amazingly clean. But more important, they are somewhat understated, unfailingly songful, and not showily virtuosic, although they are actually somewhat faster overall than Arrau's or Cherkassky's.

The other pieces in this set are primarily beautifully shaped encores and transcriptions, specialities of Bolet throughout his career; his program-building was often reminiscent of that of the Golden Age masters like Lhevinne, Friedman and the like. I particularly liked the Bach/Busoni Chaconne and Moszkowski's bijou, La jongleuse.

I agree with the previous reviewers. This issue is a must-have. This concert brought about a sudden revival of Bolet's career and listening to this set makes it easy to understand why. While he revisited Chopin's Preludes later in a sonically superior recording, this rendition is among the very best available. Bolet was in great shape that evening, just pull out the Rubinstein score and you will never dare to touch a piano again. Most memorable, however, is Bolet's interpretation of Liszt's Tannhäuser Paraphrase. Whenever I listen to it, I get the feeling that Bolet also paraphrases JFK in stating: Ich bin Tannhäuser. Get this disc, but don't stop there. Move on to his 1980s Liszt cycle on Decca. This is simply the best series of Liszt's music currently in the catalogue.

"Banga-banga-banga"? Nope, not even close! I've played the Chaconne and the Tannhauser myself, so I know what's in them and what Mr. Bolet accomplished with them. THIS is a GREAT recording.

The program recorded here is nothing less than heroic. Beginning with a definitive rendition of the J.S. Bach-Ferruccio Busoni Chaconne in D minor and establishing at that moment that this recital is something truly special, Cuban pianist Jorge Bolet then launches into the complete twenty-four Chopin Preludes, Op. 28. Commanding virtuosity and keen sensitivity to the music distinguish this offering of the Preludes, and the sold-out Carnegie Hall audience erupts with a standing ovation at the end - unusual given that the recital was only half over at that point.

After the intermission, Mr. Bolet returns to the stage to conclude the concert with no less than four different piano transcriptions of other composers' works. This was a courageous program for anyone to book, given the predominant view of the time that transcriptions were quaint at best and a disservice to the composer's music at worst. Jorge Bolet proved that night that the Art of the Transcription was alive and well and worthy of serious attention.

The first two offerings of the second half of the recital were Sergei Rachmaninoff transcriptions of Fritz Kreisler's Liebesleid, and Liebesfreud. To say these were warmly received by the always-critical New York audience is an understatement, and in fact the entire recital was marked with vocal ovations after the conclusion of each offering.

Bolet then began Adolf Schuz-Evler's Concert Arabesques on Johann Strass Jr.'s "On the Beautiful Blue Danube". This work is very rarely heard. There's a reason for that. Only an artist with equipment enabling him to exercise complete and confident mastery of the piano has any business attempting to perform the Concert Arabesques in recital and Mr. Bolet showed himself to be much more than up to the task by released pent-up forces from within that bowled over the audience with scintillating filigree passages and showers of octaves, always rendered with absolute clarity, seemingly with no effort required, all of which worked up everyone in attendance into an absolute frenzy at the Danube's conclusion.

And still Jorge Bolet wasn't done, for he then offered the final work on the formal program: the supremely difficult Richard Wagner-Franz Liszt "Tannhauser" Overture. Many pianists have tried to master this literal transcription of Wagner's music. None of them of which I know has reached the standard set by this performance. Mr. Bolet throws caution to the wind here. The opening chords are quiet and stately and the keen listener who knows the original Wagner Overture finds himself distinctly hearing the horns of this one-instrument orchestra pronouncing the main theme over the strings fill-in. The middle section with its demonically challenging runs and octaves come off with a grand flourish, and the finale is rendered with dazzling virtuosity accompanied by a majestic tone the likes of which is rarely heard, while avoiding the pounding and thumping that so often plagues performances of the "Tannhauser" by other artists. Here, truly, one finds an example of what real pianism is like.

Of course after such a triumphant performance, there was no way the audience was going to let Jorge Bolet get away without encores, and they're here in this recording, too. The first was Moritz Moszkowski's La jongleuse, from the Etudes, Op. 52. The second on this recorded set was the "Staccato" Etude in C, Op. 23 No. 2 by Anton Rubinstein. Neither one fails to please, not by a long shot, and Mr. Bolet eventually has to literally leave them screaming for more.

This 2-cd set is part of Philips "Great Pianists of the 20th Century" series. Very simply, if one had the choice of only one live performance to ever own, this is the one to get.