In hosting Jorge Bolet, the Schwetzingen SWR Festival concert series presented a pianist who was renowned as one of history’s great Liszt interpreters. However, the gentleman from Cuba’s success in interpreting Liszt goes beyond the purely technical virtuosity; his playing is imbued with a noble sense of design rather than pure pianist pyrotechnics. So Bolet opened this evening from Schwetzingen 1988 – two years before his death – with a rarely performed work: Mendelssohn‘s Prelude and Fugue Op. 35.1. In his reading of Liszt's “Norma reminiscences” – a piece mastered by only a few virtuosos – Bolet convincingly gives life to the opera’s characters using a purely instrumental voice. And that this super-virtuosic program includes pieces by Leopold Godowsky should come as no surprise; Godowsky was the young Bolet’s mentor in Philadelphia. Simply put, this CD offers an exceptional concert by a virtuoso, whose personal modesty made him the ideal servant of the music.