Despite the title, Liszt's 12 Transcendental Studies are not all bravura display. Four (or five) of the pieces are much more in the nature of intimate meditation, and it is in these that Bolet excels. I have rarely heard a more beautiful performance of ''Ricordanza'' (No. 9), with its speaking melody, its exquisitely delicate decorative detail, its spacious climax—all infused with a deep, inner repose. Bolet's finely nuanced, floating cantabile and subtle keyboard orchestration of separate melodic strands are an equal joy in ''Paysage'' (No. 3) and ''Harmonies du soir'' (No. 11). For ''Vision'' (No. 6) he finds an exceptional intensity and grandeur, and though I'm sure ''Eroica'' (No. 7) needs tauter march rhythm, his searching approach is infinitely preferable to mere bravado.
The disappointments come in the more demonstrative numbers, for all of which he chooses a very cautious tempo. ''Mazeppa'' (No. 4) and ''Wilde Jagd'' (No. 8) are the most obvious examples. Not even for a moment in either did I feel my pulse quickening in the excitement of the ride—and not just because of tempo. Both need more vivid projection in terms of dynamic contrast and arresting keyboard colour. As for the untitled Nos. 2 and 10, I felt that Bolet was constantly playing for safety in the former at the cost of its caprice, and was all too prepared to sacrifice the urgency of the latter in the interests of finesse. Despite exquisite delicacy and control of detail in ''Feux follets'' (No. 5) and ''Chasse-neige'' (No. 12), in both of these, too, and especially in the climax of the latter, I was aware of a certain reluctance to throw a cap to the winds.
For comparison all the way through I unearthed an old, now unobtainable Lazar Berman Melodiya LP version, which though lacking Bolet's poise, both emotional and technical, is much more dramatic. Bolet has a rock-like stability. But Liszt, whose life was larger than life, needs temperament too. Bolet's Decca recording is more contained than Berman's, with less (though still a trace) of an occasional metallic edge in treble range fortissimo. This is helped, though not entirely removed, by the extra fullness and richness of the Compact Disc.'