In February 1960, Jorge, in response to a question during an interview with Ruth Lafranz in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA - "What does it take to be a concert pianist?" - replied: 'It takes talent - you must have that. But it also takes the patience of Job, the strength of an elephant, the cunning of a fox and the tenacity of an ant.' Well, his patience and tenacity paid off, and he finally made his début in Belgium in 1988. He told a newspaper (De Standaard, 25 May 1988) tha

19 May 1944 Presidential Room of the Statler Hotel, Washington, D.C. 'Jorge Bolet of the Cuban Army and Pfc. [Private First Class] Erno Valasek [24 year old violinist from Cleveland] of the United States Army Air Forces Band this evening.' Fior the benefit of the American Red Cross. Featured will be Raymond Gram Swing's Fantasia quasi una sonata (in only its third performance). Present will be Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt, Mrs Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, the Cuban Ambassador Au

Lipscomb University is a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Photo at reception after Jorge Bolet's recital 20 November, 1961.

1914 Born Havana, Cuba on 15 November to Antonio Bolet Valdés and Adelina Tremoleda de la Paz. c.1925/1926 Aged about nine or ten, Jorge played in the old-fashioned salon in Havana of Mrs Amelia Solberg de Hoskinson. 1926 13 August: first of two benefit concerts for the young Jorge in the Teatro Principal de la Comedia (organised by Maria Jones de Castro) 1927 4 September: second of two benefit concerts for the young Jorge in the Gran Teatro Nacional, Havana. Organised by Am

While looking Jorge's tour of Spain and Portugal in May 1962, I came across this: "Recently, the Murcian painter Ignacio López welcomed the American collectors Tex Compton and Jorge Bolet to his studio in Alcantarilla. Their purpose was to acquire some of his most recent works, several commissioned by the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Mr Robert McNamara, and to simultaneously arrange an exhibition of the artist's work in California." Linea (Murcia, Spain), 23 May 1962 Ignacio

Cidade de Santos (São Paulo), 21 June 1981 An interview with pianist João Carlos Martins Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 28 by the Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera. The work was commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation and was completed in 1961. It was first performed by the pianist João Carlos Martins and the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Howard Mitchell in Washington, D.C., on April 22, 1961. "Foi em 60, quando a esposa do professor Kliass - o grande mestre de

Diário do Pará, the largest newspaper in the northern region of Brazil, based in Belém, Pará. Its Sunday edition of 24 November 1985 carried a review of Liszt volume 5 (Années de Pèlerinage: Suisse S.160) for Decca. Quando certa vez perguntei a Hélio Gaspar, o excelente pianista paraense, qual o pianista da atualidade que lhe causava mais admiração, ele respondeu sem pestanejar: o cu- bano Jorge Bolet. E arrematou: gostaria de tocar como ele. Quem sou eu para contradizer o He

2 February 1978 "It was in the second half of the seventies that I asked Jorge to give a recital in my home town Bilthoven [a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht], part of the municipality De Bilt (Netherlands). Jorge agreed and the concert was arranged by the cultural department of the Town Hall. "The concert was part of a tour, including Amsterdam, of Jorge playing the new Bechstein EN. So the tour was joined by Ulrich Adam, artist representative for Bechstein. (Later

On 8 June 1989, JB gave his last public recital (in Berlin, Germany) Mattheus Smits has sent me a photo of the last page of the schedule with a note: "As you can see on this itinerary the last performance of Jorge with an orchestra was Rachmaninoff's third concerto in Herford and Paderborn. The conductor was Alun Francis. The performance was recorded and broadcasted by WDR. "I was not able to attend but my good friend Hans did. Jorge told him that he had just come from Cana

Thomas Sauer, a professional musician who is also on the music faculty of Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, New York) and of the Mannes School of Music (NYC), has generously offered some memories of his time with JB at Curtis. Thomas Sauer's personal website link The first thing to note is that I arrived at Curtis at age 16 with a limited repertoire, having played the piano for seven years. In other words, very green. In no way was I deserving of a place in Mr. Bolet's studio.

Jorge Bolet's agent at Columbia Artists from the 1960s onwards Nelly Walters died in October 2001 aged 100, after 70 years in the business; flowers and cards arrived in from celebrities across the world for her birthday in January. She was an integral part of the history of CAMI, retiring only in 1997. Born in Germany, she grew up in Dresden; in Berlin she worked for the Otto Mertens agency - his son André would later become her boss at CAMI in New York. She had begun alre

Brazilian/American pianist Francisco Rennó, a student of Bolet at Bloomington, Indiana, wrote to me c.10 years ago, and I've always enjoyed his letter. ‘I first met Jorge Bolet in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1974 at the Teresa Carreño International Piano Competition, where I was one of the competitors and he served as chairman of the jury. Bolet was one of two people who made it possible for me to leave behind the impoverished conditions of my native Brazil, come to the US to ac

Makoto Ueno has generously sent me some memories of his time studying with Jorge Bolet at Curtis. See also here for part 2. Professor Makoto Ueno [b.1966, Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan] left his home town at the age of 16, to study in the West, first at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he became one of the last six students of Jorge Bolet, then continued at Mozarteum Salzburg with Hans Leygraf. In addition to being a performing and recording artist, since 1996 he

1 minute video I've just come across this film footage from Japanese TV of The Mikado in August 1946, Tokyo, Ernie Pyle Theatre. You get a tiny glimpse of the back of Jorge Bolet's head.

My thanks to Francis Crociata for recently sending me the original version of a Rachmaninoff anecdote concerning Josef Hofmann Rachmaninoff calling Hofmann the best pianist in New York. I think you were actually referring to a 1931 exchange of letters between SVR and JH first published in the Bertenssen and Leyda Rachmaninoff biography: In the meantime more compliments passed between the two greatest pianists. Josef Hofmann addressed a letter to “Premier Sergei Rachmaninoff”

"It has been a long time since we have heard in Lima a pianist of Bolet's stature." 9 June 1982 Auditorio, Colegio Santa Ursula, Lima Mendessohn, Fantasy in F minor Op.28 Schumann, Fantasy in C major Op.17 Schubert/Liszt, 5 Lieder (Auf dem Wasser au singen, Der Müller under der Bach, Der Lindenbaum, Aufenthalt, Erlkönig) Liszt, Mephisto Waltz Jorge's only recital that year in Lima, Peru, a recital arranged in association with Baldwin Pianos (Los Zorzalas 140, San Isidro, Lim

10 July 1979 Teatro Solís, Montevideo, Uruguay 30th anniversary of SODRE (Servicio Oficial de Difusión, Representaciones y Espectáculos; Official Service for Broadcasting, Performances and Entertainment) in con junction with the Embassy of the USA Liszt's Sonata, Funerailles and his Transcendental Études 7, 6, 12, 9 and 8. (JB's first appearance in the country) ​El País (Montevideo): Inimitable style. He is a gigantic man, and possesses a musical and pianistic talent that is

Mexico City, June 1982. Sala Nezahualcóyotl., Mexico City Franck, Symphonic Variations Rachmaninoff, Variations on a theme of Paganini

A newspaper review dated 26 May 1980 mentions a concerto with Armando Krieger and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Sodre (in Montevideo, Uruguay). It featured Uruguayan composer. León Biriotti's Symphony No. 3, "in memoriam Lauro Ayestarán" and Jorge playing Rachmaninoff 3 This score, which is important, dates back some 12 years (1968) and is only now being considered. The symphony, over 20 minutes long, masterfully utilizes rhythms and sound textures (it features a very rich percu

El Comercio (Lima, Perú), 23 July 1983 Jorge Bolet's second visit (after 1982) to Peru and the The City of Kings, Ciudad de los Reyes. Monday 25 July 1983 in the Auditorio Santa Ursula, Lima. He had arrived in Lima on Monday 18th at 5:20am. There were orchestral rehearsals on 20 and 22. This was a dangerous time to be in Peru. ​Sendero Luminoso, a notorious terrorist organisation, was orchestrating a brutal campaign for against the country. 23 July 1983 (Saturday) in Are