Speaking in 1974 to Russell Harty

I'm a bit late to this as the article was published in November/December 2014 in International Piano . However... Jeremy Nicholas, who wrote a biography of Godowsky, recalls Jorge Bolet. Here's an extract. Though it would be presumptuous of me to describe him as a friend, I got to know him quite well in the late 1970s. Thereafter, he would invariably phone to tell me when he was in the country and I made sure I saw him after all his UK recitals. One memorable evening, I thi

Jorge Bolet, September 1975, Teatro Coliseo, Buenos Aires. (Newly added to website) After Brazil, Jorge played in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Diario Crónica 26 September 1975 announces that at 9:30pm that evening, Friday, Sociedad de Conciertos de Buenos Aires  'presents the sensational pianist in a “marathon programme” of Bach/Busoni, Chopin, Strauss and Wagner-Liszt.  The venue is the Teatro Coliseo (on Marcelo T. de Alvear 1125) in the Retiro neighbourhood.  (The Coliseo

Mattheus Smits recalls: 'After finishing my professional music education in Holland, I decided to continue my piano studies with a private teacher. Thanks to his son Erik Ligtelijn, I came in touch with Johan Ligtelijn who taught privately in Amsterdam in his house next to the Concertgebouw.  After finishing his pianos tudies in Amsterdam, Johan Ligtelijn had studied with Walter Gieseking in Hanover and later in Wiesbaden. Johan Ligtelijn also studied privately with the Liszt

After leaving music conservatory [in Utrecht], I continued my piano studies in 1972 with the Dutch pianist Mr. Johan Ligtelijn, who had studied with the Liszt student, Frederic Lamond (who taught for some years in Holland) and with Walter Gieseking.  Mr. Ligtelijn told me the Marx concerto was the best new concerto Gieseking had laid his hands upon.  Gieseking played many new concerti: Pfitzner, Petrassi, Trapp and of course the two works by Marx.  (I regret he never played t

Jorge Bolet's recital in Windhoek, South West Africa was actually on 2 February, not 6th, so there is some mixup in his datebook.  The Windhoek Advertiser (16.1.76) reported that there was a strong possibility theatre-goes would boycott the recital of the 'Cuban pianist' as they felt strongly about Cuban involvement in Angola 'and seem to resent the fact that a Cuban pianist is going to appear in the Windhoek Theatre.  In an interview this morning Dr E Grobbelaar, Director o

In Clarín , 25 July, 1979, Jorge D'Urbano - who had reviewed Jorge's first appearance in Argentina in June 1955 - wrote: 'Jorge Bolet is a virtuoso pianist.  This does not mean, in any way, that he lacks musicality.  But his specific definition is that of a virtuoso, that is, capable of mastering the piano so completely that everything else fades into the background.   He is capable of true pianistic feats, and has to his credit that these seem not to be a process  at all, as

Jorge Bolet's only appearance in the fabled opera house in Buenos Aires was on Saturday, 21 July 1979. The programme consisted of Bach/Busoni  Ciaccona, Liszt's Sonata in B minor and his Transcendental Études 7, 6, 12, 9 and 8. The Colón was performing an early opera by Verdi,  I due Foscari (premièred on Tuesday 17th - it had first been performed there in 1850).  The Argentinian paper of record La Nación seems not to have carried a review of JB's recital (so far as I can s

I've been looking at The Rhodesia Herald in the British Library. Quite a hard-hitting, critical review. Having now to get used to reading microfilm, which I've only used a few times before.   The Rhodesia Herald (13 February) had a short article expressing surprise that TWO visiting pianists should be giving recitals within 7 days of each other.   'Most promoters would try to avoid such near-clashes if possible.'  (Israeli pianist Joseph Kalichstein was the other.)  This i

12 & 17 October 1971 Philharmonic Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City. Jorge mentions a brief lapse of memory on the conductor's part, which frightened him. Full details added to the relevant page. Oliver Daniel in his biography of Stokowski has this as taking place in Carnegie Hall (p.866).  Bolet mentions that the conductor has a lapse during the first of the two concerts.  'The last movement of the concerto has a middle section which is briefly introduced by the orchestr

Various reports of JB’s South African tours on 1973, 1976 and 1980 from the Afrikaner newspaper  Die Transvaler  have been added.