7 May, 1950 Teatro Nacional, Havana Recital incl. Beethoven's Sonata in D minor ("Tempest"?), Franck, Prelude, Chorale et Fugue & some Mendelssohn, ending with Strauss/Godowsky "El Murciélago"(Fledermaus Waltzes) Diario de la Marina, 11 May 1950 Jorge Bolet Reveals Himself as a Virtuoso in His Full Maturity The brilliant pianist played Chopin as few have managed to do in his recent concert *A spirited review by Nena Benítez Last Sunday, May 7th, in the morning, we attended an

Santiago , Chile: 5 & 7 June 1984 (Jorge had previously performed in Chile on 14 and 16 June 1983. Claudio Arrau had returned to Chile after a long absence in May 1984.) Romantic Programme Teatro Municipal, Santiago, Chile Liszt , Concertos 1 & 2 Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago/ Simón Blech (1924-1997, Polish-Argentinian) The British Council is one of the sponsors of the concerts, but I don’t know why. ‘The eleventh performance of the Santiago Philharmonic at the Municipa

I sent David a link to the video of his performance with Jorge on 9 November 1988 (see previous post, link below) and he has sent me this appreciation. As with other contributions from students and friends of Jorge, I feel privileged to be able to add David's to this website, not least because he worked - albeit for a brief moment in time - with the pianist. ‘Thanks, Douglas, for sending this. I didn’t even know it existed until you mentioned it. So, it was a live performance

Professor Makoto Ueno, Kyoto City Unversity of Arts Your inquiry made me look back again and think about the Curtis days in the 1980s. At one time, I felt some doubt about the way JB taught. My former teacher in Japan criticised me a lot after listening to me at the end of 1984. (I had gone back to Japan for the first time in two and a half years) At one stage, I obtained permission from JB to study with Mieczysław Horszowski, for several lessons. Bolet was away a lot, of

I have visited the exquisite city of Bath a number of times over the last 30 years, but only this time (July 2026) did I happen to know about Jorge's connection, which I uncovered not so long ago. On Monday 5 June 1989, The Gloucestershire Echo announced 'Today. Jorge Bolet: a piano recital at the Theatre Royal Bath, Somerset; part of Bath International Festival.' This was his final performance in Britain, and it took place in the famous city of honey-coloured stone, a spa

Jorge Bolet Ambassador Auditorium Recitals The 3 CD set is now available for purchase from First Hand Records or your usual source. Exciting times!

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

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

This is an extensive and detailed account of Jorge Bolet during his three visits to Japan in the years 1946, 1976 and 1988 but it also examines the wider picture of his career at these times. Comments, corrections and additions are most welcome. Use the contact box (unless you already have my email).

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

During a tour of South America in 1983, Jorge had two dates in Peru. He admited that some countries he visited were politically unstable and sometimes dangerous. However he also mentioned to his friend Mattheus Smits that these countries were known for having attentive audiences of some highly cultured people. I am aware of the general situation in Peru at this time, but I recently looked at the specific political situation in July 1983. and it was grim I need to confirm

Latest upload on YouTube, always to keep Jorge's name in view

This list does not include Cuba. See also 1974-84 In El Caribe (12.11.1981), Lamela Geler stated that Jorge visited Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) in the early 1950s and played in the Teatro Olimpia, under the auspices of Sociedad Pro Arte. Now he gives a second recital in Santo Domingo. She goes on to state: 'Conocido mayormente en Europa y los Estados Unidos, ya que sus incursiones en América Latina han sido escasas, su repertorio está constituido por el total del ma

This list does not include Cuba. See also 1936-58 1974 In late 1974, Jorge was one of the judges on the Concurso Latinoamericano de Piano Teresa Carreño in Caracas, Venezuela. He made a number of concert appearances in Caracas. 1975 17 September 1975 São Paulo, Brazil Recital 19 and 21 September 1975 Teatro Municipal de São Paulo, Brazil Rachmaninoff's Paganini Variations OSESP (Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo) under Gerard Devos ​ 23 September 1975 [?] Rio de Ja

My trawl through Jorge Bolet's concerts has clarified a number of issues. It looks as if it was in the mid-1970s that he introduced two new and substantial works to his repertoire. I could have missed earlier mentions but it may be that someone can explain how he came to these two works, especially the Reger which has high rarity value. 29 September 1975 Teatro Coliseo, Buenos Aires (Argentina) incl.Chopin's Sonata No. 3 in B minor Op.58 and the Mozart/Liszt Don Juan Fantas