Jorge in Latin America 1974-1984

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 Janeiro, Brazil

recital

26 September 1975

Teatro Coliseo, Buenos Aires (Argentina)​

Bach/Busoni, Chopin, Strauss and Wagner-Liszt.

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 Fantasy

30 September 1975 [?]

Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Liszt 1 and 2

1977

15, 16 January 1977

Jorge's date book notes rehearsals ("ensayos") in Caracas, Venezuela

14 March 1977

Teatro Tapia, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Haydn, Sonata No. 62 in E-flat major, Hob. XVI/52, Schumann's Carnaval Op.9 and Liszt (Petrarch Sonnets, Don Juan Fantasy).  

It looks as if his previous appearance on the island was way back in October 1958.

There was a tour of Central (and possibly South) America in July 1977. On Saturday 2 July, Bolet left for Mexico on AeroMéxico.  

8 July 1977

Palacio de Bellas Artes, México City

Haydn sonata in E flat major, Schumann’s Carnaval, Liszt’s Sonnetti di Petrarca and Don Juan fantasy.

11 July 1977 (a date of the 5th is also given)

Teatro Degollado, Guadalajara (Jalisco, Mexico) recital

(replacing an indisposed fellow Cuban Horacio Gutierrez)

In a concert during this week (beginning 3rd June; Mexico City), Jorge replaced Polish-British-Canadian violinist Ida Haendel (1928-2020) who had cancelled due to the death of her mother. 'In her place the Cuban pianist Jorge Bolet played Liszt's First Concerto.

The concert was with the Filarmónica de las Americas under Polish conductor Stanisław Skrowaczewski, and was completed with Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin [A csodálatos mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73 (BB 82)] and Tchaikovsky's fourth symphony in F minor.​ 

Jorge flew back on Saturday 9th to San Francisco. Was this flight (noted in his date-book) changed to accommodate the recital on 11th in Guadalajara? Or was the recital actually on the 5th?

November 1977 (?): Teatro Tapia, San Juan, PR

1978

In July 1978, there was a trip to Brazil for concerts.   He took an American Airlines flight on Monday 3 July at 8.30pm, arriving Tuesday morning in Rio de Janeiro.​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​6 July 1978

Sala Cecilia Meireles, Largo do Lapa, Rio de Janeiro

Funerailles and the 12 Transcendental Etudes

8 July 1978

Palacio Boa Vista, Campos do Jordão, Brazil

Liszt’s Consolations 1and 2, the B minor Sonata, Petrarch Sonnets 47,104 and 123 and Mozart/LIszt  Reminiscences , f Don Juan (as part of the Winter Festival) 

10/12 July 1978

Casa de Manchete/ Teatro Cultura Artistica, São Paulo, Brazil

2 recitals

On Thursday 13 July, Jorge flew on American Airlines flight 251 to Buenos Aires, Argentina, but does not appear to have played in that city in July [?].  

On Sunday 16 July, he flew on AA370 to Mexico City (masterclasses on 18, 20 and 21).  He presumably gave concerts; his date book mentions Tepotzotlán, 25 miles north-west of Mexico City.  

Jorge told Lisa Battle of The Columbus Ledger (6 March) that an impresario wanted to display his photography in concert halls during the Mexican tour.

12 November 1978

Mexico City, Mexico

Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto

Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México and Polish conductor Andrzej Markowski (Jorge had performed with Markowski in Poland in 1961). But the Baldwin piano had not been secured and crashed off the stage, so no concert.

1979

In June/July 1979, Jorge was in Argentina and Uruguay.  He flew on 18 June to Buenos Aires.  His date book mentions  repertoire (see below but also: Chopin, Barcarolle, Fantasy in F minor Op.49, Sonata No.3, Ballades, Rachmaninoff's third concerto and Weber's Konzertstücke)

​10 July 1979

Teatro Solís, Montevideo, Uruguay

21 July 1979

Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, Argentina 

(JB’s  only appearance in this fabled venue)

Bach/Busoni Ciaccona, Liszt's Sonata and his Transcendental Études 7, 6, 12, 9 and 8.

1980

A newspaper review dated 26 May 1980 (so concert earlier) of a concerto with Armando Krieger and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Sodre (in Montevideo, Uruguay)?

26 May 1980

National Theatre, Panamá City, Panamá

Recital

12 June 1980

Teatro Nacional, San José, Costa Rica 

Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op.58

Conductor Agustín Cullell

Heterofonía 70, México (July-September 1980) mentions that JB performed Liszt 1 and the Hungarian Fantasy in Mexico City with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional under Guatemalan conductor and composer Jorge Sarmientos 

1981

4 & 6 June, 1981

Sala Nezahualcóyotl., Mexico City

Brahms, Piano Concerto No.2 in B flat (?)

Enrique Diemecke and the Orquesta Filarmonica de le UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) 

15 October 1981 [originally 18th?]

Teatro Degollado, Guadalajara (Jalisco), Mexico

Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor Op. 18

Conductor: Hugo Jan Huss

20 November 1981

Teatro Nacional Eduardo Brito, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Mendelssohn, Schumann, Schubert & Liszt

In El Caribe (12.11.1981), Lamela Geler stated that Jorge visited Santo Domingo 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.

1982

Jorge's itinerary states that 1-15 June 1982 had been reserved for Mexico.  His date book notes a flight from New York to Mexico City on 31 May 1982.

5/6 June 1982

Lima, Peru?

7/6 June 1982

Santiago, Chile?

12 June 1982

Teatro Solís, Montevideo, Uruguay

Liszt, Concerto No. 2 in A major & the Hungarian Fantasia

Brazilian conductor Isaac Karabtchewsky & the Sodre Symphony Orchestra, the national orchestra

15 June 1982

São Paulo, Brazil

*On 16th he flew from Brazil to New York.

13 November 1982

Sala René Marqués of the Centro de Bellas Artes, San Juan (Puerto Rico)

Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor Op. 18

Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico/ John Barnett

Cristobal Diaz writing in El Mundo 7.11.82 recalls an unforgettable night at the Teatro Tapia in November 1977, which seems to be when he last heard Bolet in San Juan, or it may be the last time JB performed in the city. 

1983

14 /16 June 1983

Teatro Municipal, Santiago de Chile,  Chile

Rachmaninoff, Concerto No. 3 in D minor Op.30

Juan Pablo Izquierdo and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago

There's some confusion as the season schedule lists Tuesday and Thursday 14/16 June 1983 as conducted by Franz Paul Decker; the Rachmaninoff is there but it's framed by Hindemith's Mathis der Maler symphony and Richard Strauss's Rosenkavalier Waltzes.  Indisposition?

23 July 1983 (Saturday)

Arequipa, Peru

Schumann, Fantasiestücke

Brahms, Handel variations

Liszt, Petrarch Sonnets & Hungarian Rhapsody No.12

*Birthplace of Peruvian author and Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa (1936-2025)

25 July 1983

Lima, Peru

Orquesta Sinfónica de la Escuela de Música/ Peruvian conductor Armando Sánchez Málaga 

29 July 1983

Cine-Teatro Embaixador, Gramado (Rio Grande do Sul), Brazil 

Schumann, Fantasiestücke

Brahms, Handel variations

Liszt, Petrarch Sonnets & Hungarian Rhapsody No.12

30 July 1983

Gramado (Rio Grande do Sul), Brazil

Schubert's Trout Quintet [?] with cellist Peter Dauelsberg and violinist Viktoria Mullova 

31 July 1983

Gramado (Rio Grande do Sul), Brazil

Brahms 2

Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre, presumably under Eleazar de Carvalho

1984

Claudio Arrau returns to Chile, May 1984 

Arrau made a 15-day tour of his homeland Chile, arriving on Thursday 10 May, after a 17-year absence. On Friday 11 May, there were rehearsals with conductor Juan Pablo Izquierdo and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago at the Teatro Municipal, whilst anti-government street protesters clashed with police forces resulting in one 18-year-old dead and 170 arrests. 

In June 1984 there was a tour (?) of South America; Jorge Bolet flew from San Francisco to Miami on 1 June and then on LAN Chile LA141 to Santiago.

5 June 1984

Teatro Municipal, Santiago, Chile

Liszt 1 & 2 [?]

Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago/ Simón Blech (1924-1997, Polish-Argentinian)

11 June 1984

Teatro Cultura Artística, São Paulo (rua Nestor Pestana 196), Brazil

Rachmaninoff, Concerto No. 2 in C minor Op.18

Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado/ Eleazar de Carvalho

13 June 1984

Porto Alegre, Brazil

19 June 1984

Lima, Peru