Pianist Charles Rosen (b.927) recalls… At age 11 he left Juilliard to study piano with Moriz Rosenthal (1862-1946) and with Rosenthal's wife, Hedwig Kanner. They had settled in New York from Austria in 1938, following the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. (Peter Sühring suggests they left in 1936. “The Rosenthals emigrated to the USA relatively early; many of their Jewish colleagues did not do so until 1938 following the Anschluss.”) Rosenthal studied with Karol Mikuli (during 1872-74), a pupil of Chopin, and later with Franz Liszt. he first met the composer in October 1876 in Vienna, and he studied with the Master during the period 1876 to 1878 and from 1884 to 1886. 'Before he commenced studies with Liszt, Rosenthal toured Poland and Romania where the fourteen-year-old boy was made court pianist to the Romanian royal family. While studying with Liszt in Rome and Weimar he was sometimes fortunate enough to be the only student, receiving Liszt’s sole attention.' (Jonathan Summers) Liszt left no significant remarks about Rosenthal‘s playing during the classes 1884-1886. For example after Rosenthal played the Chopin Barcarolle on June 20, 1885 August Göllerich wrote that the Master said Rosenthal took “a fairly fast tempo”. Göllerich wrote nothing after Rosenthal played Liszt, Au bord d'une source. In general, the playing of his pupils provided an occasion for Liszt to make important pronouncements about the art of the piano - an art that he ultimately felt could not be taught. Though Jorge Bolet was not impressed with his five lessons in Vienna in 1935 with this celebrated pupil of Liszt - and a legendary pianist in his own right-, Charles Rosen has a more favourable impression. In spite of, his immense reputation for caustic remarks about other pianists ("Now you have the tempo, you can put in the thirds" was his comment on one of [Vladimir]de Pachmann's less successful salon renditions of Chopin's Etude in thirds"), he was a very kind and generous man. In fact, during all that time, he rarely told me that I was wrong about something in the music: "I have a different idea of this piece, he would say gently". He almost never discussed technique with me, in spite - or perhaps, because - of his formidable reputation as a technician. Josef Hofmann once said that he did not know what piano technique could be until he heard Rosenthal. Rosenthal went for long walks with Brahms and often spoke about him. About his studies with Liszt, he was more reticent: when I asked him what the lessons were like, he said only that it was difficult to get Liszt out of the café and back to the studio. (This may be in conflict with another reminiscence of Rosenthal: 'In Tivoli, near Rome. . . I was fortunate to be his only student and to receive daily instruction in the autumn of 1878. Every afternoon I appeared at the Villa d'Este, where I found the master composing either in his study or sometimes on the terrace, where he was gazing forlornly into the blue. The glowing Roman autumn, the picturesque beauty of the area, the Master's noble instruction - all these things blended into an ecstasy which I still feel today.' Editor's note) On one occasion, when I played the Handel variations of Brahms for him, Rosenthal stopped me in the middle of the 17th variation and asked, "Why do you get faster here?" "It's written più mosso" I replied. Rosenthal got up, walked to the piano and looked at the music, and then said: "Brahms let me play his music any way I liked and I'm afraid that I abused the privilege. You are quite right." I still find that kind of courtesy of a distinguished 80-year-old man to a 14-year-old student incredible and even more revealing is the respect for the integrity of the text from one who had been so free with it. His interpretation of Chopin's mazurkas corresponds to accounts of Chopin's own playing. He did not impose upon them a Viennese, waltz rhythm, as many other pianists tend to do, even Polish ones. He did sometimes systematically double the value of one of the beats throughout the phrase, making 4/4 measures, and contemporaries of Chopin claimed that the composer played his mazurkas that way. Moriz Rosenthal in Word and Music: A Legacy of the Nineteenth Century Mark Mitchell, Allan Evans Indiana University Press, 2005 Rosenthal made his remarks about the lessons in Tivoli in an article written on the occasion of the centennial of Liszt's birth and published in Die Zeit, Berlin. Where did Rosenthal live in Vienna when Jorge Bolet studied with him? A letter dated 2 June 1924 gives Wien XVIII, Anastasius Grün 38 as his address [Anastasius-Grün-Gasse 38, 1180 Wien (Währing)]. Mattehus Smits tells me that in his files he has another address, which I think may be the correct one: Wohllebengasse 11 Wien. Letter from composer Moriz Moszkowski to Henri Hinrichsen, dated 13 April, 1902, from Paris: Would you be so kind as to have the following compositions of mine sent to Mr. Moriz Rosenthal (Wohllebengasse 11, Vienna) and Mr. Josef Lhévinne (Bayreutherstr. 10 [c/o Fr. Silber], Berlin)? To Rosenthal: Caprice espagnol / Suite Op. 50 / Scherzo-Valse Op. 40 / Frühling/ Etude in D major Op. 48. To Lhévinne: Suite Op. 50 / Scherzo-Valse from *Boabdil* / La Jongleuse / Bagatelles Op. 63 / Etude in D major Op. 48. The two gentlemen mentioned have asked me to send them pieces that I consider suitable; and since both have always enjoyed great success in concert with my compositions, it would seem appropriate to fulfil their requests. Some of Rosenthal's activities during the year 1935 when JB met him - he may actually have met him previously, as MR taught as a faculty member of Curtis in Philadelphia from 1926 to 1928. On 28 February 1928 Moriz Rosenthal gave a recital at Curtis which Jorge probably heard. His programme included Beethoven's Sonata No. 30 Op.109 in E major, Schubert's Wanderer Fantasie, Chopin's Barcarolle, Albeniz's Triana (from the Iberia Suite) and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. 12 March, 1935: Musikverein, Vienna, Austria Beethoven, Piano Sonata No.28 in A major, Op.101 Brahms, Variations on a Hungarian Song in D major, Op.21 No.2 Schumann, Novelette in D major, Op.21 No.2, Vogel als Prophet, Op.82 No.7 (from Waldszenen), Traumeswirren, Op.12 No.7 (from Fantasiestücke) Rosenthal, Variations on an original theme Chopin, Nocturne in F minor, Op.55 No.1, Ballade No.3 in A-flat major, Op.47, Etude in G-sharp minor, Op.25 No.6, Etude in C minor, Op.25 No.12 Debussy, Reflets dans l’eau (Images, Book I No.1) Liszt, Tarantella, S.162 No.3 (from Venezia e Napoli) 24 March 24, 1935: BBC’s Studios [?], London, England (Studio Radio Broadcast |) Chopin: Piano Sonata No.3 in B minor, Op.58 – III [incomplete] This was part of a 45 minute programme Rosenthal gave for the BBC. The recorded excerpt comes from a private individual who had just acquired a home disc-cutter and recorded two sides of the broadcast to test his equipment. 29, 31 March 1935 Abbey Road Studios (Studio 3), London, England (Studio Recordings ) Chopin: Nocturne in E-flat major, Op.9 No.2 Chopin: Etude in F minor, Op.25 No.2 Chopin: Etude in A-flat major, B.130 No.2 (from Trois Nouvelles Études) Chopin: Mazurka in A-flat major, Op.50 No.2 Chopin: Etude in G-flat major, Op.10 No.5 21, 23 November 1935 Abbey Road Studios (Studio 3), London, England (Studio Recordings) Chopin: Waltz in A-flat major, Op.42 Chopin: 24 Preludes, Op.28 o No.6 in B minor o No.3 in G major o No.7 in A major Chopin: Mazurka in A-flat major, Op.50 No.2 Chopin: Mazurka in G major, Op.67 No.1 Chopin: Mazurka in B minor, Op.33 No.4 Rosenthal: New Carnaval de Vienne (on themes by J. Strauss II) (Source of recordings: Christian Johansson).

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. 7 July 1977 Palacio de Bellas Artes, México City Liszt 1 [+Bartok, Miraculous Mandarin & Tchaikovsly 4] Filarmónica de las Americas/ Stanislaw Skrowaczewski 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. 19 July 1978 UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, Mexico City Recital [Musica de Camera] by "Georges Bolet" (El Universal 's description!) 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. ​​ On Monday 31 July he flew at 10:30am from Mexico City to JFK Alternatively, another date books lists: 6 July 1978 Sala Cecilia Meireles, Largo do Lapa, Rio de Janeiro Funerailles and the 12 Transcendental Etudes 8 July 1978 São Paulo, Barazil 9 July 1978 Flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina 10 July 1978 Lima, Peru or Buenos Aires 11 July 1978 Leave for Mexico 12 July 1978 Tepotzotlán 30 Jul 1978 arrive back in U.S. 12 November 1978 (Sunday, 12 noon) Teatro de la Ciudad, Mexico City Rachmaninoff 3 [+Lutoslawski, Shostakovich] 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. 14 November 1978 Sala Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico City Rachmaninoff 3 Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México/Andrzej Markowski (also cancelled?) 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 Konzertstück) ​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 and Transcendental Études 7, 6, 12, 9 and 8; Funerailles. (JB's first appearance in the country) 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 31 May 1980 discusses 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. See here for mixed review. 26 May 1980 National Theatre, Panamá City, Panamá Recital 30 May 1980 Palacio de Bellas Artes (?), Mexico City, Mexico Liszt 1 (+ Wagner, Berlioz) Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional (OSN)/ Sergio Cárdenas 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 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. Is this 30 May? 12 June 1980 Teatro Nacional, San José, Costa Rica Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op.58 Conductor Agustín Cullell 1981 3 May 1981 (Sunday, 12 noon) Sala Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico City Chopin, Barcarolle, Fantasy in F minor Op.49, Schumann, Carnaval, Liszt Sonetti del Petrarca 104 & 123, Dante Sonata 5 May 1981 Sala Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico City Brahms, Concerto No 2 in B flat Op.83 (also Moncayo, Tierra de temporal and Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 4) Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM/ Armando Zayas 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. 4 & 6 June, 1982, [6th Sunday at 12 noon] Sala Nezahualcóyotl., Mexico City Franck, Symphonic Variations Rachmaninoff, Variations on a theme of Paganini Enrique Diemecke and the Orquesta Filarmonica de le UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) Saturday, 5 June, in the Palacio de la Antigua Escuela de Medecina: Mendelssohn, Fantasie in F sharp minor, Op.28 "Scottish" 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 9 June 1982 Auditorio, Colegio Santa Ursula, Lima Mendessohn, Fantasy in F minor Op.28 "Scottish" 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, Lima) "It has been a long time since we have heard in Lima a pianist of Bolet's stature." El Comercio 13.6.1982 c.10/11 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 Auditorio Santa Úrsula, Lima, Peru C. Franck, Symphonic Variations Rachmaninoff, Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op.18 Orquesta Sinfónica de la Escuela de Música/ Peruvian conductor Armando Sánchez Málaga Brazil (July 1983) The organisers of the II Gramado International Festival, which will begin on the 1st of next month, are encountering the same difficulty faced last year: a lack of resources. Of the Cr$ 200 million requested from the Ministry of Education, for example, only Cr$ 15 million were released. Even so, maestro Eleazar de Carvalho, its creator, is enthusiastic about the event, for which more than 500 music students have already registered, and which will feature 13 foreign musicians and another 12 Brazilians, to the point of stating that in 1985 he will create another festival, in the same format, in Fortaleza. Eleazar de Carvalho, conductor of the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra, organizer of the festival, invited important names such as the Cuban Jorge Bolet, one of the best pianists in the world... From Brazil itself, for example, Arnaldo Cohen, Magdalena Tagliaferro, Temo Jacomi and Marcos Barbero will be present. With the exception of Bolet, the invited musicians will also act as professors of the chamber music, instrumental music, percussion instruments and applied theoretical subjects seminars. The festival is similar to the Berkshire Musical Center in Tanglewood, Massachusetts, USA, where Eleazar studied. Ultima Hora (Rio de Janeiro, 27 June 1983) 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 ["Die Forelle"] Quintet in A major D.667, with Telmo Jaconi, Miguel Mutuberria, Dennis Parker and Milton Masciadri. 31 July 1983 Gramado (Rio Grande do Sul), Brazil Brahms 2 Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre, presumably under Eleazar de Carvalho 3 August 1983 Lima, Peru Schumann, Fantasiestücke Brahms, Handel variations Liszt, Petrarch Sonnets & Hungarian Rhapsody No.12 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, 7 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 12 June 1984 Teatro, Casa da OSPA, Avenida Borges de Medeiros 1501, Praia de Belas, Porto Alegre, Brazil Rachmaninoff 2 and Paganini Variations Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado/ Eleazar de Carvalho 19 June 1984 Lima, Peru

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 material importante y difícil escrito para el piano.' (Known mostly in Europe and the United States, since his forays into Latin America have been few, his repertoire is made up of all the important and difficult material written for the piano.) 1936-39 We are told of recitals/concerts in the Caribbean and in Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republica Dominicana during 1936-39 1946-47 After his discharge in September 1946, Bolet began to tour Mexico, Central America, the West Indies and South America. The tour began on 22 September 1946 and would keep him busy until mid-December. He had been flown back from Japan (where he had conducted The Mikado, August 1946) at the request of Columbia Concerts. He also gave frequent performances in Havana - solo recitals and concertos with the Havana Philharmonic. ​ Musical America noted that Bolet was again on tour in Mexico and Cuba in February 1947. ​The Gazette and Daily (York, Pennsylvania, 2 June 1947) reported that Jorge had 'recently returned from a Latin American tour which took him as far south as Guatemala and included a 10-week radio engagement in Mexico City.' 29 January 1947 Teatro Capitolio [1925; on Calle Arzobispo Meriño], Ciudad Trujillo (present day Santo Domingo) Dominican Republic Mozart's Fantasy & Fugue in C major, Beethoven's Les Adieux, Franck's Prelude Choral and Fugue, a suite (1940) by Norman dello Joio and his Prelude For A Young Musician (1944); Liszt's Mephisto Waltz. Columbia Concerts and Sociedad Musical Daniel announce a season [March 1947- February 1948 ] including Jorge Bolet, Tito Schipa etc. (La Nacion, Costa Rica, 7 January 1947) ​ [El Imparcial was a major daily newspaper active during the 1940s in Guatemala: British Library MFM.MF1384] April 1948 JB seems to have been engaged to give concerts in Bogotá, Colombia during an Inter-American conference in April 1948 but these had to be cancelled due to the political situation. July 1948 Mexico? The Sioux City Journal 26 September 1948 announces JB is back in the USA after tours of Canada and Latin America ​ 11 March 1949 Teatro Degollado, Guadalajara, Mexico Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with Leslie Hodge and the Guadalajara SO. 27 April 1949 Havana incl. Piano Sonata in A minor, D 784 (Schubert) and Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 8 in B♭ major, Op. 84. We are told in a newspaper report of this concert that Jorge will make his first appearance in the Teatro de Bellas Artes, Mexico City. On 4 December 1949, the San Angelo Standard (Texas) states that 'Bolet comes to San Angelo from a seven-month tour of Latin America and Canada. He performed with Erich Kleiber and the Havana Philharmonic and presented 12 half-hour radio programs from Mexico City with the symphony under Jose Sabre Marroquin.' 1950 Fresh from an engagement (3 concerts) in Caracas, Venezuela - mostly likely in the Teatro Municipal, arranged by the Asociación Venezolana de Conciertos; he had flown back on February 14. Jorge performed Rachmaninoff 3 with Howard Mitchell in Constitution Hall, Washington DC on Wednesday 15 February 1950. October 1950 Teatro San Jorge/Teatro de Colón (?), Bogotá, Colombia (Sociedad de los Amigos de la Música) *Advertised, but it looks as if he didn't appear, to judge by a handwritten note beside his name in one of the programmes. Could be due to the political situation at that time: Bogotá was gripped by La Violencia, a brutal decade-long civil war. 7 November 1950 Cine Victoria/ Victoria Theater, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua (Mexico) Recital 1953 Early in the new year, Bolet had been on tour in Central America/Caribbean. A passenger manifest shows that he arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 7 February 1953 on Pan Am World Airways flight 204 from Caracas, Venezuela (Maiquetia, the airport south-east of the city); his ultimate destination was San Francisco. 3 February 1953 Teatro Municipal, Caracas, Venezuela Concerts in honour of José Martí (b.1853), who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the liberation of his country from Spain. Beethoven [Andante favori ?], Brahms [Intermezzo Op.119 No. 3 in C , Rhapsody Op.118 No. 4 in E flat] , Liszt's Sonata & Mephisto Waltz, Chopin [7 Preludes & Ballade No. 3 in. A flat] and Rachmaninoff 6 February 1953 Teatro Municipal, Caracas, Venezuela Schumann, Concerto Rachmaninoff, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela/ Ángel Sauce 1955 A report in The New York Times, 26 May, 1955 informs us that ‘Jorge Bolet, pianist, leaves today by air to play a series of eighteen concerts in Brazil and Argentina'. 30 May 1955: Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro Recitals were then given in the Teatro Cultura Artistica, São Paulo on 31 May/1 June. ​ Other destinations in Brazil included Porto Alegre. In Argentina, Jorge appeared first in Buenos Aires. The Asociación Wagneriana had organised his recital at 9:45pm on Monday 6 June at the Teatro Broadway, 31 May/1 June 1955 Teatro Cultura Artistica, São Paulo (Brazil) Other destinations in Brazil may have included Porto Alegre 6, 7 June 1955 Teatro Broadway, Avenida Corrientes, Buenos Aires (Argentina) Jorge added "Gato" (1940), a lively, syncopated dance by an Argentinian composer Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000) to his programme, for a bit of local colour. The Latrobe Bulletin (3.10.1955) said that he played both orchestral and recital engagements. Jorge may have performed in Córdoba and Rosario (El Círculo), the next two most populous cities in Argentina. Other cities may have included: ​ San Miguel de Tucumán (Teatro General San Martín), Bahía Blanca (Teatro Municipal), Asociación Cultural de Bahía Blanca, Mendoza (Teatro Avenida [1926-1988]), La Plata (Teatro Argentino), Mar del Plata (Teatro Auditorio). The Key West Citizen, 20 March 1957 noted that after this present season finished in May, there would be concerts in South America during the summer. 7 October 1958 Theatre of the University of Puerto Rico, San Juan PR. Haydn (Sonata No.62 in E-flat major, Hob.XVI:52), Franck (Prélude, choral et fugue [1884]), Chopin (4 Scherzos). [22 November 1959] Mexico? Or mention of the Liszt film? El Porvenir

ChatGPT analyses thus: The two pages appear to be U.S. Army administrative records concerning Lt. Jorge Bolet in 1946. Their purposes are different: Document 1 (3 August 1946) Purpose: To authorise and coordinate Lt. Bolet's separation from the Army and return transportation home. Key points: States that Lt. Bolet must be separated from the Army or aboard transportation returning home by 31 August 1946. Notes that authority exists to retain him until the required approval is obtained. Authorises air travel and provides the applicable Air Priority Request (APR) reference. In short, this document is a personnel movement/order dealing with Lt. Bolet's discharge and travel arrangements. Document 2 (22 August 1946) Purpose: To request and record an official performance (efficiency) rating for Lt. Jorge Bolet before his reassignment or separation from service. Key points: Issued by General Headquarters, United States Army Forces, Pacific. Titled "Check Sheet". Requests the completion of a WD AGO Form 66-1 covering Lt. Jorge Bolet's service from 1 July to 30 August 1946. States that the rating is needed because of a reassignment of the officer (that box is checked). Instructs that the completed evaluation be returned in a sealed envelope. In short, this is an administrative personnel action to ensure Lt. Bolet's official performance evaluation was completed before his transfer or departure. Overall context Together, these documents show the Army processing the end of Lt. Jorge Bolet's military service in the Pacific in mid-1946: Travel and separation were being arranged (3 August 1946). His final performance evaluation was requested and completed as part of the administrative out-processing (22 August 1946). Source: Bolet, Jorge Lt (Document name: GHQ/SCAP Records, Assistant Chief of Staff, G-II = Documents of the Second Section of the General Staff, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers) (Section/Department: Public Safety Division) (Series name: General File, 1946-50) (Box number: 280; Folder number: 16) Accessed from: The National Diet Library (NDL) (国立国会図書館, Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan), Japan

Carlos DuPré Moseley's (1914-2012) remarkable career with the New York Philharmonic lasted from 1955 to 1985. He rose to become Managing Director (a post now referred to as Executive Director), President, and Chairman of the Board. Moseley presided over the Bernstein-Boulez era at the Philharmonic, during which the orchestra cut an uncommonly bold and unpredictable profile. He was an elegant, courtly man, whose South Carolina accent probably fooled more than a few Easterners into underestimating his intelligence and savoir faire. He was, above all, deeply musical, a pianist of considerable skill; while studying at the Berkshire Music Center (now Tanglewood), he played Brahms's fiendishly difficult Second Piano Concerto, under the direction of the young Bernstein. Moseley died today at his home in Spartanburg, South Carolina, at the grand age of ninety-eight. (Alex Ross) The New York Philharmonic's 125th Birthday was officially marked with celebrations on December 7, 1967. Jorge Bolet was one of the many esteemed guests invited.

A very incomplete list. Feel free to add to it, using the Contact page. Jacobs School of Music, Bloomington, Indiana Francisco Rennó (Brazil) Gary Thor Wedow Glenn Winters (1970-76) Ira (Philip) Levin (1976) Andrzej Ratusiński (Starachowice, Poland) Curtis Institute, Philadelphia Meng-Chieh Liu (Kaohsiung, Taiwan) Ira (Philip) Levin (1977- ) Ju Hee Suh (Seoul, South Korea) Makoto Ueno (Japan) see here Thomas Sauer (USA) see here Anthony Padilla Graydon Goldsby Wonmi Kim (South Korea) Gustavo Rivero Weber (Mexico) Károly Mocsári (Hungary) 1984-86 Ira Levin (b. Chicago, 1958). At Indiana University in 1976, he began to study with Jorge Bolet; he then went on to Curtis, and after graduation became teaching assistant to Mr. Bolet. Studied with JB (privately) Teresa Escandon Henry Lowinger Panayis Lyras (Panaghis Lykiardopoulos [1953-2025], Athens, Greece) A selection of students from masterclasses Hélène Grimaud Barry Douglas (Northern Ireland, UK) José Feghali (Brazil, 1961- 2014) Kathryn Stott (UK) Philip Smith (UK) Marc-Antonio Barone (USA) Wolfgang Manz (Germany) Andrzej Ratusiński (born 9 November, 1949 in Starachowice, Poland) is aPolish pianist living in Germany. He studied from 1968 to 1973 at the Academy of Music in Warsaw with Margerita Trombini-Kazuro . He continued his studies with Vladimir Horowitz , Artur Rubinstein , and Jorge Bolet . He received prizes and awards at the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano (1973) and the Pyotr Tchaikovsky International Music Competition in Moscow (1974). In 1982 he moved to Germany. In 1990 he was appointed professor at the State University of Music and Performing Arts (Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst) in Stuttgart , where he taught piano. In addition to his teaching work, he performs on concert stages with orchestras including the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande , Wiener Symphoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker with a classical repertoire, as well as works by Polish composers from Chopin to Lutosławski and Penderecki.

I've used ChatGPT to improve the quality of a charming photo from the Diario de la Marina, 16 June 1929. (I asked for the second attempt to be glossy!). I feel he's actually aged 12 here, and that the newspaper not using a recent photograph.

28 February 1936 (Jorge Bolet age 21) Salón Novedades, Pamplona, Navarra (Spain) Recital incl. Chopin's Sonata No. 3, Beethoven, other works of Chopin, de Falla, Rachmaninoff. ​​ La Voz de Navarra (26.2.1936) mentions that in Vienna Julius Isserlis (1888 – 1968), a pianist and composer born in Kishinev, Russian Empire (now Chișinău, Republic of Moldova), had marvelled at Bolet's phenomenal technique, his powerful and beautiful touch, captivating rhythm, and his impeccable performances. Moriz Rosenthal is quoted as describing his superb technique which encompasses everything, and his extraordinary musical gifts. Julius Isserlis had studied composition under Sergei Taneyev (1856-1915), a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of composition, music theorist and author, known for combining romantic harmony with strict classical counterpoint. A student of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, he became a legendary teacher at the Moscow Conservatory. Isserlis arrived in Vienna in 1923 with his wife and son, never to return to the Soviet Union again. In the Austrian capital, he was in touch with other Russian émigrés; Nathan Milstein and Josef Lhévinne are among those known to have visited him during this time. At the Anschluss in 1938, Isserlis, fortuitously, was on tour in Britain. He was granted British residency, and was soon joined there by his wife and son. Isserlis's three grandchildren, Annette (baroque? cello), Rachel (violin) and Steven (cello), are all professional musicians. Oresteia (1895): an ambitious opera based on Aeschylus; Taneyev considered this his masterwork. Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 30 (1911) Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 12 (1898) John of Damascus, Op. 1 (1884) Taneyev’s academic achievements led Tchaikovsky to say that “he is the best counterpoint master of Russia and I am not even sure that there is his equal in the West.”

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 extraordinary concert; we witnessed the birth of a new Jorge Bolet. The Chopin that Bolet had offered us at Pro Arte a few months earlier had already prepared us for this discovery. Sunday's concert fully confirmed it. Cuban art and culture have gained extraordinarily with this change, with this aesthetic maturity of our young instrumentalist. The "gallery," the public of cheap, spectacular emotions, has lost. The overall result, in the end, is positive. (La "galería", el público de las emociones espectaculares baratas, ha perdido. El resultado del balance, a fin de cuentas, es positivo.) Bolet had accustomed us to an external art, of "fireworks": to an art without intimacy, without communion His was a showy, brilliant, mechanically perfect way of playing, that style already classified in history as "virtuosic." A Bolet concert was a concert by a technical wizard: a concert where a Mozart came out battered and a Liszt resplendent. But, fortunately, a miracle occurs. With the years, maturity arrives and the child prodigy suddenly becomes a musician. Bolet played magnificently on Sunday. But that adjective could, in a way, be applied to his previous style. By describing his work as "magnificent" we go beyond perfect technique, limpid mechanics, and muscular agility. We arrive at the truly musical, at total dedication, at the exquisite, fin-de-siècle interpretation of Mozart's Rondò, the profound expression of Beethoven's Rondò, the mystical and passionate nature of César Franck. We would never have believed Bolet capable of playing a Mozart lin the way we heard on Sunday. A Mozart where total surrender, disdain for pugilistic and external technique, the gentle and intimate encounter with the soul of the work, made us forget time, people, the physicality of the Teatro Nacional and made us forgive, wholeheartedly, the "little artistic crimes" that the Bolet of yesteryear might have committed. The greatest revelation came with Beethoven's Sonata. Bolet once again gave himself body and soul to that marvellous music, perhaps one of the most magnificent of Beethoven's middle period. The Adagio sounded with that measured poetry that only the greatest interpreters can give to Beethoven's slow movements. But it was in the finale where Bolet's interpretation reached such heights that his version of this Sonata became a classic in its genre. Pianists of Gieseking's calibre have accustomed us to a frenetic Allegretto, where virtuosic speed is completely out of place in that precious final movement; a movement where the voices sang their message in full, without haste. The performer can feel content: Beethoven must have blessed him that morning from on high. Franck's "Prelude, Chorale and Fugue" sounded intensely dramatic and at the same time serenely religious. This is a work of great stature by Franck, full of obstacles for anyone who confronts it. Bolet emerged triumphant from the difficult test, although the Beethoven we had just heard still hovered too insistently in our spirits to fully do justice to the old Franck. The second part of the recital was nowhere near as good as the first. Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words" added nothing to the glories Bolet had won in the first part of his programme. They sounded as they always do: good and nothing more The name Strauss-Godowsky at the end of the program saddened us greatly from the moment we looked at it. After hearing the Mozart, the Beethoven, the Franck that Bolet offered us, it seemed unbearable. It's a shame that a concert of that calibre had to end so poorly performed. Mozart at the beginning; Godowsky at the end. No, Jorge Bolet, you no longer need to end a concert like that. You can end it with that Prokofiev Sonata that you play so well. You are a true musician now.

Jorge replaced an indisposed Claudio Arrau sometime in April 1983 but I cannot fit it into the chronology yet. Bonn, West Germany: Beethoven Spring Festival, April 1983 Claudio Arrau was born on 6 February, 1903, in Chillán, Chile celebrated his 80th birthday in 1983. Dieter Schüren wrote in Die Welt (28 April 1983): 'Because the 80-year-old Claudio Arrau suddenly withdrew from the Bonn Beethoven Festival, the spring cycle began a day late and with Jorge Bolet at the piano as a replacement.' Failed at the Appassionata Sometimes you have to say B instead of A. Because the 80-year-old Claudio Arrau suddenly withdrew from the Bonn Beethoven Festival, the spring cycle began a day late and with Jorge Bolet at the piano as a replacement. The American of Cuban descent, also already 70 years old, shouldn't consider himself a substitute, however: he will open the second round of the Beethoven celebrations in September as usual, even if this first evening might have reinforced existing doubts as to whether Bolet is really the right man for Beethoven So it began in the Beethoven Hall [Beethovenhalle] with B for Bolet, not for Beethoven. Beethoven was hidden away with a shy/timid Appassionata [mit einer schüchternen Appassionata] in a programme featuring Brahms and, above all, Liszt. Of course, such a confrontation of the genius with his and our contemporaries, and much in between, is programmed in the chamber music series, and also in the September programme, yet the organisers probably did not envisage the opening night being quite so revealing: presumably for the first time, such a jubilant celebration for Bonn’s great son was heralded by the jingle of Liszt’s rhapsodies. [Vermutlich zum ersten Mal ist solche Jubelfeier für Bonns großen Sohn mit Lisztschem Rhapsodie-Geklingel eingeläutet worden] The Appassionata was really not Our Man from Havana's forte. Rarely is it played so far removed from its title, and only in the final Presto does Bolet seem to have come to his senses again, but then suddenly with a furious fervour that one had been missing until then. Up to that point, he had played the F minor Sonata rather too monumentally, too statically, indeed too impassively, and the variation structures in the Andante had also been rather indistinct. His artistic biography now also shows Bolet to be a virtuoso of comparatively pure blood/lineage [Seine künstlerische Vita weist Bolet nun auch als Virtuosen vergleichsweise reinen Geblüts aus]. Recordings of Brahms' Handel Variations or Prokofiev exist, but above all also of Liszt's operatic Paraphrases: there's nothing dishonourable about them; Arrau also performed them, but he would certainly have played the Appassionata more grandly, more vehemently, more thrillingly in Bonn. The way one has often heard him play it. Brahms' Handel Variations formed the beginning, Liszt's B minor Sonata and 12th Hungarian Rhapsody came at the end, and then Chopin encores, including the great A minor Etude Op. 25, No. 11: Bolet demonstrated virtuosic stamina throughout, here quite competently leafing through Brahms's piano compendium and there mobilising Liszt's cimbalom effects. But something else also stood out: the Sonata in B minor naturally demands the utmost in virtuosity with its frenzied octave runs, yet it is not a virtuoso piece. If the genius of the hands cannot be translated into intellectual fire, then something is missing that Bolet's somewhat dry virtuosity fails to deliver. Aber etwas anderes fiel auch auf: Die h-Moll-Sonate verlangt natürlich das Außerste an Virtuosität in ihren rasenden Oktavgängen, aber ist doch kein Virtuosenstück. Wenn sich da nicht die Genialität der Hände in geistiges Feuer um-setzen läßt, dann fehlt etwas, was Bolets etwas trockene Virtuosität nicht liefert. Dieter Schüren

Nice to be reminded of the first recital in whcih I heard Jorge Bolet, January 1985 In the Daily Telegraph, Anthony Payne - English composer, music critic and musicologist, best known for his acclaimed completion of Edward Elgar's third symphony -wrote:

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 Municipal Theatre provided a beautiful romantic experience. It was headlined by Liszt's Concertos, performed by pianist Jorge Bolet and conductor Simón Blech, with perfect mutual understanding. ‘A virtuoso par excellence, Bolet possesses a dazzling technique, with exquisite clarity of phrasing, and he is formidable in the thunderous power of his octaves. With poetry and passion, he conveyed the composer’s message, which, as the printed reviews by Mariana Silva so aptly put it, ranges ‘from dreamy tenderness to glittering heroism’. ‘Blech did a superb job with the orchestra, bringing out the brilliance of the original instrumentation. Ever alert, he worked in unison with the soloist to capture the thematic and spiritual unity of both works. In No. 2 (A major), which was performed first, the solos by the oboe (Daniel Vidal) and cello (Jorge Román) were particularly striking. ‘The pianist’s dazzling technique and the rock-solid rapport between him and Blech were equally impressive in the melodic sweetness and graceful flight of No. 1. Here, apart from the brass and percussion, the concertinos and the clarinet stood out. In the piece added to the programme, Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 15 No. 2, Bolet once again displayed an enveloping musicality and delicacy.’ Federico Heinlein Federico Heinlein Funcke (Berlin, 1912 - Santiago, 1999), was a Chilean composer and journalist. In Buenos Aires, he had worked between 1935 and 1940 as an assistant to Fritz Busch and Erich Kleiber at the Teatro Colón. From 1954 he was music and dance critic for the newspaper El Mercurio. Sansón León Júpiter Blech (Warsaw 1924 - Buenos Aires1997) Wikipedia (with sources) has an interesting note which involves an Argentine music journalist Jorge D'Urbano who was critical of Jorge Bolet. ‘In 1956, the dictator Pedro Eugenio Aramburu appointed Jorge D'Urbano, until then an unknown show business entrepreneur loyal to the regime (un desconocido empresario de espectáculos adeptas al régimen), as administrator of the Teatro Colón . D'Urbano dismantled the Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ballet, provoking a reaction from the musicians' union and the orchestral faculty association. This led to the biggest conflict in the theater's history, causing its closure during 1957. [ Sáenz Quesada, María (2007). La Libertadora. Buenos Aires. Editorial Sudamericana. p. 446 ] ‘The appointment of the new director was seen as a sign of the favoritism prevalent in Argentine culture during the Aramburu dictatorship. He closed the main hall and forced men under 50, artists, to begin their retirements prematurely. It also forced dozens of members of the Orchestra into exile in neighboring countries and Europe, along with musicians and conductors, including Blech, who, due to his career, managed to go into exile in Santiago, Chile in November 1955. [La Historia del teatro Colón: 1908-1968, tomo II, Roberto Caamaño, Buenos Aires : Cinetea, 1969] ’In 1995 he commissioned the Argentine composer Gabriel Senanes to write "Hercules in the Perfumery" (Hércules en la perfumería), which was dedicated to him and premiered by Blech himself and the National Symphony Orchestra on June 7 of that same year.’