Search this site

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.’

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 course, concertizing, and once back in town he gave lessons every day, and students had to offer new pieces for every lesson. And no systematic pedagogy. I think he was capable of teaching in a methodical way, but he didn’t. Recalling his instruction, the phrases most often heard were: Sing! Never hit the key. Press the keys! Keep the tempo! Actually “singing beautifully in time” is the most important and essential part of piano playing. Also, he was quite precise about the length of the notes. Nowadays, especially with younger generation playing brilliant Steinways, people tend to cut notes short more often, releasing notes early and let the notes last with the pedal, so that one gets a sharper and edgier (but not a warm, lasting) sound. Of course this is just a generalisation. That kind of technique can be used when we need some orchestral effects in wide registers and in hyper-polyphonic pieces, especially in case of bell effects…but not very often with many classical and early romantic works, and seldom with Bolet. Always, he was well dressed in the lessons , often with brownish suede leather sport jacket with a tie. But I once saw him dressed very casually (of course tidy enough) in the streets. He was walking to a 7-Eleven store, between his apartment and Curtis, wearing jeans and flannel shirt. Also, he was always wearing a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner, which looked very good with him in the lessons. He played a lot in the lessons instead of talking. In other words, he was an old type of pianist/teacher. He smoked while playing, so that we students often became worried…that the ash would fall down onto the keys or drop onto his trousers. At the beginning of my four years' training with him, I had to expend so much energy on learning English. Further, getting used to the new environment and everything else was not easy, so my piano lessons suffered and did not go so well for months. I think he was very disappointed at the beginning. But toward the end of the year, when I brought the Chopin fourth Ballade, he was starting to look at me in rather a better way. In addition to the pieces that I mentioned in the last email, I remember that I took lessons with him on Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy, Chopin's Concerto No. 2, and Polonaise-Fantaisie Op. 61, Grieg's Ballade, Beethoven's Sonatas Op. 2/3 in C, Op. 7 in E flat, Op. 31/1 in G major, Op.31/3 in A flat, Op.90 in E minor, Op.109 in E major. Bartók's Suite, Brahms Op. 117, etc. Only in the last year did I dare bring Rachmaninoff's 3rd Concerto. I remember Bolet was present and listening to the lecture which [Romanian conductor Sergiu] Celibidache gave during his visit to Curtis in 1984. I also remember when I brought a quintet (it was either Schumann or Dvořák), JB was very happy to listen to all the string players and was telling us that all (the) string players are better than (the) pianist(s), implying that my playing was bad compared to their playing! I understand it now. After the lesson, my friends among the string players were sorry for me... I would like it very much to be known that I am forever grateful and thankful that I could receive lessons from him during the early very important adolescent years of my life. When I listen to his recordings now, I am quite overwhelmed by the richness of his music making and his musical expression. But when I was studying with him, I was so young. And it was almost as if I were a baby absorbing his sound, his touch, and his phrasing, without any conscious knowledge, and without theoretical perception. It was only later that I could sum up what he had given me in those years. Perhaps especially from 1960s to 80s, he was truly unique and stood alone, when almost all other pianists, with the exception of Arrau, Horowitz, Richter, Gilels, and Michelangeli, and a few others, played in a rather post-war realism and Sachlichkeit. Also, if you can, please mention that he was extremely happy to listen to the complete Debussy études in the lessons (though the level of my playing was not very high). He loved the pieces. Bolet had profound respect for the pianism of Emil Gilels. In the younger generation, he marvelled at the playing of Vladimir Ashkenazy and Martha Argerich. About Gilels: “He has completely different musical ideas and plays differently from me, but I am awed by his playing and have great respect for him.” In the regular lessons at Curtis, he was rather approximate but he could be very meticulous. Here is one example: When I was selected to perform at Carnegie Recital Hall in February 1985, he kindly came to my student recital at Curtis a few days before the Carnegie concert. And at the lesson after the recital, he pointed out many small but important things about Schumann's Kreisleriana. He was not listening with the score, but his memory was impeccable and he could remember many details about the playing. As I have said before, he was very good at giving some finishing touches, if the pianist is already well-prepared in his/her playing. With that help, I think the performance in N. Y. C. went quite well. (Alas, there is no proof of this. No recording. Of course, it was the best piano I had ever played on up until then…the best American Steinway ever…it helped me play naturally as well.)

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 - the only one as NHK used to rehearse Sun-Wed for just one concert a week (occasionally two if they also played Suntory Hall). ’I must admit to enjoying the video immensely. As so often with YouTube, the lack of synchronisation between video and audio is particularly distressing, but, that aside, it’s one of the most lyrical interpretations I’ve ever heard. The nuances in Jorge’s playing are quite remarkable, and he makes his extremely contemplative tempos really work. It all came back to me as if it were yesterday (I wish!). Like many virtuosos that I worked with during that time period (Shura Cherkassky comes to mind), communication between soloist and conductor was totally aural, not visual. He never once looked in my direction, even when awkward tempo changes were about to happen; not a flicker in the eyes, nor movement of the head or body, nothing. His musicality communicated everything, hair-raising as it was.’

Jorge performed Rachmaninoff's third concerto in Tokyo on 9 (or 10) November 1988 with the NHK Symphony under David Atherton. David Atherton (July 2026) has told me that his files show NHK Symphony rehearsals for Rach PC3 with Jorge on Nov 8, 1988 with a final General Rehearsal on the morning of Nov 9 followed by one concert on Nov 10. 'Including the rehearsals, I probably spent less than five hours in his presence and have no recollection of any social interaction. Normally artists go out for a celebratory dinner or something after the event, but I don’t believe this happened on this occasion. My memories of him are therefore pretty muted: quiet and reflective, not very outgoing whilst being unfailingly polite and courteous. However he was clearly not in the best of health. He appeared much older than his years and not the powerhouse I’d expected for such a monumental piece as Rach PC3. 'The French first half comprised Berlioz’ Francs-juges and Messiaen’s Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum for wind and percussion. Necessarily the limited rehearsal time was focused more on these tricky pieces - the Berlioz is one of his longest overtures and rarely played - ditto the Messiaen. ​ 'Yoshiro Kambara who formed the Kambara Music Office was my agent/manager as well as Jorge’s. He was extremely involved in all aspects of our tours of Japan. He was one of the doyens of Japanese cultural exchanges and highly respected throughout the business. ​ 'After the concert there was the customary autograph signing reception. I don’t think Jorge went to it - his health was probably being protected. 'Line upon line of audience members queue up bringing copies of your own recordings asking for signatures - one guy brought 41 dust covers asking for each to be signed. I remember the occasion vividly as it was the first of my many three week tours with the NHK; each week the signings would take over an hour immediately after the concert when all you really wanted to do is get out of your wet clothes and take a shower! At least the audience was passionate about their music...'

It's odd how I suddenly get "a bee in my bonnet" about issues I hadn't really considered before. One of them is Jorge's relationship with Abram Chasins (1903-1987), to which I have turned again after reading something by Jonathan Summers in his notes for the recent First Hand Records CD release of Bolet's Ambassador Auditorium recitals. (I also hadn't fully appreciated AC's Curtis connections before.) 'After Bolet gave a Carnegie Hall recital in 1951 [3 April] critic Howard Taubman felt the Bolet did not provide musical satisfaction, with deficiencies in imagination and sensitivity. "It may be that Mr Bolet, if he could turn to the proper sources for advice and inspiration, could put his brilliant technique to equally brilliant use". In those days of constructive criticism, Bolet took Taubman's advice, and asked for help from Abram Chasins, who himself had been a pupil of Josef Hofmann.' Bolet himself told Elyse Mach in the later 1980s that 'I had previously done quite a bit of work with Abram Chasins. He sort of took me in a time when he thought something had to be done about my playing. And indeed he really sort of turned my playing around, so to speak, but that’s another story.' So far, so teasing. There is this interesting observation - something I hadn't considered - by in an Audite CD booklet for Jorge's RIAS recordings: "Strictly speaking, Bolet (born in Cuba in 1914) was already too old for an audience who, after the Second World War, were at the feet of a generation of “Outstanding Young American Pianists” (OYAP) including John Browning, Leon Fleisher, William Kapell, Julius Katchen and Van Cliburn, who were all born in the 1920s and 30s." (Wolfgang Rathert. Translation: Viola Scheffel) In 1971, Chasins wrote a letter to Jorge: "Apart from your today unrivalled virtuosity, there is the rarest of poetic elegance in the true Romantic style... [The playing of my teacher Hofmann] lives again in your unique combination of demonic daring, elfin delicacy and soaring lyricism." Earlier, in his book Speaking about pianists (1958) he said: "Prokofiev's second cocnerto found an indeal interpreter in Jorge Bolet. He plays it with a relentless continuity that never becomes brutal, with loving care and wily understanding of its expressive content. He completely owns it." I wonder if anyone knows how exactly Chasins helped Bolet - it was apparently over a period of four years, I had thought in the late 1940s, but it seems to have been early 1950s according to Jonathan Summers. Drop a comment below or use the CONTACTS page. I recall going backstage to shake hands with Jorge in London in 1987, and overhearing him telling a friend that Chasins had just died, and that was why he chose to play some of his compositions as encores in that afternoon recital. (In earlier years Bolet had also had Chasins' raucous arrangement of Weinberger's lively polka form his opera "Schwanda the Bagpiper" in his repertoire.) Mattheus Smits has written to me with the following: 'The piano concerto which Chasins played on 1 January 1929 under Ossip Gabrilowitsch (see below) was I believe his own first concerto in F minor written in 1928. Chasins wrote a second piano concerto in F sharp minor. When talking to Jorge about Chasins' influence on his development, Jorge told me that he never had the idea that Chasins was teaching him in usual sense of the word. Working with him simply allowed musical thoughts to develop and grow. Chasins acted - so to speak - as a 'listening mirror' from which Jorge, whose playing was loved by Chasins, could mature. Jorge also mentioned that working with Chasins greatly contributed to his feeling that the style of his playing was correct and part of his (Jorge's) personality. Jorge always admitted that working with Chasins had an important influence on his development. 'That Jorge performed compositions by Chasins was not only because of gratitude; Jorge simply thought Chasins' music was good enough to be heard!' Abram Chasins (1903-1987) wore many musical hats. His gifts as both pianist and composer met with critical acclaim in the late 1920s and early 1930s, while counting luminaries like Josef Hofmann, Sergei Rachmaninov, Leopold Godowsky, George Gershwin, Vladimir Horowitz, Arturo Toscanini, and Donald Francis Tovey among his mentors and associates. From the mid-’30s onward, Chasins gradually retreated from performing in favour of broadcasting [WQXR, New York radio station], teaching, and writing about music. (Jed Distler, writing in 2023) Born in Manhattan, New York, he attended the Ethical Culture schools and undertook additional studies through the Columbia University Extension School. He studied piano with Ernest Hutcheson and composition with Rubin Goldmark at the Juilliard School of Music before proceeding to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. There, he undertook further piano studies with Józef Hofmann. He became a protegé of Hofmann, then dean of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, who made him a member of the Curtis faculty when Chasins was only 23. In 1931, he studied music analysis with Sir Donald Tovey in London. Chasins' career as a pianist lasted from 1927 until 1947. He gave many solo recitals and performed with major orchestras in the United States, Canada, South America and Europe. On January 1, 1929, he made his debut playing his Piano Concerto No 1 [by whom?] with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Ossip Gabrilowitsch. From 1926 to 1935, Chasins taught piano as a member of the faculty of the Curtis Institute. He was associated with the radio station WQXR from 1941 to 1965, becoming the music director in 1946. (Steinway website)

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 has also taught as a professor of piano at Kyoto University of Arts. A link to his website In April 1982, I went to Philadelphia for the first time, for the audition at the Curtis Institute. After the audition, several days later, I received a piece of paper from the Admissions Office. It was a paper from Bolet, a list of repertoire which I should study during the summer months, before the commencement of the school year. Ignorant as I was, and rather rebellious about everything, unfortunately I only partly followed his suggestions. Of the repertoire, I studied Chopin's Preludes, Études, the Barcarolle, the Nocturne, Beethoven, Bach. But I brought also pieces which interested me at the time and especially Schumann Op. 11, 16, 18 [Piano Sonata No. 1 in F♯ minor, Kreisleriana, Arabeske] and Debussy Études, Chopin Ballades, 3rd Sonata, Liszt. He did not mind, or at least he did not stop students from playing those pieces. Now that I am old enough, I know that I should have followed his suggestion (or an order) better, and should have had lessons with him on all these pieces. I studied all of them much later in my life. I think it was around 1984 or 85 that JB suggested Thomas Sauer (who had enrolled in the same year, and I think he received the same repertoire paper) and I study Ginastera's Concerto (No.1), even inviting us to listen to a recording of it at his apartment in Philadelphia. He thought this piece wonderful and recommended that we both study and accompany/work together to get to know the piece. He told us that it is important to have concerti in one's repertoire that not everyone plays. That is so correct. However again we did not do it… Tom did not like the piece, and I did not understand the piece. At least I bought the score and examined it. Bolet was right again. Working on concerti with a friend is the best way to get acquainted with the score. (The Ginastera is a great concerto, too.) In general he was not a teacher to teach uneducated young students (as I was). I think he was better at giving a final touch to already fully-developed students/artists. [With reference to lesson on Chopin's Ballade No. 3]: As you may have noticed, in his memory some of the Chopin scores and notes are based on the old Breitkopf complete edition from the late 19th Century. Paderewski's edition was fine, but he did not like an Urtext such as that of G.Henle, though he said he discussed and exchanged opinions with Dr. Ewald Zimmermann (1910–1998), the editor of Henle Chopin series back then. Mattheus Smits has written: Whenever Jorge played in the "Ruhrgebiet" in Germany [Ruhr area, a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia], Ewald Zimmermann showed up with his partner. After the concert we were often invited in their home. I still remember the address, Rektor-Horn-Straße, Rheinberg. There we all enjoyed talking about Ewald's work on the Chopin Urtext edition for Henle. In his house he kept copies of manuscripts and several old editions which were sent to him from institutions all over the world. Ewald always gave us free copies of the volumes which were recently published, and Jorge and I always were happy to get them. I know that Jorge always studied them carefully so that he was able to tell Ewald his opinion during the next visit to Rheinberg.