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Diário do Pará, the largest newspaper in the northern region of Brazil, based in Belém, Pará. Its Sunday edition of 24 November 1985 carried a review of Liszt volume 5 (Années de Pèlerinage: Suisse S.160) for Decca. Quando certa vez perguntei a Hélio Gaspar, o excelente pianista paraense, qual o pianista da atualidade que lhe causava mais admiração, ele respondeu sem pestanejar: o cu- bano Jorge Bolet. E arrematou: gostaria de tocar como ele. Quem sou eu para contradizer o Helinho... ? 'When I once asked Hélio Gaspar, the excellent pianist from Pará, which contemporary pianist he admired most, he answered without hesitation: the Cuban Jorge Bolet. And he concluded: I would like to play like him. 'Who am I to contradict Helinho...?' (JOSÉ OTÁVIO FIGUEIREDO)

Thomas Sauer, a professional musician who is also on the music faculty of Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, New York) and of the Mannes School of Music (NYC), has generously offered some memories of his time with JB at Curtis. Thomas Sauer's personal website link The first thing to note is that I arrived at Curtis at age 16 with a limited repertoire, having played the piano for seven years. In other words, very green. In no way was I deserving of a place in Mr. Bolet's studio. I unquestionably needed a different sort of guidance than he was inclined to provide. All the same, I did my best to internalize his sound and approach to the instrument, storing information for later in my development, so to speak. In my first couple of years (1982-84), he demonstrated quite often, sometimes passages from the work I had brought to the lesson, other times playing an altogether different work. Needless to say, I had never heard playing like that at close range, nor have I heard it much during the past forty years (he resigned his position in 1986, at the end of what was my fourth year at Curtis). His primary concern with me was balancing the pianistic texture. I am quite sure that I frustrated him to no end in this respect, as I simply did not possess the pianistic tools to voice textures in the manner that he desired (though I understood clearly what he was after). His overarching concern with repertoire was that we study an enormous amount of it. He took a dim view of the competition scene in which a young pianist learned a couple of recital programs and concerti, then entered competition after competition with the same repertoire. He typically heard pieces only once in lessons, expecting us to move on to different repertoire for each cycle of lessons. This was very challenging for most of us, and resulted in a couple of students being asked to leave the studio during my time there. I can say, however, that he had a tremendous ear and memory, and was able to play pieces that he hadn't touched for decades after hearing them once or twice. Undoubtedly there are other pianists capable of this, but I have not met them. He often spoke of pianists from the past, Rachmaninov, Hofmann and Moiseiwitsch above all. He was not a lover of the Urtext tradition, which of course represented a significant departure from the Curtis of his predecessor, Rudolf Serkin. He spoke of the freedom and imagination of the older tradition, and encouraged us to encounter it via recordings and emulate it. He rarely discussed his touring with me. He did make clear that he had had many lean years, and seemed to enjoy the recognition that came to him post-1975, but I know next to nothing about any one concert. Re contacts in South America, I know that he was acquainted with Alberto Ginastera. One spring he encouraged my classmate Makoto Ueno and me to learn his first concerto over that summer. I found the prospect utterly overwhelming at that time, and failed to act (which was of course a mistake). He was quite formal with his students, learning what by today's standards would be a minimal amount about each individual, and in turn divulging little of his own personal life. He was never harsh with me, only rarely losing his patience (despite the abundant opportunities my playing offered him to do so). My sense is that he was a private person, dignified in bearing, and probably difficult to get to know. But again, we were students, and he observed boundaries. I would not be at all surprised to learn that he was a warm and loyal friend to many.

Jorge Bolet's agent at Columbia Artists from the 1960s onwards Nelly Walters died in October 2001 aged 100, after 70 years in the business; flowers and cards arrived in from celebrities across the world for her birthday in January. She was an integral part of the history of CAMI, retiring only in 1997. Born in Germany, she grew up in Dresden; in Berlin she worked for the Otto Mertens agency - his son André would later become her boss at CAMI in New York. She had begun already to develop her own network of clients in Europe and South America. Leading American managers came to Europe to engage clients from her. The political upheaval beginning in 1930, change to life. The Mertens agency was closed after Otto died of a heart attack. By 1933, Nelly and her mother had to leave Germany for their safety because they were Jewish. Nelly went to Prague where her friend, famed conductor, George Szell was music director of the Opera. She was soon in danger again as the Nazi tide swept towards Czechoslovakia. So she joined her mother, who had gone to her family in Vienna and continued her work there until Hitler invaded Austria in March 1938. Mother and daughter managed to get to Paris where she met Francis Poulenc and Virgil Thomson. She attended the Paris Opéra whenever she could, and even arrange the Scandinavian tour for the production of Debussy's Pelléas et Melisande. When the Germans marched into Paris in June 1940, she and her mother escaped and went into hiding in Marseille; picked up by soldiers, Nelly was thrown into a French concentration camp in the Pyrenees. Eventually, after the war mother and daughter arrived in New York on June 11, 1946, and she started at Columbia artist a few days later. Arthur Johnson, founder of the conglomerate, was president and Nelly became invaluable. André Martens came to CAMI to head a division and Nelly became his right-hand woman. After his death in 1963, she was promoted to a vice-presidency. Two snippets from the website: 4/5 December 1961 South Campus Auditorium, Waukesha, Wisconsin Rachmaninoff 3 [+ Samuel Barber's Die Natale, Debussy La Mer etc.] Waukesha Symphony Orchestra/Milton Weber Tex Compton seems to have written a letter to Nelly Walters, TLS (=typed signed letter) about reviews of this concert. (*I don't know why) There is among the Bolet papers at IPAM a letter from the United Nations, dated 27 July 1967 regarding the invitation from U Thant, the Burmese diplomat and the third secretary-general of the UN from 1961 to 1971 (the first non-Scandinavian to hold the position). During his second term (2 December, 1966), Thant was well known for publicly criticising American conduct in the Vietnam War. Dear Miss Walters (Vice President of Columbia Artists Management), We understand that Mr Bolet will travel from Midland, Texas on 21 October to NYC and will wish after the concert to fly to Edmonton, Alberta. We shall take responsibility for these travel costs and also for Mr Bolet's living expenses during his two days or so in NYC. George Moushon.

Brazilian/American pianist Francisco Rennó, a student of Bolet at Bloomington, Indiana, wrote to me c.10 years ago, and I've always enjoyed his letter. ‘I first met Jorge Bolet in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1974 at the Teresa Carreño International Piano Competition, where I was one of the competitors and he served as chairman of the jury. Bolet was one of two people who made it possible for me to leave behind the impoverished conditions of my native Brazil, come to the US to acquire a proper musical education and eventually become a citizen and settle here as a professional musician. As you can imagine, my gratitude and admiration for the man go beyond words. During the two years that I was in his class in Bloomington I had the privilege of having many hours of one-on-one conversations with him, not only in the studio but also in several dinner parties at his place and mine. He and his manager Tex were delightful hosts (and guests), liked to eat well and they both loved my wife's cooking. After a few glasses of wine and some paella the stories and jokes would start to flow, he would relax and come out of his usually very stern public persona, and we would go late into the night laughing, listening to music, and having the best of times. Hard to believe that was almost forty years ago...' ‘My years in Bloomington were the best years of my life and Jorge Bolet played a big part in it.’ Francisco Rennó, company pianist for Miami City Ballet. YouTube video interview

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).

1 minute video I've just come across this film footage from Japanese TV of The Mikado in August 1946, Tokyo, Ernie Pyle Theatre. You get a tiny glimpse of the back of Jorge Bolet's head.

My thanks to Francis Crociata for recently sending me the original version of a Rachmaninoff anecdote concerning Josef Hofmann Rachmaninoff calling Hofmann the best pianist in New York. I think you were actually referring to a 1931 exchange of letters between SVR and JH first published in the Bertenssen and Leyda Rachmaninoff biography: In the meantime more compliments passed between the two greatest pianists. Josef Hofmann addressed a letter to “Premier Sergei Rachmaninoff”: “By “Premier” I mean the “Premier of Pianists,” in spite of my artistic attempt of Sunday last!” “After thinking over your offer to exchange hands with me, which you were so good as to suggest at the Zimbalist party, I accept. So I am to trade you my 20 fingers, according to your count, for your 10, which I still swear—despite the smaller number—are far superior. The only difficulty is how to close our deal—and in a painless fashion. Any suggestions?” January 19, 1931 My dear Mr. Hofmann: “There is a story that goes as follows: “Once upon a time in Paris there were a great many tailors. When one of them succeeded in renting a shop in a street devoid of tailors, he wrote on his sign: THE BEST TAILOR IN PARIS. The next tailor who opened a shop in the same street was forced to write on his sign: THE BEST TAILOR IN THE WHOLE WORLD. What was there left for the third tailor, who rented a shop between these two?—He wrote with becoming modesty: THE BEST TAILOR IN THIS STREET....” Your touching modesty, as expressed in your letter of January 15, as well as your incomparable professional knowledge, gives you full right to that last title: “You are the best in this street.”

"It has been a long time since we have heard in Lima a pianist of Bolet's stature." 9 June 1982 Auditorio, Colegio Santa Ursula, Lima Mendessohn, Fantasy in F minor Op.28 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) El Comercio 13.6.1982 An appearance preceded by magnificent reviews. It was a program of tremendous difficulties, technical and musical, and the result was a delicious, enchanting and impressive evening. He is a pianist of great power, knowledge, elegance, and sobriety, to which is added an amazing technique. It can be said that it has been a long time since we have heard in Lima a pianist of Bolet's stature. The audience gave him a long and well deserved ovation. (Lucas)

Jorge Bolet began his major return to the UK in 1977. Edward Greenfield's review is very complimentary. 17 February 1977, Thursday (he was aged 62) Queen Elizabeth Hall, London Haydn, Sonata in E flat (No.52), Telemann/Reger, Liszt 3 Concert Studies, Don Juan Fantasy Jorge was generous with encores. Chopin: Nocturne in F minor, Op.55 No.1, Moszkowski: La Jongleuse, Op.52 No.4, Chopin/Godowsky: Etude in G-flat major, Op.10 No.5 (Study No.7 in G-flat major), Liszt: Valse-Impromptu, S.213 and Saint-Saëns/Godowsky: The Swan (from Carnival of the Animals). Dr G. de Koos & Co. Management organised the concert - the company had handled JB's first European tour in 1935. Jorge hadn't been completely absent from the UK in the 1970s, cf. March 1973 (Birmingham) Oct/Dec 1974 (London), but these few events had been orchestral concerts. But it was in 1977 that he he was to have a big, possibly his biggest break - with a long-term record contract for a major international label, Decca; this was to bring him the fame he had sought for so long. ​ Edward Greenfield in The Guardian : 'Some years ago they issued records of the legendary pianist Josef Hofmann made from the piano rolls he cut in the 1920s, using the highly sophisticated Duo-Art system. I was sceptical that piano articulation at high speed could ever have been so miraculously clear and even. 'I still wonder whether some touching up was done on the actual rolls, but here was a pianist absurdly under-appreciated in this country who had me believing in the Hofmann legend after all. As Mr Bolet demonstrated over and over again, that miraculous clarity is achievable by human fingers in live performance. (...) It is not often that we have piano-tigers even from across the Atlantic pouncing to such effect.

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 in perfect harmony with his physique. He has the almost mythical grandeur of the Romantic tradition, inherited directly from Liszt, complemented by the rigour and control of a contemporary instrumentalist. He possesses a mechanism of infinite possibilities, but what matters in him is the flight, the imagination, and the brilliant musical intuition with which he uses those means (lo que importa en él es el vuelo, la imaginación, la genial intuición musical…) The presence of this artist is an event and for Montevideo a revelation. Unfortunately, this revelation was enjoyed by a group of pianists and a small core of discerning, aficionados. Those that stayed home missed what might be considered one of the culminating recitals of the last decade. What Jorge Bolet does with list music surely has few parallels in our time. “I am an old-fashioned pianist (pianista anticuado) to many,” he comments with a smile. “Of course," he adds, "I received the Lisztian style directly from his disciple Rosenthal, and now I am trying to transmit my own interpretations, and I hope they too will remain 'old-fashioned' in this vein." It is like rediscovering Liszt; it is like suddenly encountering an authentic poetic world in which virtuosity is not an external means to dazzle but a fundamental reason that conditions all artistic creation of a period. A few years ago, another talented American, Earl Wild, had already given us a glimpse of what can be achieved with musical virtuosity. But Earl Wild focused on Liszt's gentler, more volatile side;in contrast, Bolet delved more deeply into his dramatic interior without losing the exquisite formal craftsmanship. Funerailles had a totally unusual, reflective repose. It wasn't the ostentatious display of spectacular power that is usually the case, but rather the reflection of a painful experience being recalled. In the Transcendental Studies (several of which have hardly ever been heard here), Bolet's pianistic richness was transfigured into true musical magic. His dynamic range allows him a variety of planes that never settle for the ordinary chiaroscuro. He reaches the most resonant and overwhelming fortissimo without straining the instrument. One senses that behind that fortissimo there is still room for an even more resonant accentuation, and when this occurs it has a shaking power. But in the pianissimo zone, his possibilities for colouration (aided by an wise, infallible use of pedal) achieve prodigious effects of atmosphere and nuance. Everything in his playing is so lucid and so clear that in the most profound (dense?) moments of the Sonata, these passages seemed to be revealing areas that, until that moment, had remained nebulous. But this clarity is not the stark and objective attempt to X-ray a score (as happens with many current analytical pianists) but rather the result of an infallible musicality served by a technique that can do anything. Regarding Bolet's open and elastic rhythm, there, the old Romantic tradition is most evident in all its splendour. It had been many years since we felt the eloquence of the "rubato" applied with such tact, naturalness, and good taste. This cannot be learned; it is in the very essence of the work and is the natural pulse of all 19th-century writing. Anyone who doesn't grasp it instinctively and recognize it as an essential part of the structure will always give an impression of contrivance. In Jorge Bolet's work, Liszt's music grows into a work of art and not as a mere will-o'-the-wisp, because the performer has redefined its authenticity through a performance style that is completely inimitable. W. Roldán Washington Roldán (1921–2001) was a highly respected Uruguayan music and dance critic. Based in Montevideo, he was a prominent figure in the country's cultural landscape, serving as a lead arts and music writer for the major newspaper El País and the Centro Cultural de Música. He was born in Paysandú on January 23, 1921. He came to Montevideo in 1941 to study law, but music proved more compelling. In Montevideo, he met Lauro Ayestarán, who helped him find his way in journalism and musicology. His friendship with the composer Héctor Tosar began at the Faculty of Law. In 1947, he began writing for the newspaper El País, where he continued until 2000. Simultaneously, he wrote dance reviews under the pseudonym Fígaro en Marcha, and was also a correspondent for Buenos Aires Musical and the magazine Clave. In 1962, he left for the United States, where he worked for eight years as a diplomat in Washington, D.C., while also enjoying his extensive musical output. Upon his return to Argentina in 1970, he resumed his role as a critic. El País a few days later, on 15 July Jorge Bolet's hatreds are as strong as his loves. One of them, curiously, is Berlioz, whose "Symphonie Fantastique" he detests and considers "totally artificial." Bolet knows that in his antipathy for Berlioz he "is a minority of one," but he feels more supported in his criticisms of modern music, but he admits to liking Penderecki and Ginastera. He considers himself fortunate with the critics, with the exception of the Dutch ones. "In Amsterdam, the critics don't accept music that isn't intellectual Bolet is a great admirer of the Philadelphia Orchestra, which (agreeing with this columnist) he considers the best in the world. "Their esprit de corps is admirable, and it's the only orchestra in the whole world that can play splendidly even with a very bad conductor." Despite his physical robustness, he does not belong to the breed of tireless workers: "Mentally, I study a lot, but I dedicate relatively little time to piano practice. I’ve always had a great facility for the habit of being able to keep works under my fingers. From a young age, I imposed a rule on myself: I am not going to be a slave to the piano. It is the piano that is going to be my slave." (Notes by E. F.)

I'm not on Facebook but I occasionally come across interesting things on sites that are public. Gusztáv Fenyő wrote a few months ago on historian of pianists Mark Ainley's page: 'I played for Bolet in Sydney when he was on tour (1977): Chopin's fourth ballade. He was very complimentary. When I asked him, do you play much Beethoven, he answered "You don't have to play Beethoven to be a good pianist". Then he proceeded to play me some Chopin-Godowsky....a lovely man.' How lovely to see this comment, and it has developed into a trip down memory lane. I studied with Mr Fenyő during 1983-84, when I was a final-year student (of Classics - Latin and Greek) at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. I recall talking about Jorge Bolet with him, and in fact I worked on the Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 in C sharp minor and Beethoven's Sonata No. 30 Op.109 in E major in those lessons. He was a very exciting teacher and I still remember vividly thibgs from those lessons. I regret not doing some Bártok (or did I do the 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs Sz. 71, BB 79?) (And much, much later, I taught myself Hungarian, but not so well.) I still marvel at his career trajectory. Born to Hungarian parents, he grew up in Buenos Aires (he was born in Montevideo, Uruguay but his family moved across the Rio de la Plata 4 days later, he tells me), then moved to Australia at the age of 15 in 1965... and eventually to Glasgow! I've been to Buenos Aires a few times over the years, but in those early untravelled days I recall asking him if he nipped over to Acapulco for the weekend...Oops! I recently contacted him again via email and it was a happy trip down memory lane. He graduated from the NSW Conservatorium, Sydney in 1969 aged 19. On 26 February 1970, Fred Blanks (whose reviews of Jorge Bolet are on this site) reviewed Gustáv Fenyő in a Prom Concert with the Sydney Symphony and John Hopkins, in Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 4 ("a very fluent and expressive account"). Located on the edge of the Royal Botanic Garden in central Sydney, the Conservatorium was oiginally commissioned in 1817 by Governor Lachlan Macquarie (who was born on the island of Ulva off the coast of the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides, a chain of islands off the West Coast of Scotland), the building was designed by prominent ex-convict architect Francis Greenway. Intended originally as the stables and servants’ quarters for the governor's house, the castellated structure is a rare Australian example of the Old Colonial Gothick Picturesque architectural style. (I always think when I see it that it's something out of a Sir Walter Scott novel.) Gusztáv Fenyő (aged 27) and Piers Lane were finalists in the Sydney International Piano Competition in 1977 (16 July - 4 August) , but JB was not an adjudicator then - though he was later. (Fenyő was in Sydney from 1965 to 1971 and then again, after his studies in Europe, from 1975 to 1978.) In July 1979, GF played in Perth with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under Hiroyuki Iwaki in a concerto commemorating the 150th year of the foundation of Western Australia. You can see Gusztáv Fenyő on YouTube in the Beethoven sonatas; this link is to No.30 Op.109 in E major, which I studied with him. It was filmed on 21 October 2021 at The Cathedral of The Isles, Millport, Isle of Cumbrae - close to my own home town in Scotland, a little farther down the coast. The pianist's website adds further detail: Since settling in Glasgow in 1980, Gusztáv Fenyő has been one of Scotland’s leading musicians. He is well-known for his cycles of works by one composer, including Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas, which he performed in both Glasgow (Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) and Edinburgh (Queen’s Hall) in 1990. Related to the great Hungarian violinist, Joseph Joachim, Gusztáv Fenyő first came into prominence as a teenager when he won the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s annual concerto competition playing Liszt’s E flat concerto. Following a period of study in London with Artur Schnabel’s disciple, Maria Curcio (1971-73), he continued his studies under Pál Kadosa (whose students include György Ligeti, György Kurtág, Arpad Joó (who conducted Bolet), András Schiff, Zoltán Kocsis, Dezső Ránki) and Vilmos Tátrai at the Liszt Academy in Budapest. While in Budapest, he gave numerous Hungarian premières by composers such as Stockhausen, Boulez, Xenakis, Cage and Takemitsu, as well as premièring works, some dedicated to him, by Hungarian composers, including Kurtág, Sári, Serei and Csapó. (He played some of this modern music in Glasgow recitals, and a friend told me that after one piece, Mr Fenyő said, "Excuse me a moment, while I wipe my blood off the keys!") Gusztáv Fenyő's blog has an interesting point about tempos: "Play what is written" (September 2017) The Australian Jewish News, 7 April 1977 23 June 1979

Jorge's date book said he flew from New York to Mexico City on 31 May 1982. I’ve just spent an afternoon in the British Library looking through microfilms of a major Mexico City newspaper, El Universal (more to come, hopefully a review). I had originally dated the orchestral concerts to June 1981. He gave two orchestral performances: 4 & 6 June, 1982 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) And there was a solo recital on Saturday, 5 June, in the Palacio de la Antigua Escuela de Medecina: Mendelssohn, Schumann and Schubert/Liszt Mendelssohn, Fantasie in F sharp minor, Op.26 "Scottish" Schumann Fantasy in C major Op.17 Liszt/Schubert + Mephisto Waltz [?] Enrique Arturo Diemecke (born July 9, 1952) is a Mexican conductor, violinist and composer. He is currently the Artistic General Director of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and music director of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic and the Flint Symphony Orchestra in Michigan, United States. Manuel Monroy interviewed JB and reviewed the concerts for El Universal (10.6.1982). Jorge said that he had left his house in California last June (1981) and had still not returned. He had given 24 concerts in 16 cities in Australia, 12 in Germany, and then in Vienna, Holland, Spain, Italy. He will return to England to play at the Edinburgh Festival.. From Mexico, he will go to Lima, Peru for the first time, and from there to Santiago de Chile, Montevideo, Brazil and then he will return to Lima (and thence to the USA for a tour there). Going back and forth from one country to the next is a living hell (hace que la vida se convierta verdaderamente en un infierno): change of food, hotels, climates and customs - overwhelming!. "I plan to retire in two years' time".