Pianophilia

I'm sure many of us remember Jorge Bolet (1914-1990). I was lucky enough to hear him play Rach 2nd concerto with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in the 1970s, and I have many of his recordings.

It is not well known that, while serving in the occupying forces in Japan in 1946, Lieutenant Jorge Bolet conducted the Japanese premiere of Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado. Apparently there were only three performances. Recently this obscure fact arose during dinner with a friend, so I googled 'Bolet' and 'Mikado' and found a printed programme for the1946 Japanese production on Ebay. Cost? $10.

PDF scan attached. Cheers,

Patrick Spillane, Melbourne, Australia

Thanks for this little gem Patrick,
it does make me wonder how many weird and wonderful events like this took place over the last 100 years. Events that you can read about in the autobiography of George Antheil for example.
I would hope that someone out there has some other fascinating information over such events as this and will share them with us.
thanks
Brian