I attended a concert in the mid-60s by a young American pianist named
Anthony di Bonaventura.  Among the works listed was an unnumbered Beethoven
Piano Sonata in D and thus I learnt of the existence of the three Elector
Sonatas WoO 47.  It wasn't until the bicentenary that I was able to buy
Joerg Demus's DG LP of them, which may well have been a first recording.

I remember di Bonaventura as a persuasive speaker whose introductions had
the audience in the palm of his hand very quickly.  His playing was very
fine.  However, apart from an LP of the Debussy Etudes on Connoisseur
Society which appeared soon after, I never heard of him again.

I was going to put out an APB on the list but thought I'd check the web
first.  Sure enough, I found him, a professor on the music faculty at
Boston University.  Despite this, I'd be interested if any lister has
heard him play more recently.

On my only visit to Boston, I got lost - half the city seemed to be under
repair - and, with the sun in my eyes, hailed a taxi.  Fortunately, the cop
driving the police car I'd pulled over was in a good mood and didn't charge
me with wasting police time.  Of course, it might just have been that he
couldn't understand my accent...

Richard Pennycuick
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