Credits:

dil Biret

Description:

In October 1963, 22-year-old Idil Billett performed Rachmaninoffs Piano Concerto No. 3 in London under the baton of the renowned maestro Pierre Monteux, earning rave reviews. Upon hearing news of this success, Erich Reinsdorf, music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), proposed that she urgently change the program for her U.S. debut, scheduled for the following month, to Rachmaninoffs Third. Originally, works by Stravinsky and DIndy had been scheduled, and for Billot, who had been dissatisfied with those selections, this change was a dream come true. However, it would coincide with a tragedy that would go down in history.On the afternoon of November 22, 1963, the day of the concert, the shocking news that President John F. Kennedy had been shot and killed spread across the United States. The orchestra hastily changed the program order; Bilets performance, originally scheduled for the f