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Jose Iturbe, was he really a good pianist and conductor ?

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Sami

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Mar 8, 2002, 11:08:57 AM3/8/02
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There is not much information about Iturbe in the net,from what I
caught ,some claim that he was an expert of Mozart's music and was
very popular till 50s,I saw him playing recently in couple of movies
in TCM and very impressed of his interpretation of Tchaikovsky's Piano
concerto no.1 ?
Also why did he stop conducting ?,he was the musical director of
Rochester orchestra in 40s before leaving to Hollywood(read somewhere
that last time in the 60s he was the musical director of an orchestra
in Conneticut), I really would like to get more info about him.

SAMI

Peter T. Daniels

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Mar 8, 2002, 12:19:22 PM3/8/02
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You'll find more if you spell him correctly: Iturbi.

The transparent keys in *Anchors Aweigh* were quite something!
--
Peter T. Daniels gram...@att.net

Juan I. Cahis

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Mar 8, 2002, 3:18:18 PM3/8/02
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Dear Sami:

Maybe you could find more information about him if you spell his last
name correctly: it is Iturbi, not Iturbe.

sami...@yahoo.com (Sami) wrote:

Thanks
Juan I. Cahis
Santiago de Chile (South America)
Email: jic...@attglobal.net
Note: Please forgive me for my bad English, I am trying to improve it!

Sami

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Mar 8, 2002, 8:06:09 PM3/8/02
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> You'll find more if you spell him correctly: Iturbi.
>

Actually I made the search for Iturbi, only here I've made the
mistake.I'm still looking for more info about him.

SAMI

JackH35785

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Mar 8, 2002, 9:58:11 PM3/8/02
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<< Dear Sami:

Maybe you could find more information about him if you spell his last
name correctly: it is Iturbi, not Iturbe. >>

Iturbe, Iturbi, Iterby . . . . . . Who cares, Peter? You know who we're talking
about, besides this is the way it is spelled in Chile.

Juan (thats "John", Peter) I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Iturbe in 1946.
Let me explain:

I was a sailor during WW2 and was injured and was sent off to the U.S. Navy
Hospital in Long Beach, California. We were close enough to Hollywood so that
that many musical folks would come out to the hospital to entertain the
sailors. Among them were Jascha Heifetz, Mr. Iturbe, Lily Pons, Nelson Eddy,
and others.

He appeared to thoroughly enjoy playing piano - he was smoking a pipe and was
relaxed and asked for requests. Not too many of the sailors were familiar with
this kind of music but I asked if he would play the "Trout Variations" and he
was surprised ! It was beautiful - he had a very delcate touch.

Jack

Peter T. Daniels

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Mar 9, 2002, 8:02:09 AM3/9/02
to
JackH35785 wrote:
>
> << Dear Sami:
>
> Maybe you could find more information about him if you spell his last
> name correctly: it is Iturbi, not Iturbe. >>
>
> Iturbe, Iturbi, Iterby . . . . . . Who cares, Peter? You know who we're talking
> about, besides this is the way it is spelled in Chile.

You address me in your reply to a posting made by Juan correcting the
same mistake that I did?

> Juan (thats "John", Peter) I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Iturbe in 1946.

No, you didn't, Juanito.

Perhaps you heard Mr. Iturbi.

> Let me explain:
>
> I was a sailor during WW2 and was injured and was sent off to the U.S. Navy
> Hospital in Long Beach, California. We were close enough to Hollywood so that
> that many musical folks would come out to the hospital to entertain the
> sailors. Among them were Jascha Heifetz, Mr. Iturbe, Lily Pons, Nelson Eddy,
> and others.
>
> He appeared to thoroughly enjoy playing piano - he was smoking a pipe and was
> relaxed and asked for requests. Not too many of the sailors were familiar with
> this kind of music but I asked if he would play the "Trout Variations" and he
> was surprised ! It was beautiful - he had a very delcate touch.

And did he play all the string parts too?

Joe Salerno

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Mar 9, 2002, 6:57:56 PM3/9/02
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To listen to his studio recordings he strikes me as a very sensitive and
well trained musician who made beautiful sounds at the piano.
--
Joe Salerno
Video Works! Is it working for you?
PO Box 273405 - Houston TX 77277-3405
http://joe.salerno.com
j...@salerno.com
"JackH35785" <jackh...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020308215811...@mb-fw.aol.com...

keith edgerley

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Mar 9, 2002, 7:32:05 PM3/9/02
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Joe Salerno wrote:

> To listen to his studio recordings he strikes me as a very sensitive and
> well trained musician who made beautiful sounds at the piano.
> --

I heard him give a recital at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester when I was at
school, ca. 1957. I remember he played a very eclectic programme: Chopin,
Scarlatti and De Falla, I am fairly sure, but also Granados and, I think,
Debussy. He played beautifully, though with a slight tendency to be
heavy-handed, it seemed to me at the time (I was 17) and, for someone who had a
reputation as an outgoing, engaging personality, made little attempt on that
particular evening to establish a rapport with his audience. Perhaps he was
trying to show he was a serious classical artist...

From seeing him conduct on the3 cinema screen, I should think he would be a very
hard-to-follow, uninspiring conductor to play under: he lokks like a stiff
little wooden doll. But perhaps if you were in the band it was different.
--
Keith

This is what they call classical music, isn't it?... I can tell because
there's no vocal.


JackH35785

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Mar 9, 2002, 9:30:36 PM3/9/02
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<< And did he play all the string parts too? >>

There's a "solo piano" version of it - my Mom used to play it -I think it was
transcribed by Liszt or maybe even Schubert did it - our faithful readers will
tell us all about it !

Jack

Juan I. Cahis

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Mar 15, 2002, 6:27:17 PM3/15/02
to
Dear friends:

jackh...@aol.com (JackH35785) wrote:

><< Dear Sami:
>
>Maybe you could find more information about him if you spell his last
>name correctly: it is Iturbi, not Iturbe. >>
>
>Iturbe, Iturbi, Iterby . . . . . . Who cares, Peter? You know who we're talking
>about, besides this is the way it is spelled in Chile.

Well, I was only saying that if you search the WEB for a person name,
probably you will have a more chance of succeed if you spell the
searched name correctly.

For example, try to find the biographic data of the US President Mr.
W. Wilson but spelling his name as "Bilson"!!!!!!!

Peter T. Daniels

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Mar 15, 2002, 9:23:58 PM3/15/02
to
Juan I. Cahis wrote:
>
> Dear friends:
>
> jackh...@aol.com (JackH35785) wrote:
>
> ><< Dear Sami:
> >
> >Maybe you could find more information about him if you spell his last
> >name correctly: it is Iturbi, not Iturbe. >>
> >
> >Iturbe, Iturbi, Iterby . . . . . . Who cares, Peter? You know who we're talking
> >about, besides this is the way it is spelled in Chile.
>
> Well, I was only saying that if you search the WEB for a person name,
> probably you will have a more chance of succeed if you spell the
> searched name correctly.
>
> For example, try to find the biographic data of the US President Mr.
> W. Wilson but spelling his name as "Bilson"!!!!!!!

Or Wynton Marsalis by looking for Winton Marcellus!

Malcolm Bilson is probably more interesting than Woodrow Wilson. Though
they do look sort of alike.

Larry Davis

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Mar 17, 2002, 11:21:55 AM3/17/02
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In re Jose Iturbi, check out www.ivoryclassics.com for an excellent
recording of Iturbi playing Chopin.

Also for recordings of Ruth Slenczynska, absolutely stunning works.

Larry D
Atlanta, GA

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