Title: Original Photograph of the Virtuoso Pianist Jose Iturbi Seated at a Piano in Mexico, with Producer & Manager Jean Dalrymple and Three Others in the Background.
Description: Chapultec Castle, Mexico, 1933. 1933. - An original 8 inch high by 10 inch wide black & white photograph of the virtuoso pianist Jose Iturbi seated at an elaborately decorated piano. Two men, one of which is possibly Iturbi's Mexican manager, stand behind and to the right of the pianist. City Center producer Jean Dalrymple is seated behind Iturbi next to a young man. Paintings adorn the walls in the background. There is a tiny tear to the right edge with creases to the edges and corners. Good.
Provenance: From the estate of Jean Dalrymple.
Notes penciled on the verso identify the piano as that of Franz Liszt located in Chapultec Castle, Mexico. An additional note in ink "Jean & Iturbi" identify the 2 main subjects of the image.
Jose Iturbi was one of the best known pianists of the 1930's and 40's. A virtuoso, he was as comfortable playing classical music as he was playing the boogie-woogie. A composer and conductor as well as a musician, he often conducted from the piano. A dashing figure, he became a film star in the 1940's playing music for and appearing in MGM musicals, including Anchors Aweigh. An amateur boxer, motorcyclist and pilot, Iturbi best summed up his philosophy of life with this statement: "Life is a meal, and music is the roast beef. But who can live on only roast beef? You must have your brandy and dessert and cigar. And so I must have my boxing and my airplane and my motorcycle."
Jean Dalrymple (1902-1998) was the dynamic producer and director of theater and light-opera at Manhattan's City Center. Dalrymple began her career in Vaudeville, appearing with James Cagney and Carey Grant in the early 1930s. She was a founding member of the American Theatre Wing, the theatre service organization. She worked over the years as a personal manager for the likes of Leopold Stokowski, Mary Martin, Jose Iturbi, Andre Kostalanetz, Nathan Milstein, and Lily Pons. She began her work at City Center with its founding in 1943, serving as a board member and publicist. Her productions there from the 1940s through the 1960s were a revitalizing influence on the whole New York theatre scene. In 1951, Jean Dalrymple married Major-General Philip deWitt Ginder, commander of the Thunderbirds in Korea. She was a friend to Presidents and entertainment personalities throughout the world. Good .
Keywords: PERFORMING ARTS; MUSIC; PIANIST; JOSE ITURBI; JEAN DALRYMPLE; ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH; TWENTIETH CENTURY; 20TH CENTURY; FRANZ LISZT PIANO; CHAPULTEC CASTLE, MEXICO; PRODUCER; MANAGER; PHOTO.
- Book number: 97406
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