{"id":368,"date":"2018-05-15T17:32:44","date_gmt":"2018-05-15T17:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joseiturbifoundation.org\/admin\/?page_id=368"},"modified":"2019-03-21T18:45:17","modified_gmt":"2019-03-21T18:45:17","slug":"jose-iturbi-info","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.joseiturbifoundation.org\/admin\/foundation\/jose-iturbi-info\/","title":{"rendered":"Jos\u00e9 Iturbi Info"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Jos\u00e9 Iturbi Biography<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Born<\/strong>: November 28, 1895 (Valencia, Spain)<\/p>

Died<\/strong>: June 28, 1980 (Beverly Hills, California, USA)<\/p>

Jos\u00e9 Iturbi was recognized as the world\u2019s greatest classical pianist during the 1930\u2019s \u2013 1970\u2019s. Jos\u00e9 Iturbi was the world\u2019s most popular classical musician from the 1930\u2019s until his death.<\/p>

Iturbi\u2019s talent was recognized at an early age. He started piano lessons at age 3, and graduated with first prize honors from the Valencia Music Conservatory at 14 years old. Iturbi received a scholarship to study at the Paris Music Conservatory where he spent his days as a serious student and his nights playing in a Paris caf\u00e9 in return for one meal a day, a space to sleep in the caf\u00e9 store room after hours, and a few francs. Iturbi always tried to find ways to make ends meet. No matter how difficult times were, Iturbi was determined to remain in the greatest cultural center of Europe \u2013 Paris.<\/p>

In 1913, Iturbi graduated from the Paris Music Conservatory with the first of all first prize honors. He then held the chair of Professor of Piano Virtuosity at the Geneva Conservatory of Music in Switzerland (a post once held by Franz Liszt) for six years until his concert engagements became too numerous to permit his required teaching schedule.<\/p>

Throughout his long career, Jos\u00e9 Iturbi concertized to adoring fans and sold-out audiences in every corner of the world. It was commonplace at Iturbi\u2019s concerts for the overflow audience to be seated on stage. This remained his standard from the 1920\u2019s and for the next five decades through the 1970\u2019s! Excitement always accompanied Iturbi on his concert tours!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Hollywood Bowl Rehearsal: Jos\u00e9 Iturbi conducting the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra with his sister Amparo at the piano performing Rachmaninoff\u2019s Piano Concert No. 2, summer 1948. The combination of Jos\u00e9, Amparo and Rachmaninoff created an instantly sold out performance complete with a traffi c jam on the streets of Hollywood leading to the Hollywood Bowl. The Hollywood Bowl has traditionally started all performances no more than fi ve to ten minutes late due to traffi c delays;Jos\u00e9 and Amparo Iturbi\u2019s performance started thirty minutes late!<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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HOLLYWOOD AND \"THE MOVIES\"<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Iturbi said his first interest in motion pictures came when he was just a small boy of seven years old. To help make ends meet for his family, Iturbi played piano accompaniment to silent films at the neighborhood theatre in his hometown of Valencia, Spain. He began work everyday at 2 pm and played straight through a twelve hour shift until 2 am. This was a rigorous schedule for anyone let alone a seven year old boy.<\/p>

Young Iturbi enjoyed making his music fit the different moods portrayed by the actors up on the screen, and he even changed his background music every performance to give it variety!<\/p>

Everyday, Iturbi used to wonder about those actors each time he looked up at the screen and think of what fun they must have had filming these \u201cflickers\u201d.<\/p>


\u201cI entered pictures because, first of all, I thought I\u2019d enjoy it \u2013 which I did! And, second, I felt that classical music should be a more recognizable part of everyman\u2019s entertainment, and it has been my great hope that through motion pictures a larger group of people would learn to like classical music and attend live concert performances\u201d, Jos\u00e9 Iturbi, 1945!<\/p>


Jos\u00e9 Iturbi enjoyed making seven movies at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In each of these films, Iturbi always played himself. He was known as Jos\u00e9 Iturbi, Maestro Iturbi, and sometimes, Jos\u00e9. His most popular films include:<\/p>

  • That Midnight Kiss (1949)<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

    • Three Daring Daughters (1948)<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

      • Holiday in Mexico (1946)<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

        • Anchors Aweigh (1945)<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

          • Music for Millions (1944)<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

            • Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

              Thousands Cheer (1943)In 1945, Jos\u00e9 Iturbi agreed to provide the riveting piano score to Frederic Chopin\u2019s highly romanticized life in Columbia Pictures\u2019, \u201cA Song to Remember\u201d, starring Paul Muni, Merle Oberon and Cornel Wilde. The public never saw Iturbi on film but they went wild for his rendition of Chopin\u2019s greatest known piano repertoire. Iturbi\u2019s legions of fans helped propel the movie\u2019s popularity and sold more than one million copies.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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              Jos\u00e9 Iturbi and Frank Sinatra relaxing in a private moment before the evening\u2019s performance at the Hollywood Bowl (August 14, 1946).\u00a0<\/em>They began their lifelong friendship on the set of MGM\u2019s, Anchors Aweigh (1945).\u00a0<\/em>Both famous artists, Iturbi and Sinatra, enjoyed playing practical jokes. They shared a great friendship and\u00a0<\/em>camaraderie for more than thirty years, until Iturbi\u2019s death in 1980.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Jos\u00e9 Iturbi Biography Born: November 28, 1895 (Valencia, Spain) Died: June 28, 1980 (Beverly Hills, California, USA) Jos\u00e9 Iturbi was recognized as the world\u2019s greatest classical pianist during the 1930\u2019s \u2013 1970\u2019s. Jos\u00e9 Iturbi was the world\u2019s most popular classical musician from the 1930\u2019s until his death. Iturbi\u2019s talent was recognized at an early age. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":217,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"full-screen","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"on","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"on","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-368","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joseiturbifoundation.org\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joseiturbifoundation.org\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joseiturbifoundation.org\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joseiturbifoundation.org\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joseiturbifoundation.org\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.joseiturbifoundation.org\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1124,"href":"https:\/\/www.joseiturbifoundation.org\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/368\/revisions\/1124"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joseiturbifoundation.org\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joseiturbifoundation.org\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}