I was so excited when my friend and publicist Harlan Boll sent me an invite to the Jose Iturbi Foundation event at The Hollywood Bowl. It’s an annual event and is just so fantastic. The night started at the new venue inside the Hollywood Bowl. Artists Pavilion Grill its a full-service restaurant and wine bar located inside the Terri and Jerry Kohl Artists Pavilion. The menu features starters such as pigs in a blanket, shrimp cocktail, and heirloom cucumber and watermelon salad, alongside hearty favorites including the signature HB Burger, French dip sandwich, and a selection of USDA Prime steaks, with shareable sides like grilled asparagus, onion rings, and sautéed zucchini. The Grill also offers a comprehensive wine list, plus a selection of cocktails, spritzes, and nonalcoholic beverages. Guests were treated to a choice of many salads and a few entrees. I had both a butter lettuce Cesar Salad and a Wedge Salad, both were simply divine. My entrée was a Filet Mignon and vegetable; mushrooms, carrots, asparagus and mashed potatoes. Dessert was a Banana Cream Pie and a Chocolate Layer Cake. I have to say all of these menu items I tasted were just fantastic. Then we had the pleasure of Donelle Dadigan speaking about her godfather Jose Iturbi. She just shared all of the joys and accomplishments in his illustrious career. She then announced all of the many celebrities in the room and asked everyone the same question, “Did you play a musical instrument as a child?” So many wonderful stories about their childhood and their first experiences in music. After the comments and wonderful repartee, we were escorted to our boxes in the garden section. Upon arrival we were able to indulge in popcorn, soft serve ice cream and bottled water. The show itself was so iconic, The José Iturbi Foundation (JIF) is the proud sponsor of “Jose Iturbi Night” with the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. a special concert featuring The World Premiere of Adam’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2- Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances Op.45.
Celebrated fans and supporters of The José Iturbi Foundation a 501(c) (3) non-profit) scheduled to attend as special guests of Co-Founder and President, Donelle Dadigan, include: Michele Lee (Knots Landing), Michael Learned (4xEmmy Winner/Waltons), Rex Smith (Broadway, TV, Film, Music star), Carolyn Hennesy (Emmy winner), Lee Purcell (2 x Emmy nominee), Ilene Graff (Grammy Nominee/Mr. Belvedere), Darby Hinton (Daniel Boone), Kathy Garver (Family Affair), Charles Fox (Grammy, 2x Emmy winner/Oscar nominated songwriter), Bruce Vilanch (Award winning writer for Emmys, Oscars, Tony Awards), Meredith Thomas (Premarital), Nancy Harding (Cheaper by the Dozen), Kate Linder (Young & Restless), Ruta Lee (Funny Face/Witness for the Prosecution), Joel Diamond (Grammy nominated/Platinum Music Producer), and Carol Connors (Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, Golden Globe nominee/ Elvis, Rocky and Me: The Carol Connors Story).
The Jose` Iturbi Foundation’s motto is “Popularizing classic music – one note at a time!”® … And that’s just what the foundation does!
Among the classic pieces that were performed were The World Premiere of Adam’s “Short Ride in a Fast Machine”, Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2, Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances Op.45-Rachmaninoff was be performed in celebration of Jose`Iturbi’s performances starting from the 1930’s at the Hollywood Bowl.
The Foundation enjoys presenting Blockbuster concerts with international superstars of classical music, and forums for young artists in the making to audiences around the world including children at-risk and underserved communities.”
The Jose` Iturbi Foundation in 2023 Celebrated a Book and 16 CD Collectors Set: “From Hollywood To The World The Rediscovered Recordings by Pianist & Conductor Jose`Iturbi”. Produced by Donelle Dadigan and Michael Feinstein, this special project was up for Grammy Nominations in the following Categories: Best Historical Album, Best Album Notes, Recording Package, Box/Special/Limited Edition Package.
Donelle Dadigan, President & Founder of the Jose` Iturbi Foundation 501(c) (3) said of the project “José Iturbi was one of the greatest concert pianists and conductors of the 20th century. The proof is contained in this special collection of the complete RCA Victor recordings made by José himself and by his sister, the concert pianist Amparo Iturbi. It is an important contribution toward the preservation and restoration of their original masters, bringing them to listeners worldwide, both now and for generations to come. The set captures José Iturbi’s historic and compelling performances in state-of-the-art remastering, and includes a one-of-a-kind picture book packed with information, nostalgic photographs and helpful captions highlighting José and Amparo Iturbi’s lives and careers, including their sold-out concerts, those amazing MGM musicals, and more. I know that the wonderful text and photos will surely put a knowing smile on your face, as will the many reminiscences that these remastered – and in some cases never-before-heard – recordings will evoke.”
The José Iturbi Foundation is dedicated to José Iturbi’s mission of creating opportunities to promote classical music in Los Angeles and the world. The foundation’s motto is “Popularizing classic music – one note at a time!”® And that’s just what the foundation does through Blockbuster concerts featuring international superstars of classical music. Additionally, the foundation sponsors forums for “young artists in the making,” who are classically trained pianists and singers – to debut their talent, launch their careers and bring to the public’s attention today’s emerging talent through an international music competition, and dynamic live concert performances. To date, The José Iturbi Foundation has awarded more than $1Million Dollars to gifted pianists and singers from around the world, through the José Iturbi International Music Competition.
For more information about The José Iturbi Foundation, visit: www.joseiturbifoundation.org
About Jose Iturbi:
José Iturbi was born in Valencia, Spain, to Ricardo Iturbi and Teresa Báguena. Ricardo worked two jobs: by day he was a bill collector for a French company called, “Gas LeBon.” In the evenings he was a piano repairman. His wife Teresa loved listening to opera. On that particular night—November 28th of 1895—they went to see Carmen, but Teresa went into labor during the performance. She barely made it home before baby José arrived. He was the third of the four Iturbi children; sister Amparo followed in 1898.
At the age of three, José discovered the piano and soon was banging out little tunes. Ricardo encouraged his son’s interest. When José was five, he began lessons with Maria Jordán, the neighborhood piano teacher. It wasn’t long before Jordán found she had an unusual child on her hands: José refused to play one passage as written, instead substituting his own version. Intrigued, Jordán wrote to the museum which housed the original manuscript, and found out the child had played the passage the way Mozart himself had written it.
By the time José was seven he was a major family breadwinner, playing 12-14 hours a day at Valencia’s first silent movie theater, Cinema Turia. He further augmented his earnings by taking on piano students of his own students twice his age and sometimes older.
José’s sister Amparo shared his love of music and used to sing with him while he played. However, she eventually shed her notions of being an opera singer as the piano fever took her as well. (José would later tease that it was better for the world if she played rather than sang.) José was Amparo’s first piano teacher—if not formally, then by example. “I watched him and did everything he did,” she explained years later.
José graduated from Valencia’s conservatory at the age of 14 and went to Barcelona—briefly—to continue his musical studies. After three months working with Joaquin Malats he had to go home and take another job.
Iturbi’s mentor was Professor Eduardo López-Chavarri Marco, who taught at the Valencia Conservatory. He was also a journalist, pianist, composer, and critic for Las Provincias daily newspaper. It was he who put Iturbi up for a scholarship sponsored by the Provincial Government of Valencia that could send him to the prestigious Paris Conservatory of Music. Only two non-French students were accepted at the conservatory each year. In 1911 Iturbi was one of them. His father took him to Paris, where they stayed at a boarding house near the school until José found a job playing in a café to support himself.
He became a student of Victor Staub at the Conservatory—and studied with the great harpsichordist and pianist Wanda Landowska on the side. Landowska had a special technique that involved using each joint of each finger individually to achieve differences in sound. Iturbi learned her technique and modified it to fit his own needs. It paid off: he graduated from the Conservatory in 1913 at the age of 17, with top honors.
Iturbi went home when World War One broke out, but after the color and light of Paris, Valencia was dull. He began giving piano lessons. One of his pupils was the beautiful Maria Giner, and although she was a promising pianist, before long the two were more fascinated with each other than with their pianos. They were married in 1916.
Iturbi traveled with his wife and infant daughter to Switzerland. Someone from Geneva’s conservatory heard Iturbi play in a café, and offered him a job, a position once held by Franz Liszt, as head of the Department of Piano Virtuosity. A strict and critical teacher, Iturbi’s students nicknamed him “The Spanish Inquisition.”
After four years of teaching at the conservatory and giving concerts on the side, Iturbi’s concert schedule became too demanding to do both. He and Maria took an apartment in Paris, and from this headquarters Iturbi toured Europe and South America. But Maria Iturbi died suddenly in 1928.
Throughout Iturbi’s life, it seemed that triumph and tragedy were often closely linked. The following year, possibly attempting to escape his sad memories, he journeyed to the United States. He arrived in New York in October of 1929—the same time as the Wall Street Stock Market crash. His United States debut was in Philadelphia on October 11th of 1929, under the baton of Leopold Stokowski, to “thunderous ovations.”
Esquire Magazine reported:…Before he had played many bars, the orchestra musicians were whispering to their partners and the audience had settled into a death-like quiet. When he arose, the deafening uproar assured him he had run neck-to-neck with the winged steed Pegasus….
Olin Downes, for many years the New York Times’ chief music critic, wrote of Iturbi’s New York debut: “…In the light of a single concert, Mr. Iturbi appears as the one new and significant figure among visiting virtuosi to have reached these shores this season.”
Another critic from a different newspaper referred to his “feathery pianissimi—like a column of smoke passing over the keys,” and all agreed that his taste was infallible, his style dynamic and “free from romantic nonsense.”
Eleven days later came his Carnegie Hall recital debut. The report the following morning carried the headlines “Cries of ‘Bravo’ Halt José Iturbi—Crash of Applause Delays Spanish Pianist’s Recital…Practically no Phase of Piano Music Outside his Ken.”
Iturbi left the United States to return to Paris on January 30th, 1930. Esquire reported that the music critic from the New York Herald-Tribune waved him off with “the most stirring praise any artist has ever known. Nor was there one less enthusiastic voice in New York’s usually astringent corps of musical arbiters. Not even Horowitz had commanded such immediate and universal respect.”
What a special night, we were all treated to an evening of great friends, great food, and the best music one could ever hope for.
The Hollywood Bowl
2301 Highland Ave.
Los Angeles, CA. 90068
