Autographed 4.75” x 7” Fayer photograph of the
Austrian piano virtuoso with the Conciertos Iriberri stamp on the verso, 1948,
or 1949.
Bernardo Iriberri (1882 - 19??) was a Spanish/Jewish
concert promoter who arrived in Buenos Aires in 1906 initially as a concert
pianist. His Conciertos Iriberri was the
most prestigious of all the concert managers in Buenos Aires and always had the
top talent available for the audiences in Argentina. He spent a great deal of
his time in New York City working with Sol Hurok and was given the rights to
contract many of Hurok’s artists. Among the pianist tours he managed in South
America included: Conchita Badia, Alexander Borovsky, Alfred Cortot, Rudolf
Firkusny, Wilhelm Kempff, Moriz Rosenthal and Artur Rubinstein.
Iriberri was always on the prowl for the hottest
talents and when he discovered Gulda, he signed him up as soon as
possible. He brought the 19 year old
pianist to Buenos Aires at the end of December 1948 with an initial concert at
the Teatro Astral as a benefit for the local Wagner Association. That recital
led to a performance with a chamber orchestra of the Mozart 23rd piano concerto
k 488. The concert was met with varied
reviews. Iriberri decided to risk
putting his new talent at the Teatro Colon, the first on New Years day
1949. The audience was not as well
attended as they had hoped, but the attendees at the end of the concert were
described as delirious. So much so that he was carried out of the hall in a
hero’s welcome. Gulda played an
additional concert at the Teatro Colon to a packed house. A fourth concert was performed at the Teatro Gran
Rex with the Symphony Orchquestra Sinfonica del Cuidad de Buenos Aires under
Argentine conductor Ferrucio Calusio. He
performed concertos by Beethoven, Mozart and Prokofiev to the delight of the
audience.
Gulda would perform three concerts in Buenos Aires in
1950 after his tour of North America, three more in 1952 and a Beethoven sonata
cycle in 1954. He would not appear there
again until 1960.
An important early image of Gulda!
Music Antiquarian and
Appraiser
New York, New York
All items guaranteed authentic