José Iturbi was born in Valencia on 28 November 1895. He began at the piano at three, and by seven was earning money playing in street cafés. He took first prize at the Valencia Conservatory in 1908 and went on to Paris, studying with Victor Staub and taking a premier prix in 1912; he also received keyboard instruction from the harpsichordist Wanda Landowska. From 1919 to 1923 he headed the piano department at the Geneva Conservatory before committing himself to performance.

His London debut came in 1923, and an international career followed across Europe and South America. He made his American debut in 1929, in Philadelphia on 10 October. From 1933 he worked as conductor as well as pianist, and from 1936 to 1944 he was conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He appeared often in concert with his sister Amparo, herself a pianist.

From the 1940s he was also a screen presence, appearing in MGM musicals including Thousands Cheer (1943), Anchors Aweigh (1945) and Three Daring Daughters (1948). He composed piano pieces drawing on Spanish traditions. Iturbi died in Los Angeles on 28 June 1980, aged 84.

Iturbi held that classical music should be a recognisable part of ordinary entertainment, and he pursued that belief through concerts, films, recordings and competitions rather than through the recital hall alone. The Hollywood appearances made him one of the most widely recognised classical musicians of his generation, and they placed piano playing in front of an audience that would not otherwise have encountered it — a fact that has coloured his reputation ever since.

Critics have differed over his readings of the central classical repertory, but his command of Spanish music was not disputed. His conducting career, and in particular the eight years at Rochester, gave him a second professional identity that few pianists of his standing sustained for as long.

His name survives institutionally as well as on record. Two international music competitions bear it, founded in 1981 and 2007, and Valencia’s philharmonic concert hall is named after him. He has also passed into literature, appearing in the work of Philip Roth and Cormac McCarthy.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Iturbi
https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-history-composers-and-performers-biographies/jose-iturbi