Stravinsky, Igor. (1882–1971)
Signed Photograph
Signed photograph of the great composer and conductor, inscribed to Cleveland Orchestra harpist Alice Chalifoux and dated February 27, 1937. Stravinsky is shown as a younger man at the piano, as photographed by Studio Lipnitzki of Paris in 1929. At the right he has penned: "Pour Mlle. Alice Chalifoux un 'thank you' bien sincère." In very fine condition. 9.5 x 7 inches (24.1 x 17.7 cm).Stravinsky visited Cleveland in 1937 to conduct the Pétroushka suite, his Violin Concerto (performed by soloist Samuel Dushkin), and the divertimento from his ballet Le Baiser de la Fée. "Reviewers continued to be simultaneously impressed and shocked by Stravinsky’s music and conducting, but were generally enthusiastic about the composer’s work. As David Eugene Clayman of the Jewish Review wrote, 'When Stravinsky conducts, every dissonance, every brassy shriek, every percussive tremor – has a reason for being. It is not as if he merely shook ink from his pen on his music paper.' " (Cleveland Orchestra website.)
From the collection of Alice Chalifoux, principal harpist with the Cleveland Orchestra from 1931 to 1974 and, for many years, its only female member. Chalifoux played under the first five music directors of the Cleveland Orchestra: Nikolai Sokoloff, Artur Rodzinski, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell and Lorin Maazel. She studied with Carlos Salzedo and went on to train a further generation of harpists at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Oberlin College, Baldwin-Wallace College and the Salzedo Harp Colony. Described as "diminutive, salty-tongued and beloved," she was especially known for her sharp wit. (15192)
Signed Photograph Classical Music