Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Conductor's 8 x 10: Carlo Maria Guilini



When I was nineteen or twenty years of age I decided to collect some eight-by-tens of orchestra conductors. Back in the days before the Internet the process of getting mailing addresses for the various orchestras was not too much of a problem. My local library, like most of the kind, had reference books for such a task. I collected several contacts. In the name of good public relations I always got a response, a large-size envelope containing an eight-by-ten glossy.

Italian conductor Carlo Maria Guilini (1914-2005) enjoyed a long and prolific career. When I mailed off for his eight-by-ten he was principal conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra. Guilini was also an acclaimed leader of opera, staging works such as La traviata and Don Carlos.

The glossy's stock signature was done in grease pencil. Unfortunately much of it was lifted off when the photo sat in the stack.

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