Jose Iturbi, at 55, is a pianist who is regarded by a vast public as a saint of the keyboard, by critics as a fallen angel. Twenty-two years ago, when Valencia-born Jose made his U.S. debut, there were hardly enough superlatives to fit his playing. But last March, after his first Carnegie Hall recital in six years, the same judges shook their saddened heads, damned him as a perfunctory performer. They conceded that Iturbi still had his nimble technique, delicate shadings and tone colors. But, as the Herald Tribune's Jerome D. Bohm put it, that made it "all the more regrettable"...
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