About this Item
- Quarto, 12-1/8 inches high by 9-1/4 inches wide. Softcover, bound in stapled white wrappers with a cover illustration by Howard Chandler Christy. Christy's cover illustration depicts a lovely young woman playing a lyre beneath the "American Guild of Musical Artists, Inc.'s" banner and with the illustrator's presentation "Best Greetings from Howard Chandler Christy 1937" printed at the bottom left of the image. The covers are soiled with some foxing, particularly near the edges, and there is a small hole at the bottom of the front cover. A three inch strip has been clipped away from the bottom edge of the blank rear cover. 22 leaves, illustrated with full-page portraits of the 13 artists participating in this benefit concert: Gaspar Cassado, Kirsten Flagstad, Jascha Heifetz, Josef Hofmann, Jose Iturbi, Lotte Lehmann, Lauritz Melchior, Lily Pons, Elisabeth Rethberg, Albert Spalding, Gladys Swarthout, Lawrence Tibbett, and Efrem Zimbalist. Several pictorial ads also decorate the program. There are 3 tiny holes to the lower right corner of the last leaf and a tiny hole to the corner of the preceding leaf. There is a tiny tear to the bottom front corner of Lawrence Tibbett's portrait. Remnants of light blue paper, possibly from a ticket, adhere to the inner edge of one of the "Programme" pages. Good. A rare souvenir program. The concert included performances of works by Beethoven, Sarasate, Brahms, Paganini, Purcell, Chopin, Verdi, Bach, Wagner, Strauss, Rossini, Leo Blech, etc.A labor union, the American Guild of Musical Artists was founded in 1936, the year preceding this program, to represent opera singers who were being forced into unfair contracts. The guild soon expanded to include ballet dancers and other dancers, dance companies, opera directors and backstage employees, as well as figure skaters. At the time of the Guild's formation Lawrence Tibbett was President and Jascha Heifetz 1st Vice-President. In 1937 Howard Chandler Christy created the AGMA's logo, represented on the cover of this souvenir program, which he gifted to the guild. Seller Inventory # 36607
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