One of Opera Chic's secret wishes is to one day have the chance to leaf through Eugene Ormandy's precious annotated scores, trying to unlock their secrets; those scores, the complete collection, are kept -- among many other treasures -- at the Annenberg Rare Book And Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania.
The Ormandy Archive is just a drop of the billions and billions of dollars woth of philanthropy (cultural and humanitarian alike) for which Leonore Cohn Rosenstiel Annenberg and her late husband, Ambassador Walter Annenberg, have been responsible throughout the decades.
Mrs. Annenberg passed away earlier today at the age of 91; she was a trustee and donor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, among other institutions.
It's particularly sad that these news arrive just one day after the Philadelphia Orchestra cut jobs (one fifth of its administrative staff) and pay.