Lance's programs 22 & 29 Nov 2014: José Iturbi, piano

[Lance]

Dear friends of CMG:

On Saturday, November 22, 2014 and Saturday November 29, 2014, I present a double-tribute to the famous (in more than one way!) pianist—JOSÉ ITURBI—at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. Born in Spain on 28 November 1895, Iturbi died in a California hospital in California on 28 June 1980 at the age of 84. His father was a piano technician-tuner. Iturbi made his fame not only as a pianist, but as a movie star appearing in such popular family favourites as Three Darling Daughters, among others. Not only was he first and foremost a pianist, but a composer, conductor, harpsichordist, and teacher.

From the outside, it looked as though life could not be any better for a piano virtuoso, however, Iturbi had his share of lifelong problems to deal with, first an auto accident where he decided never to drive to concerts again, but to learn to fly, which he did, going from concert-to-concert. Having married in 1916, his wife passed away in 1928 leaving him with a daughter, Maria, who committed suicide at the age of 28 in 1946. Then his beloved sister-pianist, Amparo, passed away in 1969, with Iturbi at her bedside until the very end. He was left with two granddaughters, left by his daughter Maria, who was divorced from an unhappy marriage.

Iturbi was two-sided, i.e., everyone loved his outgoing and humorous side. The other was quite alarming as he could be mean, contentious, obstinante, and sometimes inconsiderate of others. His moods showed clearly on his face when he arrived at recording sessions or concert since he detested having to deal with "agreements." I give some examples of this other side on the broadcast.

Iturby recorded for RCA, EMI (HMV), and then started his own label, Turia, which really never took off. His aim was to create a better piano sound that what he was accustomed to on his commercial recordings. For a man of such stature, nonetheless, his recordings were not all that prolific, but what has remained is outstanding pianism from recordings that were released.

A Baldwin piano artist, Iturbi switched his allegiance from Steinway early on in his career. Baldwin bent over backwards to provide the artist with their finest instruments.

The program is heard at 7:00 p.m. EASTERN time on your computer at this link:

http://wpel.streamon.fm/

PROGRAM No. 1 - 22 November 2014

♫ D. Scarlatti: Two Sonatas: in G Minor, L. 449 and C Major, L. 449 (r.1933)
♫ Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 10 in E-flat Major, K. 365 with Amparo Iturbi, pianist; Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Iturbi (r.1940)
♫ Ravel: Sonatine (complete) (r.1958)
♫ Granados: Allegro de Concierto, Op. 46 (r.1958)

PROGRAM No. 2 - 29 November 2014

♫ Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major, K. 332 (r.1937-38, RCA]
♫ Liszt: Fantasy on Hungarian Folk Melodies for Piano & Orchestra w/Valencia Symphony Orchestra (Spain), José Iturbi, conductor/pianist (r.1954, RCA)
♫ Debussy: Arabesque No. 1 in E Major; Arabesque No. 2 in G Major (r.1950s, RCA)
♫ Saint-Saëns: Allegro Appassianato, Op. 70 (r.1950s, RCA)
♫ Chopin: Polonaise No. 3 in A Major, Op. 40, No. 1 {"Military") [r.1960s [EMI]
♫ [Encore] Chopin: Etude in F Minor, Op. 25, No. 2 {"Bees"} [r.1960s, EMI]

The program can be heard anywhere in the world as long as you have a computer with speakers and adjust your time schedule to equate to 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. My usual descriptive dialogue about the artist or subject matter precedes the musical content.

I hope you will enjoy the program on two Saturdays, November 22, 2014 and November 29, 2014, which is now heard all over the world via the Internet at the above-listed URL. •

[John F]

My parents had that recording of the Mozart double concerto and I listened to it again and again. Recently I came across Iturbi recording of Morton Gould's "Boogie Woogie Etude" in the Jan Holcman Collection at the Performing Arts Library. He composed it for Iturbi at a moment's notice and they premiered it on Gould's radio show the next day. Lance may have other recordings of the piece - Shura Cherkassky played it as an encore - but Iturbi's is surely the fastest, coming in at less than two minutes.

Holcman singled out Iturbi's recording of Debussy's Arabesques as the best in his critical discography of Debussy. For what it's worth.

[Lance]

Worth a lot! Love comments like this. Thank you, John Francis!

My parents had that recording of the Mozart double concerto and I listened to it again and again. Recently I came across Iturbi recording of Morton Gould's "Boogie Woogie Etude" in the Jan Holcman Collection at the Performing Arts Library. He composed it for Iturbi at a moment's notice and they premiered it on Gould's radio show the next day. Lance may have other recordings of the piece - Shura Cherkassky played it as an encore - but Iturbi's is surely the fastest, coming in at less than two minutes.

Holcman singled out Iturbi's recording of Debussy's Arabesques as the best in his critical discography of Debussy. For what it's worth.

[Holden Fourth]

I'm listening to Iturbi in Spotify. I really like his approach to Mozart (K332) - full blooded with plenty of drama.

I see that APR has a 3 disc set of his playing that might be worth a look at. Based on his Mozart I'd also be interested in his LvB. From what I can see he recorded Op 14/1 and Op 27/2.

[John F]

My parents had the Iturbis' recording of the Mozart double concerto, and it's what I learned the music from. Haven't heard it in many decades and don't know what I'd think of it now - maybe I should find out.

As I said in another thread, Iturbi's style grates on me. There are very few of his recordings I'd listen to a second time, which is the main reason why I haven't listened to many of them the first time. But one of them is so special that I included it in my sound archives show last summer: Morton Gould's "Boogie Woogie Etude." Gould composed it for Iturbi, who recorded it soon after, and it's a riot! If you have it and can squeeze it in (about 2 minutes), I recommend it.