But now, Decca Eloquence has come forth with a two-CD set [484 0403, 142:45, ADD] giving us orchestral music by Dukas, Glinka, Chabrier, Falla, Granados, Turina, Albéniz and Tchaikovsky, all recorded between 1950 and 1951 all, of course, mono inscriptions. New to these CDs is Dvorak's New World Symphony of London, a first release on the label. The orchestra in other tracks is the Orchestra of Conservatory Concerts-Paris. Thrown in for good measure is the 1951 recording of Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain with pianist Clifford Curzon, the latter of which has been released a number of times.
Jordá led a number of orchestras, one of which was the San Francisco Symphony (1953-1964) which, in the eyes of George Szell, was so poor and undisciplined that Szell refused to conduct the second week of a guest contract in 1962. John Culshaw of Decca noted: "Jordá in those [early] days was showing more than considerable promise ..." [there was only one problem] "he talked endlessly, worse still, his accent was all but incomprehensible.' And more: "Over the years to come, Jordá quite literally talked himself out of a succession of posts, some of which were major steps on the ladder to the international career he so wanted; and nobody could stop him, or improve his pronunciation."
So, in the end, Jordá is gone and what remains is the few recordings he left to posterity. Given what we know of Stokowski, Furtwangler, Toscanini, Bernstein, and a whole raft of conductors whose names remain famous to this day, Jordá's contribution will be of interest to collectors of conductors, great, or perhaps not so great in comparison to others. On the other hand, Jordá must have had something on the ball to work with so many really fine collaborators. Yes/No?
