poet-pianist Archive

Jose Iturbi – The Victor and HMV Solo Recordings – APR (3 discs)

by Audiophile Audition | Jul 16, 2016 | Classical Reissue Reviews

BJose Iturbi – The Victor and HMV Solo Recordings [TrackLists follow] =  APR 7307 (3 CDs), 73:15, 72:35, 65:56 (7/1/16) [Distr. by Naxos] ****: A master pianist from the past, whose recordings may interest many today. The name of Jose Iturbi (1896-1980) invokes mixed reactions from classical music enthusiasts: Iturbi earns credit as a fine pianist and musician – including extended service as a conductor – with some reservations about his decision to follow a “populist” path by way of his Hollywood “matinee idol” associations. Yet, few could dispute Iturbi’s mastery of keyboard technique, gleaned from Maria Jordan and such luminaries as Joaquin Malats, Victor Staub and Wanda Landowska. The fluidity of Iturbi’s style perhaps best finds expression in his Mozart, of which we have here – assembled by master engineer Mark Obert-Thorn – two piano sonatas; these to complement his famed recordings (on the Ivory Classics label, 70908) of the F Major Sonata, K. 332, the 2-Piano Concerto and D Minor Concerto, the former concerto with his gifted sister, Amparo. Besides the stylistic Mozart works – praised by William Kapell as “the evenest playing I know” – the Chopin group, recorded 1944-1952, reveals a firmly muscular style, quite supple, […]