José Iturbi the Conductor

In examining the CDs in the From Hollywood to the World: The Rediscovered Recordings by Pianist and Conductor José Iturbi collection, Iturbi’s role as a conductor has focused primarily on his doing “double duty” by both leading and performing as concerto soloist. However, the twelfth and thirteenth CDs in the collection provide more examples of performances in which conducting is his only priority. The first of these two CDs documents his performance of two familiar nineteenth-century symphonies, Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 56 (third) symphony in A minor, known as the “Scottish,” and Antonín Dvořák Opus 95 (ninth) symphony in E minor, best known as “From the New World.” Both of these recordings present satisfying accounts of Iturbi conducting the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.

The second CD, on the other hand, follows him to Spain, where he conducts the Valencia Symphony Orchestra. On the first of the nine tracks allotted to his performances, he conducts from the piano in a performance of Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Fantasy,” which is basically an arrangement for piano and orchestra of the fourteenth of his “Hungarian Rhapsody” compositions for solo piano. On the remaining eight tracks is a “full-time” conductor.

The most familiar of his selections is the second of two three-movement sets that Manuel de Falla excerpted from his score for Léonide Massine’s ballet “The Three-Cornered Hat.” One of the remaining tracks is Iturbi’s own composition, “Seguidillas.” The other familiar composer is Joaquín Rodrigo, but his composition is decidedly less familiar. “Homenaje a la Tempranica” was originally scored for wind band; but Iturbi conducts a version for full orchestra. The remaining composers are less familiar: Manuel Palau and Eduardo López-Chavarri. Personally, I felt that Valencia was not up to Rochester standards; so I suspect that Iturbi was trying to make the best of the cards dealt to him.

The Valencia tracks are not enough to fill the thirteenth CD. Iturbi returns to the piano for two vocal selections performed by soprano Consuelo Rubia. The first of these is Falla’s Siete canciones populares españolas, which will probably be familiar to most listeners. The second is the first of three songs in Joaquín Turina’s Homenaje a Lope de Vega. Each of the songs is a setting of one of Lope de Vega’s texts, the first taken from La discreta enamorada.

The remainder of the thirteenth CD is devoted to radio interviews. The first of these is in Spanish, meaning that I am not in a position to comment on it! The second is hosted by Don Ameche, whom I used to watch on television. Fortunately, there is enough music to balance the chit-chat. The first selection is the familiar Falla “Ritual Fire Dance.” The other is a jazz take on Fats Waller that left me more satisfied than I would have anticipated!