José Iturbi
b. 28 November 1895, Valencia, Spain, d. 28 June 1980, Los Angeles, California, USA. A child prodigy, Iturbi studied piano at the Paris Conservatoire de Musique and later taught at the Music Conservatory in Geneva. In 1929 he made his New York debut and, remaining based in the USA, at first concentrated on classical music, touring as a concert pianist. He made his debut as a conductor in Mexico City in 1933, later working also in this capacity including being principal conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1936-44. In Hollywood from the mid-40s, he appeared in MGM’s Thousands Cheer (1943). Iturbi not only played classical music but also boogie-woogie, expectedly excelling at the former but faring badly at the latter. In 1944 he was in Adventure In Music and Two Girls And A Sailor, in which June Allyson, Jimmy Durante, Virginia O’Brien and the bands of Xavier Cugat and Harry James also appeared. In the same year’s Music For Millions, with Allyson, Durante and O’Brien, Iturbi took an orchestra through a selection of popular classics unhindered by much of a plot. A little better was Anchors Aweigh (1945), with Kelly, Grayson and Frank Sinatra.
Also in 1945 came what many regard, with considerable justification, as the worst-ever Hollywood biopic, A Song To Remember. Saddled with an unintentionally hilarious script, it supposedly portrayed the life of classical composer Frederick Chopin. Iturbi provided the soundtrack piano playing for Cornel Wilde’s on-screen Chopin and on the heels of this, his record of the composer’s ‘Polonaise In A-Flat Major’ sold extremely well. Iturbi was also in Holiday In Mexico (1946, with Ilona Massey, Jane Powell and Cugat and his band) and Three Daring Daughters (1948, which also had Powell and in which Iturbi was called upon to act a leading role opposite the film’s star, Jeanette MacDonald). In 1949 Mario Lanza made his film debut opposite Grayson in MGM’s glossy musical romance, That Midnight Kiss (1949). Although the film’s score was by Bronislaw Kaper, Iturbi not only appeared on-screen but was also music supervisor. He continued to work, chiefly in the classical field, for some years before retiring. The city of his birth honours him with street names and in hosting, since 1976, the biennial José Iturbi Piano Competition.
© TiVo
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Iturbi Plays Debussy, Schumann, Chopin, Chavarri & Granados (2023 Remastered Version)
Classique - Paru chez RCA Red Seal le 3 mars 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Sonate No. 14 "Clair de lune" (Mono Version)
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Piano espagnol (Mono Version)
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 (2023 Remastered Version)
Classique - Paru chez RCA Red Seal le 1 janv. 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Palau Boix: Marche burlesque & Hommage à Debussy (Mono Version)
Orquesta de Valencia, José Iturbi
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue - Chambers: All American - Gould: American Symphonette No. 4 (2023 Remastered Version)
Classique - Paru chez RCA Red Seal le 3 mars 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Victor & HMV Solo Recordings
Classique - Paru chez APR le 30 sept. 2016
Gramophone Editor's Choice16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 (2023 Remastered Version)
Classique - Paru chez RCA Red Seal le 3 mars 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 (2023 Remastered Version)
Classique - Paru chez RCA Red Seal le 3 mars 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Sonata for 2 Pianos - Chabrier: 3 Valses romantiques - Debussy: En blanc et noir (2023 Remastered Version)
Classique - Paru chez RCA Red Seal le 4 mai 1951
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Music to Remember from the Life of Chopin (2023 Remastered Version)
Classique - Paru chez RCA Red Seal le 8 juin 1951
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Iturbi Plays Liszt Hungarian Fantasy and Spanish Piano Music (2023 Remastered Version)
Classique - Paru chez RCA Red Seal le 3 mars 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Récital (Mono Version)
Classique - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
José Iturbi Plays Chopin
Classique - Paru chez Past Classics le 1 août 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Sonate pour piano No. 14 "Clair de lune" (Mono Version)
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Concerto pour piano No. 22 & Sonate pour piano No. 12 (Mono Version)
José Iturbi, Orchestre de l'association des concerts Colonne
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Granados, Lazăr & Debussy: Œuvres pour piano seul (Mono Version)
Classique - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Concerto pour piano, Op. 16 - Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue & 3 Préludes (Mono Version)
José Iturbi, Orchestre Colonne
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue - Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte - Bach: Passacaglia in C Minor (2023 Remastered Version)
Classique - Paru chez RCA Red Seal le 8 mars 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Granados & Albéniz: Piano Works by José Iturbi (2024 Remastered, Paris 1959)
Classique - Paru chez Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording le 6 mai 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
José Iturbi joue Debussy et Ravel (Stereo Version)
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo