José Iturbi - Rediscovered Rca Victor Recordings - Import 16 CD Box

Credits:

José Iturbi

Description:

The complete works of Jose Iturbi, the unprecedented classical pianist who enthralled the entire U.S., are back after more than 50 years! Almost all of the songs are on CD for the first time! The 16-CD boxed set includes 187 pages of never-before-published photos and a gorgeous all-color book package. This 16-CD set, "From Hollywood to the World - Rediscovered RCA Victor Recordings," covers all the recordings he made for RCA between 1933 and 1952, including 23 previously unreleased recordings. Iturbi made a name for himself as a child prodigy, giving piano recitals at the age of seven and supplementing his family's income by playing 14 hours a day in silent movie theaters. He studied piano at the Paris Conservatory with Victor Staud and keyboard technique and interpretation with harpsichordist Wanda Landowska. 1919, at the age of 24, he became head professor of piano at the Geneva Conservatory, and in 1928 he established himself in Europe with a debut in London, followed in 1929 by an In 1929, he made his American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Stokowski, and became a popular pianist. Esquire magazine wrote, "Before he could play a few bars, the musicians in the orchestra whispered to their partners, and the audience fell into a deathly silence.When he began his performance, it was so deafeningly loud that it convinced the audience that he had run neck and neck with the winged horse Pegasus, and the demand for tickets for his 1930 recital at Carnegie Hall was so great that hundreds of chairs had to be lined up on stage," reported the " The New York Times critic wrote, "The audience went wild for the arpeggios that shone and melted in the atmosphere like clouds of golden incense. Beauty and illusion conveyed with such intelligence, balance, and objectivity ... the melody was sung sensitively. Perhaps more than anything else, what immortalized Iturbi's fame was his appearance in a succession of popular Hollywood music films, beginning with "The Hail of Thunder" in 1943 and continuing with "My Sister and the Sailor" (1947), "Music for a Million People" (1948), and "Raise the Anchor" (1953). During this period when movies, radio, and newspapers were the mass media, she often appeared as herself, performing with Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and other popular actors, demonstrating her brilliant piano virtuosity and imprinting her presence on the nation with sound and images. In the Chopin biographical film "Chopin, the Saint of Music," he was in charge of the sandtrack for the performance of Chopin's works used throughout the film, and "Polonaise de Hero" released by RCA became a bestseller, earning $110,000 in royalties during its six-month run, an extraordinary amount for the time (2 million copies had been sold by 1974). million copies sold by 1974).(1/3) Sony Music