Composer: Isaac Albéniz, Alexis Emmanuel Chabrier, Paul Dukas, Antonín Dvořák, Manuel de Falla, Mikhail Glinka, Enrique Granados, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Joaquín Turina y Perez
Performer: Clifford Curzon
Orchestra: Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, New Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Enrique Jorda
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Eloquence
Catalogue: ELQ4840403
Release: 2021
Size: 384 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
01. Dukas: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
02. Glinka: Ruslan & Lyudmila Overture
03. Chabrier: Danse Slave
04. Falla: Danse Espagnole No. 1 (from La Vida Breve)
05. Granados: Danza española, Op. 37 No. 5 ‘Andaluza’
06. Granados: Orientale (No. 2 from 12 Danzas españolas)
07. Granados: Danza española, Op. 37 No. 6 ‘Jota’
Turina: La Procesion del Rocio, Op. 9
08. Fiesta en Triana
09. La Procesión
10. Albéniz: El puerto (from Iberia, book 1)
11. Albéniz: Triana (from Iberia, book 2)
12. Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32
Falla: Noches en los jardines de España
13. 1. En el generalife
14. 2. Danza lejana
15. 3. En los jardines de la Sierra de Córdoba
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 ‘From the New World’
16. 1. Adagio – Allegro molto
17. 2. Largo
18. 3. Scherzo. Molto vivace
19. 4. Allegro con fuoco
A new collection of Deccas legendary ffrr recordings from the early 1950s, made by an underrated Spanish master of orchestral colour in London and Paris. Includes several items new to CD. Enrique Jorda described conducting as a hair-raising business, and his career never recovered from a very public dressing-down by George Szell while music director of the San Francisco Symphony in the early 1960s. However, he was a true podium artist, lithe and mobile in action, who could draw upon a remarkably broad palette of orchestral colours. Deccas full frequency range recording technology was the perfect vehicle for conveying them to the ears of listeners at home. Though he made his best recordings for Decca, there were only two complete LPs, both of them reissued here, of Dvoraks New World Symphony (July 1951) and bonnes bouches by Jordas compatriots Albeniz, Falla, Granados and Turina (February 1950).
The Dvorak was made in London with the New Symphony Orchestra at the same time as Jordas second recording of Fallas Nights in the Gardens of Spain with Clifford Curzon the soloist: an account which has often been praised for its subtle shifts of mood. The Spanish pieces were recorded in Paris with the Conservatoire orchestra, alongside pieces that showed how unfairly limiting was Jordas reputation as a Spanish specialist. There are virtuoso but accurate and unflashy accounts of The Sorcerers Apprentice alongside showpieces by Glinka and Chabrier, initially issued together on a 10-inch LP, never previously released complete on CD.
Also from the Paris sessions, Jorda secures edge-of-seat playing and potent atmosphere in Tchaikovskys dark fantasia after Dante, Francesca da Rimini. Mastery of the involutions of Spanish rhythms makes mastery of the healthier Czech meters easy, and the very talented Spaniard Jorda gives us here the most rousing performance on records, variation without diffusion, nuance without affectation. High Fidelity, Spring 1952 (Dvorak) The new Nights in the Garden of Spain will be the touchstone by which future performances must be judged. High Fidelity, Spring 1952 A stunning Sorcier The Glinka is just as alert and satisfying The whole thing ripples along perfectly. A very old gentleman to whom I played it said it reminded him of the Empire in palmy days; this made me wish that I, too, were an octogenarian. Gramophone, November 1950 (Dukas, Glinka, Chabrier) Splendid recording I strongly recommend it for our English climate This rich record holds many delights. Gramophone, November 1950 (Music from Spain)