Alicia de Larrocha

It’s not hard to understand why the great Catalan pianist Alicia de Larrocha was such a favorite of the Schubert Club and beloved everywhere else in the world she performed. This diminutive artist was a superb interpreter of Bach, Chopin and Mozart, and, even with small hands, a commanding performer of Beethoven and Rachmaninoff.

Here she is playing Chopin in a Spanish recital in 1970:

And in Mozart’s C major Concerto K. 467 at the 1987 Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center:

But it is above all for her singular devotion to the music of her native land that Alicia de Larrocha will always be revered, especially her unmatched artistry in the works of Spain’s two foremost exponents of Romantic piano music, Isaac Albéniz and Enrique Granados. Once asked to cite her favorite Spanish piano composer, de Larrocha demurred: “I would say, though, that Granados…was the only one who captured the true Romantic flavor. His style was aristocratic, elegant and poetic – completely different from Falla and Albéniz. To me, each of them represents a different world. Falla was the one who really caught the spirit of Gypsy music. And Albéniz, I think was more international than the others. Even though his music is Spanish in flavor, his style is downright Impressionistic.”

Here is a priceless 17-minute recital film from 1962 in which Alicia de Larrocha demonstrates her mastery in works by all three composers:

Artist note by Richard Evidon