I wanted to mention the passing tonight of a true giant in the classical music world, Alicia de Larrocha. Beyond saying personally how much I adore her work and how she more than anyone has opened my mind to classical pianism, I'll refer you to her New York Times obituary (the only one published in English as of this writing). Most of all, though, you'll want to listen to and discover her work via YouTube, some links of which I'm also providing.
From Allan Kozinn in the New York Times --
Alicia de Larrocha, the diminutive Spanish pianist esteemed for her elegant Mozart performances and regarded as an incomparable interpreter of Albéniz, Granados, Mompou and other Spanish composers, died on Friday evening in a hospital in Barcelona. She was 86.
[edit]
In a career that began when she was a child — she made her concert debut at 5, and her first recording at 9 — Ms. de Larrocha cultivated a poetic interpretive style in which gracefulness was prized over technical flashiness or grand, temperamental gestures. But her approach, combined with her small stature — she was only 4-foot-9 — was deceptive: early in her career she played all the big Romantic concertos, including those of Liszt and Rachmaninoff, and she could produce a surprisingly large, beautifully sculptured sound.
Even so, it was in music that demanded focus, compactness and subtle coloristic breadth that Ms. de Larrocha excelled. Her Mozart performances, as well as her readings of Bach and Scarlatti, were so carefully detailed and light in texture that even as public taste shifted toward the more scholarly interpretations of period-instrument specialists, Ms. de Larrocha’s readings retained their allure. She was closely associated with the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, where she first performed in 1971. Her appearances remained among the festival’s hottest tickets until her final performance there in 2003.
And here are a few of many YouTube postings of her work... Enjoy
-- Performing Albeniz's "Evocacion" from the Iberia suite;
-- Manuel de Falla's "Fire Dance" ("Danse rituelle du feu");
-- Ravel's Concerto in G;
-- a wonderful recording posted by "lochness 11" of an evening at Hunter College with Victoria de los Angeles and de Larrocha from 1971;
-- and Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25.
Good night, Alicia.