To my dismay, I recently I heard about the death of the great Spanish pianist, Alicia de Larrocha. I was quite fortunate to attend some of her solo recitals as well as appearances with the New York Philharmonic and the Mostly Mozart Orchestra.
Her forte (no pun intended) was the music of Spain and Catalonia, particularly Isaac Albeniz and Enrique Granados. She was a proponent of Joaquin Turina and Federico Mompou and was equally adept with the music of traditional western Europe like Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Liszt, Maurice Ravel, etc. Her interpretations and scintillating performances earned her worldwide recognition with three Grammy awards, the Edison Prize, two Grand Prix du Disque, and the Deutsche Schallplatten Prize. Other honors included the Paderewski Memorial Medal, the Principe de Asturias prize, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Michigan, and became an Honorary Member of the Foundation for Iberian Music at The City University of New York in 2001.
If you have never seen or heard you, please feel free to click the link below to a 1997 live concert performance of the first movement of the Ravel Piano Concerto in G with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jesus Lopez-Cobos.
