Alicia de Larrocha

Alicia de Larrocha y de la Calle (23 May 1923 – 25 September 2009) was a Spanish pianist from Catalonia. One of the great piano legends of the 20th century, Reuters called her "the greatest Spanish pianist in history", Time "one of the world's most outstanding pianists" and The Guardian "the leading Spanish pianist of her time".

She won multiple Grammy Awards and a Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts. She is credited with bringing greater popularity to the compositions of Isaac Albéniz and Enrique Granados. In 1995, she became the first Spanish artist to win the UNESCO Prize.

Alicia de Larrocha was born in Barcelona. She began studying piano with Frank Marshall at the age of three. Both her parents were pianists and she was also the niece of pianists. Beginning her career at the age of three, she gave her first public performance at the age of five at the International Exposition in Barcelona. She performed her first concert at the age of six at the World's Fair in Seville in 1929, and had her orchestral debut at the age of 11. By 1943, her performances were selling out in Spain. She began touring internationally in 1947, and in 1954 toured North America with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 1969, de Larrocha performed in Boston for the Peabody Mason Concert series.

De Larrocha made numerous recordings of the solo piano repertoire and in particular the works of composers of her native Spain. She is best known for her recordings of the music of Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Federico Mompou, and Isaac Albéniz, as well as her 1967 recordings of Antonio Soler's keyboard sonatas. She recorded for Hispavox, CBS/Columbia/Epic, BMG/RCA and London/Decca, winning her first Grammy Award in 1975 and her last one in 1992, at the age of almost seventy. She received the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts in 1994.[2]

Less than five feet tall and with small hands for a pianist,[1][2] in her younger years she was nonetheless able to tackle all the big concertos (all five by Beethoven, Liszt's No. 1, Brahms's No. 2, Rachmaninoff's Nos. 2 and 3, both of Ravel's, Prokofiev's No. 3, those of Bliss and Khachaturian, and many more), as well as the wide spans demanded by the music of Granados, Albéniz and de Falla. She had a "long fifth finger" and a "wide stretch between thumb and index finger" which helped make her more technically gifted.[3]

As she grew older she began to play a different style of music; more Mozart and Beethoven were featured in her recitals and she became a regular guest at the "Mostly Mozart Festival" of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. In 2001, she was named Honorary Member of the Foundation for Iberian Music at The City University of New York. De Larrocha retired from public performance in October 2003, aged 80, following a 76-year career.

Alicia de Larrocha died on 25 September 2009 in Quiron Hospital, Barcelona, aged 86. She had been in declining health since breaking her hip five years previously. Her husband, the pianist Juan Torra, with whom she had two children, died in 1982.

Culture Minister Ángeles González-Sinde described her as "an extraordinary ambassador for Spain". The Barcelona Symphony Orchestra had one minute's silence in her memory before their performances on the weekend after her death. The Daily Telegraph's Damian Thompson complimented her "rich legacy" and said she "virtually owned a small chunk of the piano repertoire". The Baltimore Sun's Tim Smith praised the "excellent" obituary she was given by Allan Kozinn in The New York Times. On 26 September 2009, pianist Stephen Hough played an encore at Orchestra Hall, Minnesota. He announced his piece —"Capricho Catalán" by Albéniz— and dedicated it to the memory of Alicia de Larrocha. "She was a completely unique artist, with a unique sound and a unique career," Hough said. On 27 September 2009 Peter Oundjian and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra dedicated their performance of the Brahms 2nd Symphony to Alicia de Larrocha.[citation needed] On 3 December 2009, pianist Sonya Bach, in collaboration with the Honorary Consulate of Spain in Switzerland, dedicated a solo recital titled "Remembering Alicia de Larrocha" at Cultural Center Spazio Aperto, Bellinzona, in memory of her late mentor.