Alicia de Larrocha recordings shine light on a Spanish piano legend

PIANIST Alicia de Larrocha said “I’m Spanish and I’m here” in her debut recordings for Decca and they’re still worth a listen 60 years on.

Spanish Pianist Alicia de Larrocha in 1977.

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PIANIST Alicia de Larrocha said “I’m Spanish and I’m here” in her debut recordings for Decca as a 30-year-old in the early 1950s. Of the five Spanish composers whose works she performed, only Enrique Granados was widely known when the albums came out.

The other four — Oscar Espla, Joaquin Rodrigo, Joaquin Turina and Frederic Mompou — were all known by de Larrocha at one time or another, and in fact Turina discovered her as a five-year-old prodigy and organised her concert debut.

For most listeners in the 1950s these mono recordings, mostly recorded in America, were their first taste of the rich and diverse 20th century Spanish piano literature.

De Larrocha returned to much of this repertoire in later stereo recordings, but this is a fascinating insight into her interpretations which must be considered the most authentic available. And it’s extraordinary how quickly the ear adjusts to mono recordings made more than 60 years ago.

DELIGHTS

By far the most famous piece on this three-disc Eloquence label set is Granados’s superb suite Goyescas — seven pieces inspired by the paintings of Francisco Goya in Madrid’s Prado Museum.

But there are plenty of other delights to be had in this The First Recordings collection which comes in at a little under four hours with informative liner notes, including an insight into de Larrocha from her daughter, also Alicia, and can be had for $22.99 from JB Hi-Fi.

For more modern de Larrocha Eloquence Decca has reissued the fine recordings she made of two Russian piano concertos — Rachmaninoff’s third and Khachaturian’s stand-alone work.

A series of Alicia de Larrocha's recordings has been reissued.

Album artwork for Alicia de Larrocha's Rachmaninov and Khachaturian piano concertos.

The Spanish virtuoso recorded the notoriously difficult “Rach 3” with Andre Previn conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in 1976, and it is fascinating to compare her reading with that of Grigory Sokolov’s live performance released by Deutsche Grammophon (reviewed elsewhere).

The Khachaturian — an enjoyable melding of Armenian folk tunes and modernism — is less of a bravura warhorse but entertaining and challenging nevertheless. Its slow movement features the unusual percussion instrument the flexatone, made from wire and metal and which sounds like a cross between a musical saw and a theremin.

De Larrocha is in formidable form and the London Philharmonic under Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos lend magnificent support on this 1973 recording.

You can pick it up at Fish Fine Music for $9.99.