Alicia de Larrocha

Alicia de Larrocha i de la Calle (* May 23, 1923 in Barcelona, † September 25, 2009 ibid ) was a Spanish pianist.

Life

De Larrocha began piano lessons with Frank Marshall, a student of Enrique Granados at the age of three years. Six year old, she appeared for the first time in public at the Expo 1929 in Barcelona, five years later her debut with orchestra. Since 1947, she made international tours and became one of the most successful pianists of her generation.

De Larrocha performed with many major orchestras in Europe, Israel, the USA, Latin America, Japan and South Asia to under renowned conductors such as Eugen Jochum, Sir Simon Rattle, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Zubin Mehta and Kent Nagano. She has worked with musicians such as Victoria de los Angeles and Montserrat Caballe, the Guarneri String Quartet and the Tokyo String Quartet together and led by Francis Poulenc on the concerto for two pianos. Federico Mompou, with whom she was friends, her devoted several works.

Its focus was on the classical and romantic repertoire, particularly Mozart and Schumann. Outside Spain it was perceived primarily as a specialist in works by Spanish composers, including by Padre Antonio Soler, Enrique Granados and the complete piano works by Isaac Albéniz.

Since 1975, she received three Grammys, two Grands Prix du Disque and the price of the German Record Critics. In 1985 she was awarded the Premio Nacional de Música and 1994 the Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Artes. It was in 1988 a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, and the University of Michigan awarded her an honorary doctorate.

De Larrocha was married since 1950 with the Spanish pianist Juan Torra († 1982), the two children Juan and Alicia looked after and the Conservatory of the musician managed to allow his wife an international career.