Monday, September 28, 2009

Alicia de Larrocha

I was particularly touched to hear about the death of pianist Alicia de Larrocha.

I got to see her perform at least once, and I think twice. Is it fair to say she did not look like a concert pianist? She didn't look like a concert pianist. She looked like my grandmother. Grandmotherly. Being 4 ft. 9 inches will do that. My grandmother was tall in comparison.

Her performances of Mozart were a formative part of my musical upbringing; we had a recording of her on 8 track tape, which we played over and over on long car trips as a family. When that died, I bought cassettes. Now I'm going to have to buy some downloads for iTunes. Those interpretations are what I think of when I think of Mozart piano sonatas. What a grace and blessing to have that part of her forever.

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