Alicia de Larrocha will always be remembered as one of the most idiomatic and poetic interpreters of Spanish piano music, but this beloved artist - born in Barcelona in 1923 to two pianists - was hardly less devoted to Mozart. In the 1990s, towards the end of her career, she undertook a series of concerto recordings for RCA with Sir Colin Davis - one of the great Mozartians of his time - conducting the English Chamber Orchestra, formidable Mozart veterans themselves. Now collected for the first time in a 6-album set, these performances were widely admired by music lovers and critics. Gramophone wrote: "In their transparency and vitality these performances are outstanding. Sir Colin's partnership is affectionate and exemplary [Nos. 25 and 27]." And of their collaboration in Nos. 19 and 27: "Sir Colin's unforced way with the opening tutti of K 595, his awareness of 'all passion spent' is haunting but unobtrusive. Such sensitivity is effortlessly mirrored by Larrocha with her enviable ease, her avoidance of all artifice or attention-seeking dalliance. Few other pianists are more attuned to Mozart's mix of pain and radiance."
Discs 1-5:
Alicia de Larrocha, piano
English Chamber Orchestra
Sir Colin Davis, conductor
Disc 1
Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-Flat Major, K. 271
I. Allegro
II. Andantino
III. Rondo (Presto)
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467
I. Allegro maestoso
II. Andante
III. Allegro vivace assai
Disc 2
Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegro assai
Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor, K. 491
I. Allegro
II. Larghetto
III. Allegretto
Disc 3
Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-Flat Major, K. 482
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Allegro
Piano Concerto No. 26 in D Major, K. 537
I. Allegro
II. Larghetto
III. Allegretto
Disc 4
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466
I. Allegro
II. Romanze
III. Allegro assai
Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, K. 503
I. Allegro maestoso
II. Andante
III. Finale - Allegretto
Disc 5
Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-Flat Major, K. 595
I. Allegro
II. Larghetto
III. Allegro
Piano Concerto No. 19 in F Major, KV 459
I. Allegro
II. Allegretto
III. Allegro assai
Disc 6
Concerto No. 10 for 2 Pianos in E-Flat Major, K. 365 (316a)
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Rondo. Allegro
Alicia de Larrocha, piano
Orchestra of St. Luke's
Andre Previn, conductor
Sonata for 2 Pianos in D Major, K. 448
I. Allegro con spirito
II. Andante
III. Allegro molto
Andre Previn, piano
Alicia de Larrocha, piano