This splendid seven-disc set marks Alicia de Larrocha's 2003 retirement from the concert stage after an extraordinary career spanning more than seven decades. To many listeners, she is a peerless performer of Iberian (particularly Spanish and Catalan) music. Indeed, as her rendition of Manuel de Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain demonstrates, this Catalan pianist brilliantly captures the indefinable magic and charm of Iberian music, revealing a timeless richness and depth that lesser artists, conforming to ideas of national style, often miss. It would be a mistake, however, to define de Larrocha as an "Iberian specialist." As this set demonstrates, her rich repertoire encompasses various traditions and a timespan from the late Baroque to the present, from Bach to Xavier Montsalvatge (1912-2002). What could be less Iberian than Liszt's brooding (and astonishingly demanding) Sonata in B minor ? Yet de Larrocha's rendition of this work ingeniously breaks the spell of monotony (created by almost obsessive thematic reiterations), restoring Liszt's complex work to its original brilliance by attacking the almost insurmountable technical difficulties not as obstacles but as a means to an end. For de Larrocha, music is the profound, mysterious stream that is only imperfectly defined by the linear mechanics of quantified time and form. Listening to her impeccable performance of Bach's Italian Concerto, for example, listeners hear (feel ?) almost imperceptibly brief bursts energy as she intuitively grasps the overwhelming power locked in the formal edifice of Bach's music. Similarly, her exquisite reading of Haydn's Piano Concerto in D major follows the music's inner impulse underneath the rhythmic surface, translating the composer's inspiration into an extraordinary experience of lightness and breathtaking freedom. Also featured are impressive readings of works by Mozart, Chopin, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Ravel, Khachaturian, Mompou, and Beethoven.
Zoran Minderovic
Source : http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-art-of-alicia-de-larrocha-mw0001389038
The Art
Of
Alicia de Larrocha
Tracks
Cd. 1
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685-1750)
Concerto in the Italian Style, BWV 971
1 I. [Allegro] 3:56
2 II. Andante 5:09
3 III. Presto 3:39
French Suite n° 6 in E Major, BWV 817
4 I. Allemande 2:23
5 II. Courante 1:28
6 III. Sarabande 3:03
7 V. Gavotte 1:10
8 V. Polonaise 1:26
9 VI. Bourrée 1:23
10 VII. Menuet 1:27
11 VII. Gigue 2:13
12 Beloved Jesu, we are here (arr. Cohen) 3:32
13 Sanctify us thy goodness (arr. Cohen) 3:12
14 Chaconne in D Minor (arr. Busoni) 14:02
(from Partita n° 2 in D Minor for solo violin, BWV 1004)
Concerto n° 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056
16 I. [Allegro] 3:37
17 II. Largo 3:25
17 III. Presto 3:38
Joseph Haydn
(1732-1809)
Concerto in D Major, Hob.XVIII:2
18 I. Vivace 7:29
19 II. Un poco adagio 7:09
20 Rondo all'ungherese. Allegro assai 4:17
*
Cd. 2
Joseph Haydn
(1732-1809)
1 Andante con variazioni in F Minor, Hob.XVII:6 13:14
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)
Piano Sonata n° 11 in A Major, K.331/300i
2 I. Thema. Andante grazioso 1:54
3 Var 1 1:09
4 Var 2 1:09
5 Var 3 1:33
6 Var 4 1:17
7 Var 5 2:44
8 Var 6 1:03
9 II. Menuetto 6:04
10 III. Alla turca. Allegretto 3:16
Piano Sonata n° 18 in D Major, K576
11 I. Allegro 4:52
12 II. Adagio 5:52
13 III. Allegretto 4:07
Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)
Sept Bagatelles, Op. 33
14 N° 1 in E-Flat Major. Andante grazioso, quasi allegretto 3:53
15 N° 2 in C Major. Scherzo 2:51
16 N° 3 in F Major. Allegretto 2:04
17 N° 4 in A Major. Andante 3:30
18 N° 5 in C Major. Allegro, ma non troppo 3:08
19 N° 6 in D Major. Allegretto quasi andante 2:52
20 N° 7 in A-Flat Major. Presto 2:13
Felix Mendelssohn
(1809-1847)
21 Variations sérieuses, Op. 54 11:34
*
Cd. 3
Frédéric Chopin
(1810-1849)
24 Preludes, Op. 28
1 N° 1 in C major, Agitato 0:44
2 N° 2 in A minor, Lento 2:14
3 N° 3 in G major, Vivace 0:52
4 N° 4 in E minor, Largo 1:55
5 N° 5 in D major, Molto allegro 0:36
6 N° 6 in B minor, Lento assai 2:12
7 N° 7 in A major, Andantino 0:45
8 N° 8 in F-Sharp minor, Molto agitato 1:49
9 N° 9 in E major, Largo 1:35
10 N° 10 in C-Sharp minor, Molto allegro 0:30
11 N° 11 in B major, Vivace 0:46
12 N° 12 in G-Sharp minor, Presto 1:09
13 N° 13 in F-Sharp major, Lento 3:11
14 N° 14 in E-Flat minor, Allegro 0:29
15 N° 15 in D-Flat major ('Raindrop Prelude'), Sostenuto 5:43
16 N° 16 in B-Flat minor, Presto con fuoco 1:08
17 N° 17 in A-Flat major, Allegretto 3:40
18 N° 18 in F minor, Molto allegro 1:00
19 N° 19 in E-Flat major, Vivace 1:14
20 N° 20 in C minor, Largo 2:01
21 N° 21 in B-Flat major, Cantabile 2:04
22 N° 22 in G minor, Molto agitato 0:44
23 N° 23 in F major, Moderato 1:01
24 N° 24 in D minor, Allegro appassionato 2:47
25 Berceuse, Op. 57 4:53
Piano Concerto n° 2 in F Minor, Op. 21
26 I. Maestoso 15:21
27 II. Larghetto 9:34
28 III. Allegro vivace 8:44
*
Cd. 4
Franz Schubert
(1797-1828)
Piano Sonata in B-Flat ajor, D 960
1 I. Molto moderato 19:14
2 II. Andante sostenuto 8:33
3 III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace con delicateza 4:07
4 IV. Allegro, ma non troppo 8:08
5 Impromptu in A-Flat Major, D 899 n° 4 7:38
Franz Liszt
(1811-1886)
Piano Sonata in B Minor
6 I. Lento assai - Allegro energico - Grandioso - Recitativo - 12:11
7 II. Andante sostenuto - 7:00
8 III. Allegro energico - Andante sostenuto - Lento assai 10:52
*
Cd. 5
Robert Schumann
(1810-1856)
Fantasie in C major, Op.17
1 I. Durchaus phantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen - Im Legenden-Ton 13:35
2 II. Mäßig. Durchaus energisch - Etwas langsamer - Viel bewegter 8:13
3 III. Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten — Etwas bewegter 10:07
4 Allegro, Op. 8 9:55
5 Romance, Op. 28 n° 2 3:28
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54
6 I. Allegro affettuoso 16:09
7 II. Intermezzo: Andantino grazioso — 5:23
8 III. Allegro vivace 11:45
*
Cd. 6
Antonio Francisco Javier Jose Soler Ramos
(1729-1783)
1 Sonata in G minor, SR 42. Allegro 4:05
2 Sonata in D minor, SR 15. Allegretto mosso 4:35
3 Sonata in F major, SR 89. Allegro 3:24
Joaquín Pérez Turina
(1882-1949)
4 Zapateado (N° 3 from Tres danzas andaluzas, Op. 8) 4:02
Enrique Granados
(1867-1916)
Danzas españolas, Book 2, Op. 37
5 N° 4. "Villanesca" 5:53
6 N° 5. "Andaluza" 4:23
7 N° 6. "Rondalla aragonesa" 3:47
Goyescas
8 El pelele (Escena goyesca) 4:32
Bassols Javier Montsalvatge
(1912-2002)
Sonatine pour Yvette
9 I. Vivo e spiritoso 3:32
10 II. Moderato molto 4:08
11 III. Allegretto 2:09
Federico Mompou
(1893-1987)
12 Preludio VII (a Alicia de Larrocha) 2:15
Isaac Albéniz
(1860-1909)
13 Tango (N° 2 from España, Op. 165) 2:39
Ibéria, Book 1
14 I. Evocación 5:47
15 II. El Puerto 4:07
16 III. El Corpus Christi en Sevilla 8:40
Manuel de Falla
(1876-1946)
17 Fantasia baética 12:43
*
Cd. 7
Manuel de Falla
(1876-1946)
Nights in the Gardens of Spain
1 I. En el generalife 10:20
2 II. Danza lejana 5:19
3 III. En los jardines de la Sierra de Cordoba 8:51
Aram Il'yich Khachaturian
(1903-1978)
Piano Concerto in D-Flat Major
4 I. Allegro ma non troppo e maestoso 15:35
5 II. Andante con anima 10:44
6 III. Allegro brillante 10:18
Maurice Ravel
(1875-1937)
7 Piano Concerto For The Left Hand in D Major 18:46
*
Alicia de Larrocha - p
London Sinfonietta/David Zinman - dir. [Cd. 1, # 15-20]
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Sergiu Comissiona - dir. [Cd. 3, # 26-28 & Cd. 7, # 1-3]
Royal Philharmonoc/Charles Dutoit - dir. [Cd. 5, # 6-8]
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos [# Cd. 7, 4-6] & Lawrence Foster - dir. [# Cd. 7, # 7]
Recorded in various locations ; between January 1970 & July 1983
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