Alicia de Larrocha – The Complete EMI Recordings (8 CD box set, FLAC)

Composer: Isaac Albeniz, Blas de Laserna, Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Jeronimo Gimenez, Antonio Literes, Antonio Soler, Joaquin Turina, Xavier Montsalvatge
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha, Victoria de Los Angeles
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 8 CD box set
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: EMI Classics
Size: 2.77 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

Soler, Antonio : Keyboard Sonata No. 24 in D minor (Andantino cantabile)
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Soler, Antonio : Keyboard Sonata No. 84 in D major (Allegro)
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Soler, Antonio : Keyboard Sonata No. 85 in F sharp minor
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Soler, Antonio : Keyboard Sonata No. 89 in F major
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Soler, Antonio : Keyboard Sonata No. 90 in F sharp major
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Soler, Antonio : Keyboard Sonata No. 21 in C sharp minor (Allegro)
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Soler, Antonio : Keyboard Sonata No. 87 in G minor
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Soler, Antonio : Keyboard Sonata No. 88 in D flat major
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Pieces (6) on Spanish Folksongs, for piano, H. 125, DLR 5 :: 2
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Goyescas (Dandies in Love), pieces (6) in 2 books for piano, H. 64, DLR 2 :: 4
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : El pelele, for piano (also arr. for 2 pianos by Llongás), H. 106, DLR 2 :: 5
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : Iberia Suite, for piano, B. 47
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : Suite Iberia
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : Azulejos, for piano, B. 50
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : Cantos de España, Op. 232
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : Pavana capricho, for piano in E minor (also arranged for 2 pianos), Op. 12, B. 1
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : España, Op. 165 :: Tango
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : Recuerdos de viaje, Op. 71 :: 8. Rumores de la caleta
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : Recuerdos de viaje, Op. 71 :: 6. Puerta de Tierra
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : Cantos de Espagna, Op. 232
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : Suite española No. 2 :: Zaragoza
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : España, Op. 165 :: Malagueña
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : Barcarola for Piano, Op. 202 “Mallorca”
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : Piezas características (12), Op. 92
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Spanish Dances (12), in 4 volumes for piano, Op. 37, H. 142, DLR 1 :: 2
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Danza lenta, for piano, H. 44, DLR 1 :: 6
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Allegro de concierto, for piano in C major, Op. 46, H. 6, DLR 5 :: 8
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Valses poéticos (7), for piano, H. 147, DLR 7 :: 8
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Escenas románticas, pieces (6) for piano, H. 57, DLR 5 :: 7
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Falla, Manuel de : Piezas Españolas (4) for Piano
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Falla, Manuel de : Danza Española No. 1 (la vida breve)
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Falla, Manuel de : El sombrero de tres picos :: Danza de los vecinos
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Falla, Manuel de : El sombrero de tres picos :: Danza de la molinara
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Falla, Manuel de : El amor brujo
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Falla, Manuel de : Fantasía bética for Piano
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) : La Vega, Fantaisie espagnole for piano, B. 46 (for the incomplete suite, “Alhambra”)
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Joaquín Turina (1882 – 1949) : Sanlucar de Barrameda, sonata pintoresca, for piano, Op. 24
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Joaquín Turina (1882 – 1949) : Danzas fantásticas, for orchestra (or piano), Op. 22
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Joaquín Turina (1882 – 1949) : Zapateado, for piano (Danzas andaluzas No. 3), Op. 8/3
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Joaquín Turina (1882 – 1949) : Sacromonte, for piano (Danzas gitanas, Set 1, No. 5), Op. 55/5
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Montsalvatge, Xavier : Concierto breve, for piano & orchestra
Performer: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)
Conductor: Garcia Ravarro

Literes, Antonio : Acis y Galatea :: Confiado Jilguerillo
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Laserna, Blas de : El Trípili, for voice & piano
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Nueve tonadillas :: La maja de Goya
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Nueve tonadillas :: Amor y odio
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Nueve tonadillas :: El majo tímido
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Nueve tonadillas :: El mirar de la maja
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Nueve tonadillas :: Callajeo
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Nueve tonadillas :: El tra-la-la y el punteado
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Nueve tonadillas :: Las currutacas modestas
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Nueve tonadillas :: El majo olivdado
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Nueve tonadillas :: El majo discreto
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Canciones amatorias :: Llorad, corazón
Performers: Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano); Alicia De Larrocha (Piano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Canciones amatorias :: Iban al pinar
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Canciones amatorias :: No lloréis, ojuelos
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Canciones amatorias :: Mañanica era
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Canciones amatorias :: Mira que soy niña
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Enriqué Granados (1867 – 1916) : Canciones amatorias :: Gracia mia
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Falla, Manuel de : Canciones populares españolas (7)
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

Jerónimo Giménez (1854 – 1923) : La Tempranica :: Zapateado (La tarántula é un bicho mú malo)
Performers: Alicia De Larrocha (Piano); Victoria Los Angeles (Soprano)

the recordings that made Alicia de Larrocha’s reputation

Alicia de Larrocha’s Hispavox recordings, which I came to know in the 1970’s through Musical Heritage Society licensed LP’s, were my introduction to the Spanish piano repertoire. And what a fabulous journey of discovery it was. Even though I had heard no other pianist in this repertoire other than Arrau’s Iberia and Rubinstein’s Navarra, Larrocha’s recordings were so captivating I hardly bothered looking elsewhere. As it turned out, critics and colleagues who had heard her early on were aware of her extraordinary way with Spanish music. New York Times music critic Harold Schonberg wrote of the Spanish works in her 1955 Town Hall debut that “she had a way of idiomatically shaping a musical phrase that cannot be taught — a sudden dynamic shift, a note instinctively accented, a touch of the pedal, an application of rubato…. Obviously this music is in the pianist’s blood. She invested it with a degree of life and imagination that not many pianists before the public today could begin to duplicate.” A few years later Claudio Arrau, who rarely commented publicly on other pianists, called Alicia de Larrocha “a wonderful, sensitive and extremely musical pianist,” and included one of her recordings among his desert island recommendations for BBC radio in 1960. Her manager, Herbert Breslin, observed in 1978 that “There are two kinds of repertory Alicia plays. Things she plays extremely well, and things she plays better than anyone else. But what I think makes her a phenomenon is that she doesn’t give the impression of being a great personality. She’s cool as a cucumber. Onstage, she doesn’t even like to look at the audience. So what the public is responding to is something in the music.”

The Hispavox recordings collected in this Icon set are better at projecting that unique “something” which Breslin spoke about than most of Larrocha’s later recordings for Decca and RCA. While many of those are of a very high caliber, the Hispavox recordings are generally fresher and more inspired. To cite just two examples: the 1964 recording of Granados’ op. 37 “Dances,” which brims with energy and charisma – a spirit that permeates all of the recordings assembled here – and the 1963 Goyescas which stands above the 1982 Decca remake.

Even if you have Alicia de Larrocha’s Decca or RCA recordings of these works, I wouldn’t let that stop you from acquiring this landmark collection. The liner notes are exceptional, and include a personal tribute from the pianist’s daughter, Alicia Torra de Larrocha, as well as an anecdotal essay by Gregor Benko. And while the sonics can be variable, ranging from superb to congested and metallic-sounding, I was surprised to find that some of the older recordings actually sound better than those Larrocha made for Decca. A case in point is the 1964 recording of Granados’ Danzas Españolas which is vastly superior to the hard and dim Decca recording from 1982. (As an aside, a number of recordings are listed in the notes with 1992 copyright dates, which are not to be mistaken for recording dates. For example, Albeniz’ Cantos De España was recorded in 1959, but since it was first issued on an EMI cd in 1992, that’s the date reflected in the notes.)