Allan Kozinn on Alicia de Larrocha

"In a career that began when she was a child … Ms. de Larrocha cultivated a poetic interpretive style in which gracefulness was prized over technical flashiness or grand, temperamental gestures. But her approach, combined with her small stature … was deceptive … she could produce a surprisingly large, beautifully sculptured sound. Even so, it was in music that demanded focus, compactness and subtle coloristic breadth that Ms. de Larrocha excelled. Her Mozart performances … were so carefully detailed and light in texture that even as public taste shifted toward the more scholarly interpretations of period-instrument specialists, Ms. de Larrocha’s readings retained their allure. … Her approach to Mozart also served her well in larger works. … Ms. de Larrocha’s most enduring contribution, however, was her championship of Spanish composers. Although Arthur Rubinstein played some of this repertory, few other pianists outside Spain did, and none with Ms. de Larrocha’s flair. She made enduring recordings of Albéniz’s 'Iberia' and Granados’s 'Goyescas,' and helped ease those works into the standard piano canon" ("Alicia de Larrocha, Pianist, Dies at 86," New York Times, 9/26/09).