This Week in Classical Music-October 4, 2009

October 04, 2009

Alicia de Laroccha

( Phoenix, AZ )
•De Laroccha dead at 86
•Sting and Trudy as Robert and Clara
•Conductor injured in fall

This Week in Classical Music 10/04/09

It’s “This Week in Classical Music”, an update on what’s happening in the classical music world; I’m Randy Kinkel.

Spanish Pianist Alicia de Larrocha died last week at a hospital in Barcelona at age 86. the diminutive pianist with the rich and robust sound enthralled listeners for decades with her interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Rachmaninoff. she excelled in her interpretations of Spanish composers such as Manuel de Falla , Enrique Granados and Isaac Albeniz. according to a family friend, de Larrocha had been in poor health for two years after breaking her hip. She had retire d from public performances in 2003after a career that spanned 75 years. she was married to the pianist Juan Torra, and they had two children; de Larrocha can be heard on dozens of available recordings, which earned her four Grammies and numerous other prizes over the years.

Pop singer Sting is trying his hand at another classical music project—he and his wife Trudy Styler read the love letters of Robert and Clara Schumann in a performance backed by opera singers and musicians. the show, “Twin Spirits” filmed at the Royal Opera House, , is to be released on DVD with proceeds going to the Royal Opera House education Program. "One of the reasons we were interested, was that the money is going to be used to open the opera house to the wider community," Sting said.

Musician and conductor David Ott is recovering after serious injuries received as a result of a 14-foot fall from the stage at the University of West Florida. Ott was walking across the Mainstage theater Stage to retrieve a score after the first performance of his opera. “The Widow’s Lantern”, written for Pensacola Opera. Ott said. "All the lights were off, and I went back to get my score. ... I stepped onto what I thought was the floor (of the orchestra pit) and there was nothing there." He fell 14 feet into the basement below the orchestra pit. He landed flat on his back, breaking nine vertebrae, dislocating his shoulder and injuring an ankle. Kyle Marrero, Pensacola Opera artistic director Kyle Marrero said the audience had departed when Ott fell. "He's going to be fine," Marrero said. "He's sore, and he's beat up. It was scary."

For more on these and other items and events, go to the website, kbaq.org; be listening each week at this time for another update; and join me every weekday at noon for the Mozart Buffet”, an hour of music by Mozart and his contemporaries. I’m Randy Kinkel
for “this Week in Classical Music” on 89.5 KBAQ Phoenix, a service of Rio Salado College and Arizona State University.