Alicia de Larrocha’s playing captures an earlier era‚ and her regal poise‚ warm full tone‚ and above all her luminous clarity of line at times remind me of the mature Jorge Bolet. She still projects melodic lines with her customary full­throated boldness‚ and although her Romantic volatility has been tempered over the years she has lost none of her command of sonority. The Mendelssohn strikes me as particularly successful. The Songs without Words are not at all sentimental‚ but unfold with an innate sense of line. There is an affecting immediacy to her ‘vocal’ projection (in‚ say‚ Op 19 No 1) that eludes the more rarefied and overtly poeticised Murray Perahia. Some may find the playing a little raw‚ but while Perahia is undoubtedly more refined technically I like Larrocha’s unselfconsciously sculptured line. Only in ‘Spinnerlied’ is she betrayed by her not­so­nimble fingerwork. In the first of the Op 33 Caprices‚ although she doesn’t quite capture the contrasts between Beethovenian angst and Schubertian lyricism‚ she is more colourful and involving than the reliable but anonymous Benjamin Frith; the Variations sérieuses are a triumph of artistic control over pianistic polish (try her in the lyricism of variation 11). I was less convinced by the Chopin. Although Larrocha admirably conveys the unexpected drama towards the end of the B major Nocturne‚ a feeling of technical stress hovers over the remaining works that too often militates against their poetry. The Barcarolle in particular‚ is at times tough going‚ and the great Polonaise­Fantaisie is intermittently compelling‚ but is occasionally let down by Larrocha’s loose rhythmic control. The sound faithfully captures her distinctive tonal palette.