The Italian pianist Maria Tipo died yesterday at the venerable age of 93.

Her first teacher was her mother, who was a pupil of Ferruccio Busoni. Tipo also studied with Alfredo Casella and Guido Agosti.

When she first toured the United States in the 1950s, she was hailed as “the Neapolitan Horowitz.” Her classic 1955 Vox LP of Scarlatti sonatas (later reissued on CD, with two Mozart piano concertos) was declared by Newsweek “the most spectacular record of the year.” (Newsweek should go back to reviewing classical records.) Her recording of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” is also highly-prized.

Tipo was a pianist’s pianist, admired by Martha Argerich among others, who attained her fame at a time when being a piano virtuoso was largely a man’s game. She herself was also a dedicated teacher. But all you really know is right there on the recordings. R.I.P.

Scarlatti in 1955

34 years later, playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21