Pasquale Tallarico was born in Calabria in southern Italy in 1891. He left Italy at age 8 to join his older brothers who had settled in Connecticut. Initially he could speak no english, but attended public school each day, and also began daily music lessons at home with his musical brothers. He learned to sight read music before he learned to read English. Each evening before dinner he would sing solfeggia, an exercise that helped hone his ear and revealed that he had perfect pitch. The piano soon became the focus of his musical studies, and at age 9, within 4 months of beginning piano lessons, he was able to perform Mozart sonatas from memory. He was recognized as a prodigy, his so his older brothers removed him public school so that he could devote himself fully to the piano. He soon began performing with his musical family, and his solo debut was at Aeolian Hall when he was still a boy.

A wealthy patron heard him perform, and soon thereafter became his benefactor, making it possible for young Pasquale Tallarico to reside in New York City, study at Steinway Hall, and live a life immersed in the study of music at the highest level. He had the opportunity to work with some of the best teachers of the day, and was able to attend the finest concerts in the city. The diary of his teen years is filled with references to 5 or 6 hours of daily practice at the piano in preparation for his weekly piano lessons. But his days also included trips to the Polo Grounds to see the Yankees play baseball, and he enjoyed playing baseball himself.

Pasquale Tallarico undertook his own intense preparations for the National Pianist Competition - a contest to find the best American trained pianist - to be held in 1914 in Chicago. He won this contest, besting 25 other pianists performing the MacDowell Concerto - he was just 22 years old. Following this honor, he performed as soloist across the country, including performances with the Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Tri-City and American Symphony Orchestras. One memorable performance was his performing of works by Igor Stravinski with the composer himself conducting.

In 1920, at the age of 29, Tallarico began a teaching career at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, which enabled him to settle down from his demanding touring schedule and raise a family. He continued to perform throughout the rest of his life.

There are no known commercial recordings of Pasquale Tallarico. However, there are many private recordings, including both "wire" and monaural reel to reel recordings. Many of these recordings have been digitized, and modern methods have been used to remove hiss, pops, clicks and other sound artifacts, although the "cleaned" recordings are still poor in contrast to recordings of today. However, they do convey Tallarico's artistry. As an example of his performing style, you may download Clare de Lune here.

Here are a few select Press Clippings from a few of his performances...

Playing the MacDowell Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Pasquale Tallarico is an artist of distinct quality who demonstrated without question the right to the honor accorded him. He has pianistic talent of the first rank, a firm grasp of the meaning of the music, poetic, imaginative, and with the personal quality which is always the vital thing in art. His tone was always beautiful. – Karleton Hackett, Chicago Evening Post

Playing the Weber Concertstuck under Leopold Stokowski in Philadelphia
Pasquale Tallarico proved himself a virtuoso of substantial worth whose natural endowments are very high. Mr Tallarico is not 21 years old, but his technique is sound and assured, his touch crystal clear, and his artistic methods are reinforced by rich temperamental assets. - Philadelphia North American

Playing the Schumann A minor Concerto with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra under Carl Pohlig
Remarkable mastery of the piano by the soloist, Pasquale Tallarico. Such clear technique and effortless crispness of finsh, combined with a poetic phrasing and modulation one seldom hears – Every Evening

Playing with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Pasquale Tallarico established himself as an artist of genuine power and charm. The young player achieved a degree of power and fervor which took possession of the audience, and with the completion of the final movement, in which a rarely beautiful scheme of ornamentation was developed, the young artist all but brought the audience to its feet. There has been more than one complete season during which no “musical moment” of such intensity has been created at the Odeon. –Louis Dodge, St. Louis Republic

He invested a the Beethoven with a singular clarity, and as for the Liszt, his rendition was of the singing, buoyant, brilliant kind in which the resilient pulse throb and bright color of the work were brought out to the full. He presented it with a virility almost uncanny - arousing his listeners to an ovational pitch of excitement by his performance. –St. Louis Globe Democrat

Extraordinary musical talent. – Chicago Examiner

Pasquale Tallarico received a tremendous and well deserved ovaton at the end of his interpretation of the MacDowell Concerto, which he gave with a rare degree of fire, smoothness and power. – Los Angeles Times

At the conclusion of the concerto, there was a storm of applause which was more insistent than that in which Indianapolis audiences generally indulge unless they are greeting a recognized idol. – Indianapolis Star