Adelina de Lara

The music shop proprietor considered the name Adelina Preston far too ‘English’ to perform under and thus suggested her mother's maiden name as a suitable replacement.

She was educated at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt under Iwan Knorr, and studied piano with Fanny Davies and Clara Schumann, whose work she championed for most of her life.

As an adult, Adelina de Lara performed in public for the first time following her studies in 1891 and continued for over seventy years, making her final appearance on 15 June 1954 at the Wigmore Hall London.

During World War II she played for Dame Myra Hess at the National Gallery and later in life, Sir Adrian Boult.

Adelina de Lara's autobiography entitled Finale was published in 1955 and she died at the age of 89 in Woking, Surrey on 25 November 1961.