Martino Tirimo

“an inspiring poet of the piano”  The Daily Telegraph

Regarded by both critics and fellow artists as one of today’s most distinguished musicians, Martino Tirimo’s career started early. From age eight he was performing Concertos and at 12 conducted seven complete performances of ‘La Traviata’, with orchestra and soloists from La Scala, Milano. Born in Cyprus into a musical family, he first studied piano and violin with his father Dimitri, a distinguished violinist and opera conductor. After winning the Liszt Scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London at 16, he studied there and graduated with the highest honours, winning all prizes. He completed his studies at the Vienna Music Academy and finally with Gordon Green, whom he regarded as his greatest mentor. Victories at the international piano competitions in Munich and Geneva launched his international career.

In 2010 alone, he gave more than 100 all-Chopin concerts including the complete works of Chopin at London’s Kings Place, described by critics as “a colossal feat”. He has performed all over the world with most major orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Bayerisher Rundfunk, Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony, Philharmonia, all BBC and all other major UK orchestras, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and numerous others and has worked with distinguished conductors such as Barbirolli, Boult, Bychkov, Marriner, Masur, Norrington, Rattle and Kurt Sanderling.

His numerous recordings for EMI, Warner, Hänssler, Nimbus and other companies include the complete works of Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy, Janacek, Schubert’s 21 Sonatas and the Concertos of Brahms, Chopin, Mozart, Rachmaninov and Tippett (with composer conducting). In 1995 he was awarded a Gold Disc for his Rachmaninov Concerto No.2 and ‘Paganini’ Rhapsody, one of EMI’s best-sellers.

As conductor he worked closely with the Dresden Philharmonic over many years, and also worked with orchestras such as the English Chamber, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and Prague Chamber. With the Dresden Philharmonic he performed Beethoven’s five Concertos in two evenings directing from the piano on a number of occasions including at the Royal Festival Hall. His compositions include the film score for the ‘Odyssey’. In 2002 he founded the Rosamunde Trio, which has since concertized widely in Europe and the US with a wide offering covering nearly all the Piano Trio repertoire. Noteworthy were their series devoted to all the Trios of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. He also works with talented young pianists and twelve of his students have won first prizes at international competitions. Moreover, he is in demand for masterclasses worldwide, including at festivals in Japan, China and the USA. He has also served as juror in several major international piano competitions.

His enormous repertoire embraces 80 Concertos and nearly the entire major solo works of the great composers. He is particularly famous for his Schubert interpretations, having given the first ever cycle of all the Sonatas at London’s South Bank and many other series at Wigmore Hall and Kings Place devoted to all the composer’s major works. His edition of the 21 Sonatas in three volumes, which includes his completions to the unfinished movements, is published by Wiener Urtext Edition.

Other notable events include many concert series devoted to Mozart’s complete piano works, Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas, all of Chopin’s and Debussy’s works, Robert and Clara Schumann’s major works, a Tchaikovsky series and various other compound cycles. Of numerous festival appearances, memorable was his Beethoven Concerto No.4 during the Olympic period in Athens with the Vienna Philharmonic. At that time, he also had the honour of running with the Olympic torch, perhaps the first classical musician to do so. In recent years his tours have also included concerts in Asia, notably China and Japan.  In 2011 he was awarded the Nemitsas Foundation Prize for Excellence in the Arts and Sciences. Recently he was appointed Co-President of the Chopin Society UK. Future plans include the release of his recordings of all Chopin works, and a world tour with the English Chamber Orchestra with the theme of ‘World Peace’.

He was a champion of the Tippett Piano Concerto, not only performing it and recording it together with the composer but also playing it with the BBC Philharmonic on the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of the United Nations in a celebration at Coventry Cathedral, televised by the BBC. In 2019 Hänssler Classic released the first ever truly complete recording of Beethoven’s entire Piano Solo Works on the modern piano. The boxed set of 16 CDs, all of which he recorded at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, includes some little-known and rarely-played pieces. The set was heralded as

“an incredible achievement” American Record Review

“a major recorded achievement” Gramophone, UK

“a unique complete set” Artamag, (France)

“majestic… supreme… sublime” Fanfare, USA

In an article comparing all recordings of the Beethoven Sonatas, The Spectator concluded that this “new cycle sweeps all before it” and that this is “surely the greatest recorded achievement of this anniversary year.”

The Daily Telegraph has characterized him as “a pianist of vision” and ‘Musical Opinion’ as “a true giant of the keyboard”. In Music and Vision, critic Bill Newman simply wrote:

“Tirimo’s playing belongs to a past generation of ‘greats’. Listening to him, I conjure up aural images of Solomon, Arrau, Kempff, Schnabel and Rubinstein. Throughout the evening, one was consistently aware that this supreme musician placed himself entirely at the service of the composer.”

Martino Tirimo will play:

CHOPIN: Polonaise in D minor, Op.71 No.1
CHOPIN: Polonaise in G-sharp minor, Op. posth.
CHOPIN: Polonaise in B-flat minor, Op. posth. (“Adieu”)
CHOPIN: Nocturne in E-flat major, Op.55 No.2
CHOPIN: Mazurka in A minor, Op.67 No.4
CHOPIN: Mazurka in F-sharp minor, Op.59 No.3
CHOPIN: Mazurka in F minor, Op.68 No.4
CHOPIN: Allegro de Concert, Op.46
SCHUBERT: Sonata in B-flat major, D.960