Recorded between 1988 and 1991 for Carlton Classics and reissued anew by Alto, Martino Tirimo’s Debussy solo-piano music cycle remains a serious and arguably underappreciated contender. For starters, Tirimo’s warm, beautifully nuanced sonority and the alluring resonance of the Rosslyn Hill Chapel in Hampstead mesh in a way that evokes the composer’s “piano without hammers” ideal without sacrificing rhythmic backbone. Tirimo’s strong rhythm and care with scaling dynamics factors into this impression.
This particularly tells in the Images, Pour le piano, Suite bergamasque, L’Isle joyeuse, and the Préludes. In the latter, for example, listen to the specificity of the accents and intelligent pedaling throughout Ce qu’a vu le vent d’Ouest and La serenade interrompue, or Feux d’artifice’s understated scintillation. Perhaps Tirimo underplays La puerta del vino’s left-hand habanera ostinato, and fusses a bit with the basic tempo, yet what exquisitely shaded, sexy right-hand chord work he achieves! And I’ve rarely heard such a magically transparent, otherworldly yet still forward-moving rendition of La cathédrale engloutie on disc, abetted by Tirimo’s decision to accelerate at the build-up beginning at measure 21, as Debussy himself did in his piano roll recording.
The Etudes count among these difficult works’ most technically accomplished and stylistically poised versions on disc, while the myriad little pieces also benefit from Tirimo’s polished directness. While more recent Debussy cycles contain subsequently discovered works and relevant piano reductions of ballet and orchestra fare, those content with the “basic” Debussy piano canon will find Tirimo’s artistry consistently rewarding. Highly recommended.
