Tchaikovsky - The Romantic Genius

A programme that presents some of Tchaikovsky's best-loved piano pieces with the renowned Cyprus pianist Martino Tirimo.

Martino Tirimo (19 December 1942) is a Cypriot pianist, born in Larnaca, Cyprus. He won the Liszt Scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music at sixteen, going on to graduate with the highest honours; in 1971 and 1972 winning the International Piano Competitions in Munich and Geneva launched his international career.

Tirimo has appeared with many of the world's orchestras, including the major British orchestras and those in Berlin, Cleveland, Dresden, Leipzig, Prague and Vienna. With the Dresden Philharmonic he directed several cycles of Beethoven's five piano concertos from the keyboard in various concert halls in Germany and the Royal Festival Hall, London. In 2002 Tirimo formed the Rosamunde Trio, with whom he has since toured.

Martino Tirimo became a champion for Michael Tippett's Piano Concerto, which he performed several times with the composer conducting, and of which they also made a recording that was released in 1991. Altogether, Tirimo has made over 50 recordings, including the complete works of Mozart with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 2006.

With Chopin's bicentenary approaching, in 2009 Tirimo embarked on several series devoted to the composer's solo piano music and works for piano and orchestra. In 2010, this culminated in a series of 12 concerts at Kings Place, London, where Tirimo was joined by Polish musicians including Iwona Sobotka (soprano) and the Silesian String Quartet for a survey of Chopin's entire output.

The Event is part of the Larnaca Festival of Classical Music.