Ricardo Viñes speaks on Claude Debussy (1938)

Ricardo Viñes (1875-1943) studied piano first at the Municipal School of Music in Barcelona and then at the Paris Conservatoire, where he made friends with Ravel. He gave many first performances of works by Debussy, Satie, Ravel, de Falla and Albéniz. His diary mentions a number of meetings with Debussy, both musical and social. Debussy dedicated his “Poissons d’Or“ to him. (I posted the recording of Viñes on YouTube) This is part of a radio talk in 1938, commemorating the 20th anniversary of Debussy’s death. I found an English translation of it in “Debussy Remembered“ by Roger Nichols, but it is also not complete. (From 2:13) “Claude Debussy was a little bit frightening, with his magnificently ugly face and his curious, clumsily sculpted overhanging forehead (rather like Verlaine’s). From the shadows of this forehead, two immense, catlike eyes kept watch, casting ironic and ambiguous looks. The whole effect suggested the romantic image of a