Sergio Fiorentino in Germany, 1993 Live Recordings

Presumably Rachmaninoff's influence on him is strong. Strange enough, here we don't have much of Rachmaninoff's directness to music. Instead, he resembles Horowitz in his highly individualistic approach but minus his bell sound.

The influence of Cortot is more obvious in his rubatos, where he was more liberal and at times slower than Arrau. Talking about depth and feelings one would definitely prefer Cortot. Neither had he acquired the luminous sound or the evenness and compactness of his other idol, Edwin Fischer.

Instead, what struck me was his sense of (French) cafe music which lurked behind so often, so much stronger than Simon Barere or even Cziffra. His Sciabin sounds more like Debussy, nothing like Horowitz or Sofronitsky. His Chopin, Michelangeli and Ogdon alike, is a whole world different from say Sauer or Rosenthal. One must say even Petri got it much closer. And as a whole, Moiseiswitch is much more unique than him. Fiorentino is a very odd mixture indeed.

If we turn to the Italian school of painists, one should perhaps seek for Busoni, one of the greatest pianists of all times. Or else Michelangeli and Pollini, two of the greatests of their respective time. Although Fiorentino is a great master in his own right and at times I even prefer him to Rubinstein, I hesitate to name him a very good alternative to Michelangeli.

Given that this recording was done by some non-professionals with different instruments, the sound quality is reasonably good. To those who have got used to historic records, they are simply superb. But don't expect anything like Michelangeli's DGG records.


Superb breadth of pianism   June 3, 2000
Michael Whincop (GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY, QLD AUSTRALIA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

The late Sergio Fiorentino in the last years of his life made a number of superb recordings with APR. This is not amongst them, since it draws instead from live performances recorded apparently in informal manner. Thus, the disks do lack the superb digital sound of the studio series but they more than compensate with the spark of spontaneity. The actual performances are duplicated in part by the studio series (the Schumann Fantasy, the Scriabin 4), but even these comparisons are fascinating.

As others have commented elsewhere, Fiorentino's playing is patrician in its finesse, but it has none of the prissiness of other so-called poets like Perahia and vastly more technique. The opening Bach-Busoni piece is, to make comparisons at the highest level, more spacious and less thrustful than Gilels' live recording, but it captures the massive vaulting dimensions of this work. The Chopin Second is surely one of the best performances of this work. I can't think of any player who returns from the Elysium section of the Funeral March with more vehemence. Likewise, the Beethoven A-flat is in its finale a perfect blend of objective lament and exultation. Rank it with Schnabel. Fiorentino's Scriabin is more classical and less frenetic than Richter or Sofronitsky but its still masterly in its colour and vision.

The second CD begins with the Schumann Fantasy. The only pianist I can really compare F.'s peformance with is Richter, since only Richter takes such a cosmic view of the work, compared to the lyricism of, say, Argerich. In particular, you won't hear a slower or more poignant finale in anyone's hands -- although the second mvt is wonderfully brisk. The remainder of the disk deals with the virtuoso transcriptions, including the Faust Waltz -- not quite in the Ginzburg league, but wonderful all the same -- and the Strauss transcriptions that capture the bravura and the confection without sounding at all vacuous. The disks are closed off with some lovely encores.

Indispensable.


It is so beautiful. It stirs the soul.   October 20, 1998
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I have been searching for this recording for over a year--ever since I heard it on the radio. I am so happy to have finally found it. I have thought of this recording again and again. It doesn't leave you.