Search - Sergey Prokofiev, Sergey Rachmaninov, Alexander Scriabin :: The Fiorentino Edition 1

Elegant, compelling and musically satisfying

Robert L. Berkowitz | Natick, MA United States | 01/08/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The late Sergio Fiorentino was an outstanding pianist with a remarkable comeback career, and this CD shows him at his finest. Born December 22, 1927, he was the most promising young pianist of his generation when he suffered a major setback -- he was on board a plane that crash landed leaving him with a spinal injury. He was 27 at the time. It took many years for him to recover and he ultimately left the concert stage to become a full-time professor of piano. He finally resumed concertizing at the age of 64 and this recording was his first return to the studio.



I particularly sought this recording for the performance of Prokofiev's Sonata No. 8. The standard recordings include those of Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels, with more recent entries from Vladimir Ashkenazy, Boris Berman, Yefim Bronfman, Andrei Gavrilov, Garrick Ohlsson, Barbara Nissman and Mikhael Pletnev. I am familiar with each of these recordings and Fiorentino's ranks up there with Richter's incomparable account. His is a more reflective, lyrical and somewhat less percussive approach, though there is plenty of excitement in the last movement.



The same commitment to lyricism infuses his approach to the Scriabin and Rachmaninov Sonatas. These are both big works with an appeal to technical brilliance but Fiorentino puts his technique in the service of these works' lyricism. The Rachmaninov Sonata No. 2 often seems brash to me in other performances but is much more accessible here. He plays the 1931 version.



Taken together, this is a very satisfying Russian recital."