Completely agree. He's truly an artist with the piano. There are so many digitally "perfect" technicians of the piano now who have won this competition or that competition. Most of them fade away. This will not.
Finalmente un pianista che interpreta le Consolazioni di Liszt con vera e autentica arte. Traspare da ogni nota suonata dal grande Sergio Fiorentino il vero intento che ispirò il compositore ungherese a scrivere queste pagine di rara bellezza musicale. Esecuzione sublime!
Kieran Black there’s a lot more to him than just these and the liebestraumes and the crazy pieces, believe me! He’s got plenty of works, many are as beautiful as these if not more, but they aren’t as well known for whatever reason.
The artistry is astounding. Also, his complete Chopin Nocturnes are idiosyncratic, but utterly wonderful and a million miles from the boring performances trotted out so often now. Notice how nothing is rushed!
The first Pianist in my opinion who truly understood the mood,the atmosphere and specially "the Pace" these compositions were meant to be played....I ask myself.....why most Pianist of Cartel and not so famous ones,play these 6 Compositions in a "hurry" ???.......their Rich Harmonic structure is destroyed when they "hurry-up the Tempo"....these Compositions need space, for the Harmonies to "Breath".....playing them fast is the worse any Pianist can do.......a round applause for this Pianist...... Sergio Fiorentino for truly demonstrating the manner these 6 Compositions ought to be played.....thank you indeed.
I'm afraid I disagree. I love Fiorentino's artistry, but in the Consolations I prefer pianists who treat the six pieces as parts of a whole (starting with a direct segue from #1 to #2, as specified in the score) and who understand that these are "poetical thoughts" flowing through the heart and mind and don't try to weigh them down with spurious profundity. My two favorite recordings: Andrea Bonatta: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MGewZfIPyuA.html France Clidat: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lkNIbcYRiJs.html
Having played these I can tell you they may not be that technically challenging, but they are not easy to interpret. Sergio does these pieces justice. So beautiful!
Ce pianiste était ma "référence "( sous plein de noms différents) lors de mon adolescence et a contribué à mon amour pour le piano. Élégance, sentiment musical, doigts de velours, son profond et intense... même dans ces petites pièces. Du grand art.
Listen to his 42 5 recording back in they day and found it fantastic. A very technical pianist and a great expressionist. Wish there was more of him but I guess he lived just before the age where artists have thousands of recordings
Much as I love Fiorentino's Liszt recordings, I don't think it's really fair to dismiss the renditions by other pianists. I'm particularly fond of those by Andrea Bonatta and France Clidat, both of whom really capture the shape of the entire cycle as a single entity. And the recent one by Saskia Giorgini, extremely reflective, is lovely. Bonatta: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MGewZfIPyuA.html Clidat: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lkNIbcYRiJs.html Giorgini: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7ihpDgEVic4.html
One of my favs of the Db. Not too fast or too slow, nor pulling the tempo about, nor adding extra notes, Horowitz! Having said that at least H plays the semi-quavers faster than the triplets: I find so many play them the same speed as their left hand!
Yes, beautiful playing, and no. 3 is sublime, but elsewhere he surely overeggs the pudding (why no forte in the last one, for example) and it all becomes rather reverential. Try Bolet for a better balance between passion and serenity (though he somehow misses no. 3). Thanks for posting. Oh, and by the way, don't miss Fiorentino's Brahms 'Handel Variations': the picture is dreadful, the sound not great, but the playing!
I agree that many pianists, including the wonderful Sr. Fiorentino, try to make too much of these 6 "poetic thoughts," attempting to invest them with a kind of profundity they were never intended to have. Also, I very much favor pianists who really convey a strong sense of the overall shape of the cycle, and of its emotional progression. My personal favorites on CD are the versions by France Clidat and Andrea Bonatta (both are posted here on RU-vid).
