Sergio Fiorentino (piano)
The Complete SAGA Album Collection
rec. 1958-60, Hamburg, Paris, London
Mono and stereo
Rhine Classics RH-033 [10 CDs: 525]
Sergio Fiorentino (1927-1998) hailed from Naples and at the age of eleven went to study at the Conservatory San Pietro a Majella with a stipend from the Italian Ministry of Education in recognition of his talent. He later attended master-classes with Carlo Zecchi in Salzburg. With several competition successes under his belt a concert career beckoned. In 1955 he was injured in a plane crash which temporarily halted things. During this time he took up teaching. By the time he returned to the concert platform he had been largely forgotten. He began a second career in England in the fifties.
We have to be grateful to Ernest A. Lumpe, who has supplied all the audio material for the collection and provided an excellent set of booklet notes to accompany this splendid endeavour. The notes offer some interesting background and context to these Saga recordings.
It all began with the Concert Artist label, the brainchild of William H. Barrington-Coupe, who later found fame in the Joyce Hatto fiasco. Barrington-Coupe, founder of ‘Concert Artists Recordings’, gathered around him a brood of young artists of whom Fiorentino was one; Clive Lythgoe and Bernard Vitebsky were others. The label soon became strapped for cash and Barrington-Coupe eventually relaunched under the name Saga. Rhine classics has now brought all Fiorentino’s Saga recordings, made between July 1958 and June 1960, under one roof in this 10 CD set. All have been newly remastered by Emilio Pessina.
Between 6-8 July 1958, Fiorentino undertook a mammoth recording bonanza in Hamburg. Concertos by Schumann and Liszt were set down alongside some of the latter’s solo pieces and
the Chopin Waltzes. The Schumann is a nicely paced performance both impassioned and poetic. The pianist is partnered by the Hamburg Pro Musica and Erich Riede, who provide serviceable support. I much preferred the Liszt Concerto performance. Fiorentino opts for refinement rather than the barnstorming approach. The third movement is particularly compelling, with the finale exuberant and ebullient. Liszt’s solo items demonstrate the pianist’s supreme technical resources. However, it is Schumann’s Carnaval which is the standout for me.
From the opening Préambule you know you’re on an exciting journey. It’s a terrific reading of great technical strength, where Fiorentino’s consummate pianism registers maximum impact. He successfully captures the mood of each piece, and in the more inward ones finds poetry and nobility.
I was weaned on Fiorentino’s recording of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto. I was about eleven at the time and purchased a Fidelity LP adorned with an impressive photograph of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. The pianist on the recording was given as Paul Procopolis, and the orchestra the Leipzig Pro Arte under the baton of Johann Walde. The filler was the Egmont Overture. It was only many years later that I discovered that this was a Fiorentino recording and that Procopolis and Walde were Barrington-Coupe pseudonyms. The recording was made in May 1959, and it still holds up well today. The piano is nicely balanced against the orchestra, and George Hurst keeps a tight rein on proceedings. I was thankful to be reacquainted with this recording after many years. The CD also contains a riveting and rhythmically tight reading of the composer’s 32 Variations in C minor on an original theme, WoO 80.
Chopin’s Complete Nocturnes cover CDs 8 and 9. They were recorded in London in March 1960 in stereo. It’s a very notable cycle rivalling some of the very best in the catalogue. Whilst Fiorentino’s technical accomplishments can be taken as read, it’s the nuanced voicing, rarefied expressiveness, striking lucidity of textures and achievement of colour that distinguishes these readings.
Fiorentino was a wonderful Chopin player, and we are fortunate to have included in this collection the waltzes and the 24 Preludes Op.28. The Waltzes sound fresh and spontaneous with an innate sense of rhythm. Like Lipatti, they were set down in a non-chronological order. Op. 34 No. 1 is delivered with virtuosity and panache, whilst Op. 34 No. 3 displays some scintillating fingerwork. Op. 70 No. 2, in contrast, is characterised by an element of restraint and poetic insight. The Preludes were recorded a couple of months later in September 1958. I love the wistful expression the pianist confers on Nos. 4 and 6. No. 12 has verve, vigour and forward thrust. No. 16 impresses for its coruscating fingerwork and sparkle. No. 20 has nobility and grandeur, and unsettled terror underpins No. 22. The cycle ends with No. 24, dispatched with declamatory passion and fervour.
The recording of Tchaikovsy’s First piano Concerto dates from May 1959. George Hurst directs the Hamburg Pro Musica. The opening movement certainly packs a punch, with the pianist playing with absolute authority. There’s a warm inward quality to the central movement, and the finale has plenty of bite and tenacity.
CD 7 is devoted to a Liszt recital, including the same performance of the Liebestraum found on CD 2. The two Ballades are large scaled works and are rather loosely structured. Fiorentino keeps the narratives tightly reined in, and the general feeling is one of cohesiveness. The Hungarian Rhapsody No.12 in C-sharp minor is scintillating in every respect.
The final disc in this compilation is devoted to George Gershwin. We are treated to a performance of the Piano Concerto in F major, where the pianist is partnered by Hugo Rignold and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Fiorentino also plays the 3 Preludes for solo piano. The recording was made in June 1960. This was unfamiliar repertoire for the Italian, but the performances stand up to scrutiny very well. Both Concerto and solo items are idiomatic and stylish. Not only do these performances feel spontaneous, but Fiorentino fully captures the spirit of the music. The recording is in mono. The disc contains a bonus in the form of a stereo master tape of the Concerto. In the middle movement, alternative takes to the mono are incorporated.
Rhine classics must be lauded in championing the recordings, live and studio, of the Italian pianist. Their Sergio Fiorentino edition now comprises five releases. Reviews of the previous releases can be found here (review ~ review ~ review ~ review), and they are all self-recommending. In this latest offering all the discs are presented in their Original Jackets. With splendid remasterings and excellent documentation, not to mention the photographic element, this all amounts to a very recommendable package.
Stephen Greenbank
Previous review: Jonathan Woolf (January 2025)
Availability: Rhine Classics
Contents
CD1 | 53:43
SCHUMANN
• Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54
Hamburg Pro Musica | Erich Riede
• Carnaval, Op.9
rec: Hamburg, 6-8.VII.1958
Saga XID 5001 | ℗ 1958
CD2 | 37:01
LISZT
• Piano Concerto No.1 in E-flat major, S.124
Hamburg Pro Musica | Erich Riede
• Hungarian Rhapsody No.15 in A minor, S.244/15 “Rákóczi-Marsch”
• Grand étude de Paganini, S.141/3 in G-sharp minor “La Campanella”
• Notturno No.3 in A-flat major, S.541/3 “Liebestraum”
• Étude d’exécution transcendante, S.139/6 in G minor “Vision”
rec: Hamburg, 6-8.VII.1958
Saga XID 5008 | ℗ 1958
CD3 | 55:57
CHOPIN
• 19 Waltzes
• 3 Écossaises, Op.72/3 posth.
rec: Hamburg, 6-7.VII.1958
Saga XID 5016 | ℗ 1959
CD4 | 46:28
CHOPIN
• 24 Preludes, Op.28
• Prelude No.25 in C-sharp minor, Op.45
• Prelude No.26 in A-flat major, Op. posth.
rec: London, 8-10.IX.1958
Saga XID 5076 | ℗ 1959
CD5 | 46:23
BEETHOVEN
• Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat major, Op.73 “Emperor”
Hamburg Pro Musica | George Hurst
• 32 Variations in C minor, on an original theme, WoO 80
rec: Hamburg, 18-19.V.1959
Saga AAA-ST 4002 | ℗ 1959
CD6 | 44:14
• TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No.1 in B-flat major, Op.23
Hamburg Pro Musica | George Hurst
• CHOPIN Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat major, Op.61 -1st take-
rec: Hamburg, 18-19.V.1959
Saga STM 6021 | ℗ 1959
CD7 | 57:23
LISZT piano recital:
• Ballade No.1 in D-flat major, S.170
• Ballade No.2 in B Minor, S.171
• Hungarian Rhapsody No.8 in F-sharp minor, S.244/8
• Harmonies poétiques et religieuses III, S.173 /7 “Funérailles”
• Notturno No.3 in A-flat major, S.541/3 “Liebestraum” *
• Hungarian Rhapsody No.12 in C-sharp minor, S.244/12
rec: Paris, 25-26.I.1960 | *: Hamburg | 7.VII.1958
Saga XID 5020 | ℗ 1960
CD8 | 52:08
CHOPIN Nocturnes • Vol.1 (Nos. 1-10)
rec: London, 4-5.III.1960
Saga 5376 | ℗ 1974
CD9 | 58:13
CHOPIN Nocturnes • Vol.2 (Nos. 11-20)
rec: London, 4-5.III.1960
Saga 5377 | ℗ 1974
CD10 | 38:56
GERSHWIN
• Piano Concerto in F major
London Philharmonic Orchestra | Hugo Rignold
• 3 Preludes for piano
rec: London, 24.VI.1960
Saga XID 5130 | ℗ 1962
