‘All that glitters is not gold’ – however, in the case of Sergio Fiorentino’s reading of Scriabin’s Fourth Piano Sonata we are almost certainly in the presence of musical gold. I’ve not heard a performance quite as intense and focused as Fiorentino’s for a long time – it might not take flight in quite the same way as Gavrilov’s dazzling, classic recording on EMI (10/89 – but sadly not currently available) but it still made this listener giddy! The delineation between melody and accompaniment in the opening movement is brilliantly accomplished, and the winged Prestissimo volando which follows is exhilarating and superbly controlled. The First Sonata is no less impressive. His reading has youthful impetuosity in the first movement coupled with a powerful, tragic undertone in the second and fourth, and there is an imperious authority in his interpretation.
The sprawling First Sonata of Rachmaninov has immense authority too, especially in the opening movement which is given a forceful, yet finely controlled reading. Fiorentino strides through its formidable demands with consummate ease, and in the Lento (so reminiscent of the more delicately perfumed Preludes) there is much to be admired in Fiorentino’s cantabile and beautiful phrasing.
This disc is the third of four in APR’s Fiorentino Edition, and on hearing this I shall waste no time in seeking out the others. A very rewarding disc from a pianist of tremendous stature. Recorded sound is good.'