FIORENTINO EDITION IX Franck Prélude, Chorale & Fugue etc.

APR5563
Edition IX FRANCK
Prélude, Fugue & Variation op.18 (transc. Bauer);
Prélude, Choral et Fugue; Danse Lente; Prélude, Aria et Final

That the Italian pianist Sergio Fiorentino is now recognised as one of the great pianists of the 20th century is due almost entirely to his championing by APR in the last decade of his life. Sadly it was not always so. His career started well enough (he won the acclaimed Geneva competition, amongst others, in 1948) but after a near fatal plane crash Fiorentino withdrew for a time from playing in public and he never managed to re-establish himself at the level he deserved. Throughout the 50s and 60s he made many recordings for a variety of small British budget labels (Concert Artist, Fidelio & Saga), unfortunately though, these labels sold on the basis of their low price, the performances were not highly promoted and few at the time seemed to notice the exceptional quality of the playing. Through the 70s & 80s Fiorentino settled to a life of teaching but with the arrival of 90s the pianist began to concertize again and finally the critics gave him his due. Also at this time (between 1994 and 1997) Fiorentino began recording again, this time for APR, and 10 CDs were made of which this is the ninth to be released. These discs, together with reissues of some of his earlier recordings, have been greeted with superlatives, winning several Diapason's d'Or, and two Grand Prix du disque Liszt. His Schumann Fantasy was also chosen by International Piano Quarterly as the best ever recording.

This new CD brings us all Cesar Franck's mature piano music in performances which take us to the heart of these spiritual works.

APR5563