Reviews | RH-033 | SERGIO FIORENTINO | complete SAGA album collection

July 2025 | Christoph Schlüren | FONO FORUM - 07/25 p.66 | Rhine Classics' Historical Anthologies

[...] Another Sergio Fiorentino box set has now been released, making all the albums on the Saga label (recorded 1958-60) available on CD for the first time. They have been compiled and presented by Ernst Lumpe, the leading expert on the subject and late patron of the long-forgotten pianist. Hailed by his colleague Michelangeli as "the only other pianist", Fiorentino once again, despite all the blows of fate, proves himself to be one of the most gifted pianists of the last century, brimming with musicality, with a perfectly cultivated sound and, in the most natural way and without any gimmicks, a first-class virtuoso. In addition to piano concertos by Beethoven (No. 5), Schumann, Liszt (No. 1), Tchaikovsky (No. 1) and Gershwin, he played works by, among others, all of Chopin's nocturnes, preludes and 19 waltzes, Schumann's Carnaval and a whole lot of Liszt, all with timeless classical magic and unsurpassed vitality. [...] 

SERGIO FIORENTINO - THE COMPLETE SAGA ALBUM COLLECTION

Quella di Sergio Fiorentino è la storia di un pianista immenso, che, a causa di un incidente aereo e forse di un eccesso di umiltà nella gestione della propria carriera, rimase a lungo estraneo ai grandi circuiti del concertismo internazionale. Ritornato nelle grandi sale negli anno Novanta, poco prima della morte avvenuta nel 1998, il musicista napoletano è sempre più oggetto di una riscoperta che ha fatto ormai di lui una vera e propria leggenda. In questo box do 10 CD Rhine Classics, derivanti da un restauro certosino dei nastri originali degli LP SAGA, ascoltiamo Fiorentino fra la fine degli anni '50 e l'inizio dei '60, al culmine del proprio virtuosismo ma già maturo per affrontare con impressionante profondità, per esempio, l'integrale dei Nocturnes di Chopin. Vastissimo il repertorio, da Beethoven al Novecento, anche con orchestra. [LC]

Sergio Fiorentino's story is that of a master pianist who, due to a plane crash and perhaps excessive humility in managing his career, remained outside the mainstream international concert circuit for a long time. Having returned to the great halls in the 1990s, shortly before his death in 1998, the Neapolitan musician is increasingly the subject of a rediscovery that has now made him a true legend. In this 10-CD Rhine Classics box set, derived from a meticulous restoration of the original SAGA LP tapes, we hear Fiorentino in the late 1950s and early 1960s, at the height of his virtuosity but already mature enough to tackle, with impressive depth, for example, the complete Chopin Nocturnes. His repertoire is vast, from Beethoven to the twentieth century, even with orchestra. [LC]

21 March 2025 | Rob Cowan | GRAMOPHONE - Vol.109 April 2025 | Box-Set / Round-Up

Much that features in Rhine Classics’ set of Sergio Fiorentino’s Saga recordings (presented in facsimiles of their original LP sleeve designs) is also of interest, although I never recall seeing the complete Chopin Nocturnes – mostly taken at a broad pace and high in dramatic incident – on LP. These transfers are in the main good, although visited on occasion with residual vinyl surface noise.
Among the concertos included is Gershwin’s F major with the LPO under conductor/jazz violinist Hugo Rignold (who in his day was rated, fiddle-wise, alongside Stéphane Grappelli, Joe Venuti and Eddie South) where a second, previously unissued stereo version offers us a slow movement with different takes. Fiorentino and Rignold certainly capture the spirit of the piece, while Fiorentino goes all out to demonstrate the virtuoso elements in Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, Liszt’s First (said to be in mono or ‘pseudo-stereo’ but clearly in crudely engineered genuine stereo), the Schumann Concerto and the Tchaikovsky First. Generally speaking, the solo works (including Chopin’s Waltzes and Preludes and much Liszt) are the most individual, performance-wise, Chopin’s second Prelude in A minor playing for an amazingly solemn 3'48" (the more ‘regular’ Maurizio Pollini on DG stretches to just 2'17"). I can’t trace a previous CD reissue of this material – certainly not a ‘Saga only’ Fiorentino collection – so we should be grateful to Rhine Classics for this well produced set.

9 March 2025 | Stephen Greenbank | MusicWeb International

A pleasure to have Fiorentino’s complete Saga Recordings under one roof [SG]

[...] 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.

4 March 2025 | Luca Ciammarughi | Radio Classica - podcast | Il pianista - Sergio Fiorentino - Saga Collection / parte II   La seconda puntata di approfondimento del box "Sergio Fiorentino - The Complete Saga Album Collection". Presenta Luca Ciammarughi. (Rhine Classics RH-033).

26 February 2025 | Luca Ciammarughi | Radio Classica - podcast | Il pianista - Sergio Fiorentino - Saga Collection / parte I   Al “Pianista”, alle 16 e anche alle 23, torniamo a parlare di una leggenda del pianismo novecentesco, Sergio Fiorentino. Sarà la prima di una serie di puntate dedicate al grande musicista napoletano, in occasione dell’uscita di un box imperdibile di 10 CD , contenente tutte le registrazioni SAGA, fra la fine degli anni ‘50 e l’inizio dei ‘60, quando Fiorentino aveva poco più di trent’anni. Iniziamo oggi da Schumann e Chopin, con i commenti di Luca Ciammarughi. (Rhine Classics RH-033).

15 February 2025 | Jean-Michel Molkhou | PIANISTE N°151 - Cahier Critique / Disques

[...] La reproduction des jaquettes originales et un livret généreusement documenté séduiront les collectioneurs les plus exigeantes. À ne pas manquer! [JMM]

[...] The reproduction of the original covers and a generously documented booklet will appeal to the most demanding collectors. Not to be missed! [JMM]

9 February 2025 | Jean-Charles Hoffelé | ARTAMAG' - Focus - Le disque du jour | SAGA FIORENTINO

Il y a un paradoxe Fiorentino. Lorsqu’au début des années 1990, Ernst A. Lumpe commença d’exhumer des bandes de concert, et que Fiorentino lui-même revint au studio d’enregistrement pour APR, c’est l’art d’un pianiste bientôt octogénaire qui paraissait, décanté et pourtant resté prodigieusement présent. Mais il y eut un autre Fiorentino, ce jeune homme impétueux qu’Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, le découvrant sidéré lors du concours de Monza, désigna comme « le seul autre pianiste ».

Début de carrière fulgurant brisé net en 1954 par un accident d’aéroplane qui faillit lui être fatal. Cette longue parenthèse ne calma pas ses ardeurs, et à la fin des années cinquante, il trouva enfin ce qui lui manquait : un éditeur discographique. S’en suivit une dizaine de microsillons pour un label dont il essuya le peu de professionnalisme et le caractère fantasque de son fondateur : Saga.

L’héritage est inégal, et certaines séances parfois approximatives, comme hélas celles des Nocturnes à l’Olympic Theater de Londres où ni l’instrument ni la prise de son ne rendent justice à son art. Mais toujours au rayon Chopin, des Valses prodigieuses, tour à tour exubérantes ou poétiques, de sombres Préludes, une Polonaise-fantaisie fuligineuse sont simplement inoubliables, comme le récital Liszt dominé par deux Ballades dites comme des contes.

Un Carnaval de Schumann mené grand train est l’autre perle de cet ensemble où les concertos pâtissent de chefs peu inspirés : celui de Schumann et le Premier de Liszt s’en tirent grâce à un bon orchestre hambourgeois, mais chaque trait du pianiste prouve qu’il passait au-dessus de ces contingences, au point d’être absolument éclatant au long d’un Empereur épique, il est vrai bien accordé à la direction de George Hurst.

Le Premier de Tchaikovski montre avant même le virtuose l’élégance du musicien, et celui de Gershwin est plus qu’une curiosité, refermant cette période Saga au fond si précieuse : ce sont les disques d’un jeune homme auquel la vie joua plus d’un tour, d’un pianiste éminent dont l’art heureusement fut sauvé par une poignée d’admirateurs, et la constance d’Emilio Pessina qui aura publié tant de ses trésors retrouvés.

There is a Fiorentino paradox. When, in the early 1990s, Ernst A. Lumpe began unearthing concert recordings, and Fiorentino himself returned to the recording studio for APR, it was the art of a pianist nearing eighty that emerged, refined yet still prodigiously present. But there was another Fiorentino, this impetuous young man whom Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, discovering him with astonishment at the Monza competition, described as "the only other pianist."

His meteoric rise to fame was abruptly cut short in 1954 by a near-fatal plane crash. This long hiatus did not dampen his enthusiasm, and at the end of the 1950s, he finally found what he needed: a record label. This was followed by about ten LPs for a label whose lack of professionalism and the whimsical nature of its founder, Saga, he suffered from.

The legacy is uneven, and some sessions are occasionally sloppy, such as, unfortunately, those of the Nocturnes at the Olympic Theatre in London, where neither the instrument nor the recording does justice to his artistry. But still within the Chopin repertoire, the prodigious Waltzes, by turns exuberant and poetic, the somber Preludes, and a sooty Polonaise-Fantaisie are simply unforgettable, as is the Liszt recital dominated by two Ballades presented like fairy tales.

A spirited performance of Schumann's Carnaval is the other gem in this collection, where the concertos suffer from uninspired conductors: Schumann's and Liszt's First are salvaged thanks to a good Hamburg orchestra, but every nuance of the pianist's playing proves that he transcended these limitations, to the point of being absolutely dazzling throughout an epic Emperor Concerto, admittedly well-suited to George Hurst's conducting.

Tchaikovsky's First Concerto reveals the musician's elegance even before the virtuoso's virtuosity, and Gershwin's is more than just a curiosity, bringing this ultimately precious Saga period to a close: these are the recordings of a young man to whom life dealt more than one blow, of an eminent pianist whose art was fortunately saved by a handful of admirers, and of the unwavering commitment of Emilio Pessina, who has released so many of his rediscovered treasures. [JCH]

30 January 2025 | Jonathan Woolf | MusicWeb International

Fiorentino’s complete Saga recordings of 1958-60 heard in excellent remasterings [JW]

Don’t overlook Rhine Classics’ ‘early live and unissued takes’ in their Fiorentino Edition which also includes some Saga material (review).  The discs are presented in Original Jackets, with the reverse of the jacket simplified to present track listings and has been remastered in 24-bit 96 kHz. The earlier sessions were made in mono, though pseudo-stereo LPs were issued as well. The Chopin Nocturnes, for example, are in stereo as noted.  Pre-echo and wow, which bedevilled some of the Liszt recordings, in particular, and which can be heard in the Piano Classics transfers, have both been reduced in these remasterings, as also noted, and the remastering here is uniformly excellent, with the proviso that it’s impossible to make the Sagas sound sonically glamorous.

Ernst Lumpe’s booklet note tells the listener all he needs to know, there are some excellently reproduced photographs, and the box is an authoritative contribution to Fiorentino’s representation on disc.