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Sergio FiorentinoSergio Fiorentino (22 December 1927 – 22 August 1998) was a 20th-century Italian classical pianist whose sporadic performing career spanned five decades. There is quite a bit of footage of his playing that survives, in addition to audio recordings. Recently, a complete concert recorded on video in 1994 has surfaced. Music careerFiorentino was born in Naples and studied at the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella in Naples under Luigi Finizio and Paolo Denza, earned his diploma in 1946 and attended a master class of Carlo Zecchi in Salzburg in 1948. At the age of 20, in 1947 he won a piano competition in Monza, whose jury was chaired by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. There is a legend that Michelangeli himself would later say about him: "He is the only other pianist." His debut was at Carnegie Recital Hall, New York in 1953. The following year, while on tour in Argentina and Uruguay, he was in a near-fatal plane accident, forcing him to cut back on concert performances. This led to him becoming a teacher at Naples Conservatory, where he had once been a student. In the late 1950s, he made a new start in concert performances, both in his native country and in England. Many of his recordings were made during those years (1958–1965). But again, he withdrew from the concert stage, limiting his rare public appearances to his native country, and again started to regularly teach master classes. He left Naples Conservatory in 1993 and began again to play more in public outside his native Italy, performing in Germany, France, Taiwan and the United States. He also made a series of recordings for Appian Publications & Recordings (APR) in Berlin during four sessions between 1994 and 1997. An augmented 10-CD set of these recordings was issued by Piano Classics in 2012. Negotiated and contracted engagements in Russia and Canada as well as a scheduled fifth recording session for APR could not be fulfilled due to his sudden death in his home in Naples on August 22, 1998. Fraud with Concert Artists labelBeginning in 1994 through after his death in 1998, a large number of recordings by Fiorentino were released. Recordings made in Berlin from 1994 to 1997 were released on APR whereas earlier unissued material was put out by the Concert Artists label. In February 2007, Concert Artists admitted to falsely attributing music recorded by others to the late Joyce Hatto.[1] Subsequently, a CD of mazurkas by Fiorentino produced by Concert Artists (CACD9002-2) has been found to contain plagiarised tracks from three other performers. [2] Some of Fiorentino's recordings made during the late fifties and early sixties were issued after the original label's (Saga) failure under pseudonyms by the new owner (Marcel Rodd). The most frequently used pseudonym was "Paul Procopolis".[3] APR Recordings | Fiorentino EditionAppian Publications & Recordings
Piano Classics | Fiorentino Edition
Rhine Classics | Sergio Fiorentino Edition
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