Word: scarpini
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After the last horrendous arrabbiato, in which pianist and orchestra were joined by a chorus of 72 men, the audience sat stupefied for several seconds and then released a roar of approval that persisted through eleven curtain calls. Soloist Pietro Scarpini and the Cleveland had safely and on the whole admirably negotiated the longest and, in the opinion of many pianists, the most difficult piano concerto ever composed. It was, in fact, a monstrosity, as some critics limply acknowledged. But they had to concede, along with Cleveland's crusty old George Szell, that it was "a monstrosity full...
...brilliant new pianist appeared in the U.S. last week. He is Florence's Pietro Scarpini, 43, so far known in the U.S. only through one recording of Stravinsky and Bartok (Colosseum) and the praise of his American pupils. Last week, in Carnegie Hall, he performed with the New York Philharmonic-Symphony under Dimitri Mitropoulos. His selection: Prokofiev's rarely played, difficult Concerto...
...listeners, acrobatic, unyielding and overdissonant, hardly the kind of thing to herald a new performer. But the New York Times's Olin Downes published a rave. "The pianist who adequately performs the part needs endless strength, swiftness and must be something of a cyclone at the keyboard . . . Mr. Scarpini fulfilled the requirements ... a pianist of prodigious capacities . . . whirlwind virtuosity and rhythmic drive." The rest of the press agreed...
...Pietro Scarpini the kudos was no surprise. He was a child prodigy who rattled off Liszt's Rhapsody No. 12 in public when he was six, won his piano diploma from Rome's St. Cecilia Conservatory when he was twelve. Today he is professor of piano at the University of Florence. There was just one thing about his Manhattan reception that puzzled him: "I don't understand the review that said I played very well, but it was a bad work. I don't play bad works. If I did, I could not play them well...
...York Philharmonic (Sun. 2:30 p.m., CBS). With Pianist Pietro Scarpini...
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