Recognized by the press as a subtle, elegant and eclectic pianist, Vittorio Forte convinces both on record and in concert. Nominated in 2014 and 2020 at the ICMA , his Discography reflects his curiosity.
Find reviews from major magazines like Gramophone , Diapason , Classica , Piano News etc.
About cpe bach: "Abschied" - Odradek (ODRCD368)
.png){kind=small}
Commemorating a decade since the death of the American pianist Earl Wild , this is a beautifully recorded recital of Wild's transcriptions. The piano used is a Bechstein D282 from the Fabbrini Collection. Forte offers a superb, suave rendition of Handel-Wild 's Harmonious Blacksmith Variations. Although exactly the same duration as Giovanni Doria Miglietta's performance on Piano Classics, Forte is lighter and fully honors the virtuoso element. The Adagio from Marcello 's Oboe Concerto is an absolute dream, preparing the ground beautifully for a caressing performance of Rachmaninov's Dream. Wild meets Rachmaninoff might imply a supernova of virtuosity, but here is a plateau of highest beauty. Each Rachmaninoff- Wild transcription is a gem, or at least Forte persuades us so in his ideally contrasted selection. There is wit to the Tchaikovsky Dance of the
Four Swans and swing to Gershwin's Virtuoso Etudes , including a nod to Rachmaninoff in 'The Man I Love'. "
Colin Clarke - INTERNATIONAL PIANO MAGAZINE
" Forte delights us in the Seven Melodies of Gershwin - dreamy The Man I love and rebellious I Got rhythm - while privileging the song of a Lisztian penetration of his keyboard in the fantastic thirteen minutes of the Improvisation according to Someone to Watch over me, a tune from the comedy Oh, Kay! Elsewhere, it's about admiring the expressive nobility from the popular Adagio from Marcello's Oboe Concerto in D minor - Wild had been preceded by Bach - and the diversity of style, alternately Schumanian (op. 21, n ° s 8 and 12), Chopinienne (op. 14, n ° s 11 and 14 and op. 21, n ° 1) or Debussyste (op. 34, n ° 1 and op. 38, n ° 5) which animate seven melodies of Rachmaninov . Additional pleasure, the sonic clarity of a superb Bechstein under the fingers of the pianist. "
Franck Mallet - MUSIKZEN
"A virtuoso performer and heir to the great romantic tradition, the American pianist Earl Wild was a formidable transcriptionist who left a" book of compositions "with dazzling arrangements ranging from baroque to Gershwin . Ten years after the death of the master, Vittorio Forte revisits some of his finest piano transcriptions in the album [Re] visions. Faithful to Earl Wild , the Italian pianist creatively and sincerely appropriates his admirable musical paraphrases. Handel's harmonious blacksmith sounds like an elegant baroque song . The slower piano tempo amplifies the emotion of Marcello's Oboe Concerto. Torment, dreams, nostalgia, sadness, poetry and the Russian soul explode on the keyboard in Rachmaninoff's Melodies sublimated by the scintillating interpretation of Vittorio Forte Difficult to resist the rhythm of Gershwin and to twirl with Tchaikovsky's Swan Dance in this seductive discovery of he colors of Earl Wild's music . "
Vincent Cressard - WEST FRANCE
"Forte thrusts the listener into the heartiest of renditions ... With such technical command as he possesses, we get caught up in Forte 's excitement.
Naysayers might argue that pianists have enough original Rachmaninoff in the catalog to satisfy and, consequently, dispraise the pillaging of song repertoire for the sake of yet more piano music. The rest of us are just grateful that Wild did what he did, creating felicitous versions of several Rachmaninoff songs. Indeed, the Russian master himself made arrangements of at least two of his own songs for solo piano, offering them as still in recitals. And so Wild - and Forte - remain in safe (and inspired) company. "
Adam Sherkin - THE WHOLE NOTE
"The pianist plays with all these technical and stylistic acrobatics with a breathtaking freedom of tone and the smirk of an insolent virtuosity. A recording remarkable both for the high class of the interpretations, and for the very polished finish of the technique. instrumental. "
Bénédict Hévry - RESMUSICA
"Italian pianist Vittorio Forte pays homage to the brilliant improviser Earl Wild . An original record, colorful, joyful, and which offers a great breath of fresh air in a production too often agreed upon. A record that sounds like Bechstein's piano by Vittorio Forte : airy, supple, elegant and divinely colored. Ah, how many times have we not listened to his "The Man I Love" again! "
Xavier Flament - L'ECHO
"Un trabajo discográfico extraordinario tanto por las impresionantes trascripciones de Wild como por la virtuosa interpretation del pianista Vittorio Forte que nos ofrece una interpretación exquisita de estas obras, de un refinamiento extraordinario.
An imprescindible CD. "
Ruth Prieto - EL COMPOSITOR HABLA
"Sorrow in Springtime from Op. 21 (No. 12) hams up the romantic elements, with expanding flowing melodies. Here, and in Floods of Spring, Op. 14, No. 11, pianist Vittorio Forte underlines the impressionistic elements. (The Bechstein piano is carefully captured by specialist label Odradek.) The Muse, Op. 24, No. 1 comes across as sentimental rather than wistful, whereas the sparsely textured Dreams packs a powerful punch.
The seven etudes based on George Gershwin 's piano arrangements of his songs are glorious. Forte's closing transcription of CPE Bach 's Solfeggietto is a fitting tribute to the art form. "
Claire Jackson - BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
Sound 10 - Libretto 10 - Repertory 10 - Interpretation 10 - "It therefore becomes more obvious to bring Vittorio Forte and Earl Wild together as the artistic ideal and the quest for the" right sound "unite them through a mutual respect for music. Tchaikovsky is chiseled, elegant and infinitely tender. Gerswhin brings an approach of freshness and spontaneity, without having to resort to any superficial artifices. Vittorio Forte concludes with an improvisation by his conductor on Solfegietto by CPE Bach, a composer who is dear to him and whose a disc has already been dedicated to him in 2019.
A very successful new record, essential for fans of Earl Wild and transcription.
Ayrton Desimpelaere - CRESCENDO MAGAZINE
MUSICAL CHOICE OF MUSIQ3 (RTBF - BELGIUM) " Vittorio Forte had the good idea to revive this mythical figure and to make it known to the European public by offering this disc both virtuoso and elegant, with transcriptions of melodies by Rachmaninoff or by Gershwin, but also pieces by Handel, Marcello or Tchaikovsky. demonstrations of strength. And that the composer and especially the music can emerge victorious. "
"Vittorio Forte brings his talent to life splendidly through this program bringing together seductive transcriptions by Rachmaninoff, Gershwin,
Handel or others: the art of the transcriptionist is to enrich textures without weighing them down and to re-color them in the light of his time,
but it takes a leading pianist to restore these scores with the right amount of virtuosity and elegance. "
Nicolas Blanmont - La Libre Belgique
"Everything here resuscitates the art of an immense pianist, with a sensitive tenderness that makes the album doubly precious, for this repertoire that so few still dare to frequent, and for the very art of Vittorio Forte who achieves an additional freedom : listen in apostille to his own improvisation on the Solfeggietto by Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach. "
Jean-Charles Hoffelé - Artamag '
"An absolutely splendid record ... A sensitive piano, playful and highly faithful to the spirit of the transcriptionist who himself titillated geniuses, with a hint of freedom and mad admiration."
Anne-Sandrine di Girolamo - Gang Flow
"What a nice and sensitive playing!"
Suzy Klein - BBC3 Radio
"Sumptuous!"
Florence Paracuellos - France Inter
"A wonderfully met challenge ... full of nuances, a perfect musical serenity!"
Gabrielle Oliviera Guyon - France Music
"A record full of color and vitality ... Fluid, elegant, always precise"
Rodolphe Bruneau-Boulmier - France Music
"Vittorio Forte is a great artist, a great musician, a poet ... he plays these transcriptions with great charm, tact and great piano science"
Philippe Cassard - France Music
"Between sweetness, energy and effervescence ... A fireworks display, signed by the interpreter after CPE Bach , closes this endearing album in style."
Bertrand Boissard - DIAPASON (READ ARTICLE) - May 2021
"Who does not like in the alchemy of music that the big studious fronts will pass, alas, next to the piano gorged with fantasy of the Calabrian pianist Vittorio Forte ... we feast on the shimmering, aerial flow, which seems to cascade from the light from an open window ".
Lionel Lestang - Current Values (READ ARTICLE) - April 2021
"The first impression that emerges from this recording is a musical serenity marked with the seal of the obvious. Virtuosity, poetry, touch, phrasing, expression, the whole palette of a great pianist is here revealed at its highest level and we transports you to the heart of the most beautiful musical discourse. In short, a flamboyant record by a flamboyant artist. "
Jean-Jacques Millo - OPUS d'OR - OpusHD.net ( READ ARTICLE )
"Pianist Vittorio Forte blends in completely with this ambitious challenge, never betraying a single one of Earl Wild's transcriptions. A GREAT RECORD!"
JR Barland - Provence
"... the result is breathtaking, coherent, powerful, clever, punchy and of an incredible tone as musical, starting from the yardstick of a record that which, if a musical logic existed, would impose on the forbidden stages a keyboard musician who adds a superlative technique to an exceptional sense of beauty and end. "
Bertrand Ferrier - Blog (in two parts - 1 part / 2 part )
"To do justice to this particularly ambitious program, the recourse to a great pianist was necessary: to cut down the mountain of technique required by the performance, and to enrich it with a real sense of interpretation. Vittorio Forte does fortunately one of those rare great pianists "
Suzanne Canessa - Sable ( READ ARTICLE )
"Beyond the difficulty of execution of the works and the virtuosity they require, they appear alive, mobile like the clouds which pass above the sea, sometimes agitated and frothy like the foam which meets the rock. , sometimes smooth and delicate like a sea of oil on which the slightest shudder is felt. Fineness and nuances animate a rainbow of sounds and colors in which the personality of its performer is reflected as much as that of the composers whose And when Vittorio Forte in his turn becomes an improviser in this Earl Wilde style which confronts and connects Bach father and son, he brilliantly manifests his uniqueness and inventiveness. To our greatest pleasure ... "
Sarah Franck - Artschipels ( READ ARTICLE )
“Vittorio Forte ce la fa”, as the guys from the South say. He also succeeds in balancing this verve and this jubilant fluidity in order to find a balance close to perfection. There is in the legato of the Italian pianist as a form of natural simplicity (evidently?), An effusion that is always measured. Yes, it seems to flow with such ease and delicacy that we almost want to resume our dear piano studies. "
Joel Chevassus - "Grand Frisson" Audiophile Magazine ( READ ARTICLE )
About cpe bach: "ABSCHIED" - Odradek (ODRCD368)
His proposal is new and perfectly accomplished. V. Forte's response to Lubimov reaches the same peaks of inspiration. The Rondeau "Farewell to my Silbermann clavichord" goes straight to our hearts. The sumptuous sound of the great Steinway touches as directly as a confidence from Bill Evans. V. Forte is a master of "chiaroscuro", the dense virtuosity of Rondo in A minor, his mysterious questions keep the listener on the edge of his seat. The Variations on the Folia crown a free and whimsical journey, admirably sung, which makes forget all about the quarrels of the instrument.
Philippe Ramin - Diapason
This music often requires bite, and we are well served... The fantasy in A major Wq.58 / 7, mood-changing, striking, sometimes without a measure bar, sums up this beautiful program by itself: varied, made of contrasting pieces and very personal ones.
Marc Vignal – Classica
It is always a pleasure to listen to the play of pianist Vittorio Forte, who surprises us each time with choices of repertoires that are less played and yet exciting. Rondo, Fantaisies, Variations, so many pieces where colors and dynamics are essential. The way the pianist guides and arranges these pieces is again remarkable. The limpid direction of his playing subtly blends with a delicate ornamentation that few artists would be able to reproduce in such a convincing way. At the end of this performance, we can only thank the artist and congratulate him for having transported us in such a refreshing way during 79 minutes. Vittorio Forte does not seek ease, it is his strength. This daring bet, he wins hands down, giving pleasure to listening to each pieces
.A. Desimpelaere - Crescendo Magazine
Listening to Forte's poetic reading, it is easy to understand both why Bach was so admired by Haydn and how he remained a strong influence on Beethoven.
Adventurous listeners eager for a detour from the beaten path, not to mention connoisseurs of thoughtful piano-playing of cultivated sensitivity, won't want to miss this.
Forte manages to achieve the stylistic elements of this “Sturm und Drang” without putting himself in the front and without loosing control. Obviously, he underlines the abrupt semantic fractures, even the irritating silences and the bold melodic lines and modulations. But: Nothing sounds exaggerated, everything stays in the right manner according to the compositional intention. Specially the “Fantasia” WQ 59/6 sounds impressive and even with a bizarre humor and subtle grotesque. Here a simple cuckoo motif is literally mocked together with highly dramatic climaxes.
Marco Frei - PIANO NEWS.DE
Vittorio Forte reaches heights of expressive intensity and perfect connivance of spirit with the old-hearted but young-minded master: he joins with other organological means but with a comparable sensitivity, an Alexei Lubimov at the top of his art in the delicate handling of a tangent keyboard (Ecm), a disc celebrated in these columns two years ago . In a more refined and decorative spirit, the variations on the follies of Spain pleasantly punctuate the recital with fortunately more lightness and more picturesque. Here is a splendid achievement, very complete in its conception and ideal in its realization, in a major repertoire of the instrument-king, yet so little, and sometimes so badly (the integral-pensum in 26 CD of Ana-Marija Markovina , at Hännsler) approached by our "modern" pianists. A record to which we will return often and with enthusiasm.
B. Hévry – Resmusica
Vittorio Forte has takek hold of this music, problematic because it is little played and little explored, with full hands and head on. He does not seek to attenuate its brusqueness, the dryness of certain cadences (the formulas that suspend or conclude the sentences), the flights turning short, to suggest transitions that are not there. From his modern piano, recorded as closely as possible, he has undoubtedly achieved a musical truth and coherence much more convincing than Gustav Leohhard did, for example, on harpsichord, pianoforte and clavichord, in 1973 (Sony), with the same repertoire (but not the same pieces, except Abschied von meinem Silbermannischen Claviere), where one feels a desire to round out the angles, notably with rubato or harmonically delayed cadenzas "à la Mozart". A first listening for the ear, a second to learn about the owner, the following ones to taste this art of the piano and its strong emotions, of a composer in the background very clever, keeping his audience theatrically awake, and a pianist who is no less so.
JM Warszawsky - Musicologie.org
_modifi%C3%A9.png){kind=small}
The first piece is of infinite tenderness, which bodes well for a good time to spend with the Italian pianist. Vittorio's fingers lie down on the piano, giving the notes a deep emotion. In this piano game, technique is at the service of emotion. And all this emotion will mark the recital delivered by the pianist. Throughout the cd the Italian pianist speaks of love for his piano and we savour every word of it. If all the hammers of Vittorio's piano could break the violence we know in these dark times, it would be a damn great music lesson.
One can only be proud of an album if you are the author, but one can be proud and happy to have lived a beautiful story by playing it. And I am proud to have this album in my discography
The Italian pianist takes hold of this music with a way of thinking that goes far beyond the notes, to broaden the musical horizon of the pieces discussed. And this approach fully achieves its goal by offering a delicacy, a depth, a certain charm to these little-known pages. In its natural elegance, Vittorio forte's playing forces admiration with humility and grace. A CD to discover without delay.
OpusHD.net - Jean-Jacques Millo
Vittorio Forte's CPE, Bach performances are highly inspired and charming, revealing the composer's virtuosity, his impulsive rhetoric and his genuine poetry as well.
Pizzicato - Remy Franck
Cpe Bach, the visionary
About F. CHOPIN: Complete Waltzes (Aevea-Onclassical)
Here is a pianist who sings, and whose left hand, here capital, makes the counterchants heard without ever underlining them, sets the cadence with discretion but imperiously. Light pedal, discreetly invincible fingers, determined but never too fast pace, marvelous theatrical sense nuanced with a tact and a love of the instrument that I cannot resist.
Alain Lompech - Diapason
Poetry, in Vittorio Forte's fingers are full of it. On the contrary, it serves an elegant musical discourse, fascinating with spontaneity, immediacy, even urgency, as if these "ephemeral" Waltzes carry within them an irremediable fragility. Everything here seems to be shaped in the present, in an approach that is by turns fervent and passionate.. Chopin's spirit then springs forth as evidence, offering the performer the moment of a fragile sharing between heart, mind and soul. A musical vision to discover as soon as possible.
OpusHD.net - JJ Millo
This unadorned elegance, this very great simplicity which rubs off at the very last to sometimes suspend time better (the great Waltz in F major, magnificent), the exemplary style of the phrasing, the frankness of the colors, the touch held which erases the hammers to make the polyphonies better to understand, the precision of the emotions make in the end a singular version of these pages so much in demand; do not hesitate to rediscover them here.
Artalinna - J.Ch. Hoffelé
Vittorio Forte uses his pianistic skills to differentiate Chopin's Waltzes, thus reflecting the various moods of the music. A very personal and overall superb recording!
Pizzicato Magazine - Rémy Franck
Sound 10 - Booklet 10 - Repertoire 9 - Interpretation 10
After a superb “ Melodic Journey ”, Vittorio Forte returns to the studio to record his own conception of this often neglected or mishandled repertoire. It is a piano as subtle, fresh, attentive to the slightest breath in the melodic line, all thanks to an accompaniment that brings dynamism and underlying energy more than primordial to Chopin, a kind of engine that nothing stop. Between purity and emotion, the language proposed here enjoys a certain freedom which is perfectly combined with Chopin's language. Everything is balanced, thoughtful and always well-timed. Very beautiful piano, again, poetry in music.
Crescendo Magazine - A. Desimpelaere
Vittorio Forte plays a Steinway piano, one of those great, modern, very vibrant pianos, designed to carry and project sound, and on the score side, little played versions, bringing slight variations to the habits, which Chopinian addicts will notice. It seems that he chose to follow his good taste and his assured ear, and did not make any radical or definitive choices. It does not shine virtuosity, although it is also very tasteful, remains in the Chopinian half-tone and ambiguity, with a perfectly mastered Steinway, without excess of resonance, including in the finale, perfectly and clearly recorded , without pushing the bass. A solid left hand, but discreet enough to highlight the reign of the melody. Here and there a series of slightly deeper rubatos stands out, like breaths or vocal inflections joining the musical flow. This is how we make a declaration of love when it is not learned by heart.
Musicology - JM Warszawsky
About "voyage melodique": transcriptions of liszt & wild (LYRINX2296)
The Italian interpreter invites us into the darkness of a large living room. The Schubert are models of characterization. In Auf Flugeln des Gesanges, his way of making all the fingers sing on the keyboard is admirable. His Widmung would not attract the admonitions of Katherine Hepburn in Song of Love: it is lyrical and tender more than fiery. With a leap, here we are in the 20th century with three melodies of Rachmaninov arranged by Earl Wild. Vittorio Forte is unmatched in his ability to unravel the melodic interlacing, the backgrounds, or to bring out such a sinuous line from the depths of the piano. His intimate and rhythmically suple playing is able to reach an orchestral density, all the more remarkable as it does not require muscular strength. In other words, the Gershwin are amazing, devoid of the emphasis that bad musicians put on this composer: Forte has closed the lid of the piano, dimmed the light so that one can hear even better the magnificent polyphony of Wild's arrangements. What a grace, smiling moreover!
Diapason - Alain Lompech
Vittorio Forte phrase Frühlingsglaube as if the singer were next to him, a Dermota, a Wunderlich perhaps, nostalgia for the guaranteed timbre, which transforms notes into feelings.
This way of making people forget Liszt behind Schubert is quite admirable, because after all, the Italian pianist is signing here a disc of transcriptions where the originals impose their truth. It is taking a certain opposite, considering things first as a musician. The long complaint of Gretchen am Spinnrade goes to its crescendo as if Lotte Lehmann was taking it there, there is throughout this album a truth of expressive singing that never ceases to surprise, even in the corbels with which Liszt adorns Die Forelle. And I'm not telling you anything about the beauty of the timbres, of this game of great virtuosity with ten fingers where everything is infused in an intimate, deep song. Liszt the transcriber transforms himself into a poet, in the well known Schubert, but also in Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann whose exalted Frühlingsnacht transports me by his phrasing where a soprano appears, Jurinac perhaps? Such a culture of singing transmuted into ivory and ebony, one have to go back to Sofronitsky or Berman to find it, vibrant, intense, so imaginative. The other side of the album takes us across the Atlantic: Vittorio Forte is herborized by Earl Wild, one of the ultimate representatives of the golden age of virtuosos. Three Rachmaninovs or gold dust, three sensual, solar, finely sculpted Gershwin, six wonders that remind us that this high-ranking musician is a sacred artist, if not just one of the most gifted pianists of his generation.
JC. Hoffelé - Artamag'
Vittorio Forte at the top of its Art! The primary difficulty of the transcription is to keep the character, the atmosphere and all the essence that characterizes the work. By erasing the sung text, the pianist's challenge is then to translate on the piano all the emotions and the richness of the voice that characterize each of the chosen pieces. And it is that this admirably does the pianist Vittorio Forte which again shows us his willingness to think and propose something else. We particularly appreciate the finesse and sensitivity of his touch, the undeniable delicacy of the musical direction, whether melodic, rhythmic or harmonic, and the ease that the artist has in capturing the present moment to create striking climates and atmospheres. For each story, Vittorio Forte tells a story and invites us, thanks to the installation of an intimate atmosphere - notably due to a perfect sound recording and high-level artistic direction - to return to its poetic journey. Finally, let us underline - after the delicate timbre of "Auf der Wasser zu singen" (Schubert) in both the treble and the bass, the sweetness and purity of "Auf Flügen des Gesanges" (Mendelssohn) - the freshness and the side sometimes intoxicating the second part by a pictorial, sensual, in fact very natural reading, transcriptions of Porgy and Bess by Gershwin or melodies of Rachmaninoff by Earl Wild. A “melodic journey” that will be talked about and that you should not hesitate to place in your disco!
Crescendo Magazine - Ayrton Desimpelaere
A journey which crosses the universes from Schubert to Schumann. It could be monotonous, if not tedious. Vittorio Forte avoids this trap, dissociating each atmosphere from the previous one, carrying the sound of the Steinway always towards a kind of elevation. He significantly modifies his touch, so that Schubert moves away from Schumann more than usual. It's better this way. No preciousness, but a quest to personalize stamps. He just adds what is urgently needed in Schubert, a painful wandering, which becomes serene in the universe of Mendelssohn's tender confession. The fluidity is fortunately broken with the little played Reiselied, Liszt then dominating Mendelssohn and we admire the clarity and independence of the voices. The second part of the disc is devoted to the XX ° century. Three melodies by Rachmaninov, including the indestructible Vocalise, breathe thanks to the beautiful lighting of the polyphonic. Summertime, The man I love, Embraceable you in the versions of Earl Wild have a hint of sugar and a catchy enough precise and dynamic to be seduced.
This disc - which cleverly hides an impressive technique at times - is not an object of virtuosity. He is content to reveal the simple charm of the rooms, which are so many “bis”. It is as well thought out as it is realized.
Pianist Magazine - Stéphane Friederich
The pianist treats Earl Wild's transcriptions with as much taste: He makes us discover the richness of these adaptations, because Wild, this immense pianist, artist often misunderstood, has enormously enriched these works, and it is exactly this aspect which elegant interpretations stand out, played with a lot of love and devotion. Vittorio Forte impresses with a program of transcriptions which shows us that he is a very natural performer, caring for the origins of the works and giving these transcriptions an incredible musical richness.
Pizzicato - Rémy Franck
... a “Melodic Journey”, which the fingers of Vittorio Forte carry at the top of an undeniable musical intelligence, and which will long rock the soul of all lovers of the piano. An essential and unique SACD.
OpusHD.net - JJ Millo
Works all very famous that mark out an intimate journey, a confession where the pianist gives himself up with disarming sincerity. An intense emotion but without pathos runs through this disc for a moment of sharing with the listener in a fervent communion. A great piano moment, great art! Guaranteed success! A pianist not to be missed.
Musical education - Patrice Imbaud
About Couperin-Chopin: "affinites retrouvees" (LYRINX2283)
Despite an omnipresent minor mode, the whole is listened to and re-listened to without the slightest trace of weariness, each piece seeming to flow from the previous one. Vittorio Forte has a lot to do with the success of this disc. An example of this taste without false note: the Pantomime of Couperin, at the same time masterful course of articulation, lesson of rubato and dynamics, art of the discourse by subtle variations in the recoveries, and apotheosis of the dance . In their perfectly balanced rebounds, the Mazurkas of Polish are just as well felt.
Diapason - Laurent Marcinik
All the pieces of a composer find their homonyms in the other, by style, form, or character ... Ambiguity, melancholy and mystery are the keywords of this CD. The purity of Couperin's music is perfectly demonstrated in that of Chopin and listening makes it possible to identify the links of the two composers, however separated by a century, so much so that after a few pieces they can no longer be distinguished. it is one or the other. Intelligent compilation which shows that we can still record Chopin's work from an unusual angle. The qualities of the recording are also exceptional, the registers being well controlled.
Ayrton Desimpelaere - Crescendo magazine
Sound 10 - Repertoire 10 - Booklet 9 - Interpretation 9
Vittorio Forte takes the gamble of crossing the “melancholic” pieces extracted from the Couperin Orders with the Chopin mazurkas. The dramatic progression of this association is original and clever. Too bad for those who do not like the risk assumed and the dangerous, but successful connections.
We fall here under the spell of a piano that breathes and convinces.
Pianist Magazine - Pierre Massé
Ranging from the evocative sadness of "Wandering Shadows" to the dramatic tone of "The Attendering", this discographic experience can be lived as an initiatory journey marked by the meeting of two different styles ". With exemplary sensitivity, combining finesse and depth, richness of colors and phrasing with an evocative breath, Vittorio Forte proves to be a poet of rare musical intelligence. Carried by a remarkable sound recording, the latter builds a veritable master disc that time will not make you forget. A simply monumental SACD.
JJ Millo - Opushd.net
About R. Schumann: Piano Works (LYRINX275)
Very rare are the pathologies escaped from medical textbooks recognized among the arts and literature. Medieval science accused the melancholy of an excess of black bile, the troubadours then the preromantics discovered in love virtues and creative fertility. Anyway, from one extreme to the other and according to a wide range of poetic nuances, this disturbance of the body and the spirit opens the door to emotion. Like music, which could be one of the faces of melancholy with this program. Kinship appears, despite the variety of features: here is an intonation, a color, a shudder determining a certain pathos dear to the transport of the soul. The tone is that of confidence.
All Schumann is there. The fragile and tortured composer is played here with exceptional panache in the forte and sharp tenderness in the pianissimi. The emotional intensity of the line of the interpreter is never caught in the dark and his immense technique exposes the passion, the candor inspired by the composer. The disturbing Kreisleriana retain all their legendary mystery under their fingers while the Fantasiestücke and the Arabesque, impeccably played, declaim the immediate charm of the great romantic piano.
Philippe Demeure - Classic Fishing
After a remarkable recording devoted to Clémenti, the pianist Vittorio Forte returns to the disc with a Schumann program grouping together the "Fantasiestücke" Op.12, "Arabesque" Op.18 and the "Kreisleriana" Op.16. In his no less remarkable preface to Marcel Beaufils' book, La Musique pour piano de Schumann, formerly published by Phébus, the semiologist Roland Barthes wrote: “Schumann only makes his music heard fully by those who play it. I have always been struck by this paradox: that such a song by Schumann excited me when I played it, and disappointed me a little when I heard it on record: it seemed mysteriously impoverished, incomplete. It was not, I believe, infatuation on my part. This is because Schumann's music goes much further than the ear; it goes into the body, into the muscles, by the strokes of its rhythm, and as in the viscera, by the voluptuousness of its melos: it seems that each time, the song was only written for one person, the one who plays it ". Vittorio Forte's record could be an exception to Barthes' words. Because the Schumann that we hear here resonates with an undeniable concern for the sound, an intelligence of the sentences and a control of the dynamics. Vittorio Forte gives birth to emotion when he illustrates the contrasting world of Schumann, between light and painful anxiety, by a perfect mastery of polyphony. The dark and deep bases of the Fantasiestücke contrast with the high voices, full of poetry and finesse. In the Kreisleriana, brilliance and tenderness are there. The very different sections of each piece recalling Florestan and Eusebius, the imaginary characters of Schumann illustrating the violent and the dreamer, are approached with as much depth. As for the Arabesque, it sails on the same musical heights. A recording not to be missed to discover a real Schumannian pianist.
Parutions.com - Agnès Marzloff
Powerful diction, height of sight of the phrasing, wide breath ... we will follow with interest the journey of this musician who undeniably has an assertive personality.
Bertrand Boissard - Diapason
The dangerous Fantasiestücke, played with nice restraint by a 34 year-old Italian.
The poetry comes through.
Norman Lebrecht
About M. Clementi: works for piano (LYRINX2264)
Here is an interesting anthology of mature works which wonderfully illustrate the evolution of the style of the Italian composer, from classicism to romanticism.
A program perfectly defended by Vittorio FORTE, who chisels a romantic Clementi,
precursor of Beethoven.
This is what we feel when listening to the Largo et sostenuto of the sonata in G minor which precedes the frenzied Allegro con fuoco sculpted with panache, but without excessive virtuosity. We also admire the pianist's ability to draw delicate garlands of ornamentation which embellish the melodic lines. He also knows how to play on the dynamic registers and shows a consummate art to make theatrical breaks. This romanticism on the surface is also in place in the other sonata, the first measures of Molto adagio e sostenuto resonate with a touching expressive density that contrasts with the frenzied rhythmic energy of the Allegro con fuoco e con espressione. The Largo's climate of despair is restored with poignant ascetic sobriety, the trills are aerial, the twilight highs. Vittorio Forte charms us with the Capriccio protean whose multiple climates follow one another with flexibility, elegance and consistency, culminating in a fiery Allegro final.
The journey into the Clementine universe ends on a frivolous note with a fantasy on "In the moonlight"
interpreted with the freshness that befits.
On the mnemonic side, it's quite practical… here is a young pianist… his name is Vittorio Forte and he dedicates a record to the “father of the strong piano”, Muzio Clementi ...
Two sonatas, a capriccio and a fantasy compose the album of Vittorio Forte recorded for Lyrinx in 2008. We discover an artist with a play full of ease, of authority, who conducts these works well with a sense of architecture remarkable,. Everything is in this speech and no affectation or mannerism will come to raise our eyebrows. Supple and fluid, Vittorio Forte's phrasing vitalizes a score, constantly pleasant and often well inspired. In the end, the Fantasy with variations on "In the moonlight", sunny dare we say, shows us all the beautiful colors of the young Italian.
The lover of beautiful piano, now seduced by this album, must become a proselyte of Vittorio Forte.
From the top of his clouds, Vladimir Horowitz nods ... That says it all.
Gérard Abrial - Easyclassic
Vittorio Forte, with its predestined name, selected scores among the most essential of the Roman composer, such as the very symphonic sonata in G minor or the capriccio in E minor, a fantasy with surprising outlines. Thanks to this well-composed bouquet, it is easy for him to highlight the richness of music that foreshadows Schubert or even Chopin, and to constantly attract attention. Impeccable pianistically, endowed with a very attractive sound, the Italian pianist thus offers a very beautiful initiation disc to Clementi, less individual but more natural than those of Horowitz, De Maria, Demidenko and Staier.
Etienne Moreau - Diapason
A rare piano game ... a deep thought ... it transports us to the heart of a unique inspiration where the notes seem to be born in the moment, like a masterful improvisation. All this vibrates with fullness, removing all coldness from these admirable works. With a very fine sound recording, transfigured by the DSD, this Super Audio CD is to be marked with a white stone.
Jean Jacques Millo - OpusHD.net
Vittorio forte ... in concert
FESTIVAL "THE CRAZY DAY OF NANTES"
Vittorio Fortetakes us to a timeless land thanks to a crystalline and fundamentally soft sound, and by its extremely “precious” sensitivity in the best sense of the word. By Schubert, three Pieces for piano D 946 and three Lieder (transcribed by Liszt), then two Ballades op. 10 by Brahms and finally two lieder by Schumann/Liszt, the program is conducive to singing in which the pianist excels. Something deeply human and benevolent emerges from his interpretation, especially from his sound, which never leaves the audience indifferent. We are thus enveloped by a veil protecting us from all the aggressiveness of the world… Each of his recitals is an experience to live absolutely!
Victoria OKADA
MUSIC FESTIVAL AT THE FARM
Vittorio Forte's recital the next day will not be given in the festival's emblematic Chèvrerie, but at the Moulin des Costes in Pélissanne, very charming but with inclement acoustics. Come to celebrate the pianist and composer Earl Wild, to whom he has just dedicated a recordingreviewed here, Vittorio Forte does not fail in his qualities as a transmitter, the time of an introduction that captivates the entire audience. Here again, the emotion and intimacy never get rid of the musical material: we evoke Rachmaninoff's depression and the hyperlaxity of his hands -the famous Marfan syndrome-, the revelation that his music will be for the virtuoso Earl Wild, finally finding a work commensurate with his obsessions. If the recording will have been able to do justice to this taste for brilliance and the Dionysian, the recital of June 27 takes more time to let the nostalgia swell, and less to rely on an ethereal touch. Gershwin's studies let the melodies, which have become jazz standards, sing and syncopate with a certain sensuality. The audience is not mistaken: the clapping of legs and hands turns into warm applause once the concert is over.
Suzanne CANESSA
RADIO FESTIVAL FRANCE MONTPELLIER OCCITANIA - MONTPELLIER
Vittorio Forte presents the program himself. The concert begins with JS Bach: Aria Variata alla maniera italiana. This keyboard piece was written in Weimar in 1709, a period when the composer readily drew inspiration from Italian music. The aria variata is sometimes referred to as Goldberg's Small Variations due to similarities between the two works. These are ten variations around a sensitive and nostalgic theme. The music is soothing, a little melancholy, the sensitivity of the soloist reinforces for the listener the feeling of great serenity. Capriccio N°1 in E minor is a late work composed at almost 70 years old. It is also a daring work for its time but which is rarely performed in concert. The first movement begins with a very melodious andante, announcing romantic music. It is followed by an allegro agitato which requires virtuosity and piano power. The adagio sostenudo is a moment of contemplation and gravity. The singing of the piano is moving. The vivacious allegro is a moment of energy, of velocity, the regularity of the music could be reminiscent of JS Bach.
The concert continues with two nocturnes by Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849). There too we find an Italian influence, that of Bel Canto and Vincenzio Bellini in particular. Nocturne n° 2, opus 27 is a superb melody, the music is of great purity. Nocturne n°3 is an almost religious melancholy song. These two nocturnes highlight the sensitivity and richness of nuances in Vittorio Forte's playing.
Sigismund Thalberg (1812-1871) was an Austrian pianist and composer. He was a famous virtuoso pianist, a demi-god touring all over Europe. He then became Liszt's great rival with whom he even engaged in a piano duel in 1837! He leaves numerous compositions for piano but also lieder and two operas. Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata Fantasia was composed in 1862 and Vittorio Forte himself added some cadenzas to emphasize the Traviata theme. It is a success: the pianistic richness, the velocity and the returns of the theme are absolutely beautiful.
The programming is original and very coherent around the theme of Italian music. The beauty of the setting and the expressiveness, the sensitivity of Vittorio Forte's playing will leave the listener with an enchanted memory.
Jean-Pierre CHAMOUARD
INTERNATIONAL PIANO FESTIVAL OF LA ROQUE D'ANTHERON
Its brilliance, both technical and interpretive, closes a journey that could not be more moving from the Bach of Partita n°1 to this romantic tour de force at will. The perfect equality of voices at work from the "Praeludium" and especially on a "German" with a cord takes your breath away: on each cover, Vittorio Forte explores these contrapuntal jewels from a new angle. On the more solemn “Sarabande”, a sovereign aria finally stands out and guides everything else: the timid chords of the left hand, the tempo, even the pianist himself. The final “Gigue” requires both this precious listening to the voices and a welcome virtuosity; the left hand straddles the right, orchestrating a thematic question-answer game between treble and bass. What a great idea, at the end of this perfect Partita in all respects, to offer pieces by the Bach sons: Carl Philipp Emmanuel and Johann Christian – as well as Wilhelm Friedemann as an encore. In the first, the “Hamburg Bach”, we can already hear Beethoven's stubbornness making its way, as well as its tempestuous modulations; the sense of counterpoint remains significant, sublimated here by the sharpness of the lines and this always delicious "baroque" rubato. The second, the “Bach of London”, readily evokes Mozart, its false thematic simplicity as well as this recourse to an ambiguous major key, as well as a beautiful delicacy of line. On the last, the “Bach of Halle”, it is the innate sense of proportion, and a devastating sentimentality, which carries us away. Back to Bach and his ultra-romantic transcriptions, we can find Kempff's rewritings somewhat pompous: the transcriptions of Cantatas BWV 140 and BWV 29 are certainly not the most subtle, but allow the pianist to summon the orchestra, and to shine once again with an impressive art of relief. On the Flute Sonata No. 2, however, something happens: the Sicilian, due, according to some musicologists, to a concerted effort by CPE and his father, combines the pinched arpeggios of the harpsichord and the amorous lament of the flute in a sublime synthesis of counterpoint and harmony. Incandescent flute that we will still hear resounding on the final bis, the famous Air of Suite n°3, where the volubility of a whole continuo unfolds over the space of a few octaves. Stunning!
Suzanne CANESSA
INTERNATIONAL PIANO FESTIVAL OF LA ROQUE D'ANTHERON
At ten o'clock, the bleachers of the vast auditorium are flooded with sunlight. We leave the mask, once seated, for the hat! A look at the scene: “Ah! it's a Bechstein…” It's the piano chosen by Vittorio Forte and that already says a lot. The pianist summoned the Bach family in a program of great intelligence. The father, first! From Jean-Sébastien, he plays Partita n°1 in B flat major BWV 825, a great start for such a sweet morning! From the Praeludium, we are under the spell of his elegant and supple playing. His so natural and fine way of curving the lines, of hemming the phrases to the care given to their endings, under a perfectly equal touch, in loving harmony with this piano which gives him in return this beautiful sound of full and luminous, his way of making this Bechstein sing without forcing anything, all this wonderfully serves this music written three centuries ago, one would be led to believe, for the piano! The German is remarkable in bearing and eloquence in her speech and the balance of her voices. The left hand seems to lead the dance. And what a delight these covers so subtly varied in their nuances, their phrasing, embellished without overloading with new ornaments! La Courante meanders like a “stream” over the pebbles of its bed, fluid, clear, under a linked playing, with just enough digital articulation. Nothing angular either in the Sarabande, tender and of great nobility. The fine accentuation of the first Minuet played slightly detached and without dryness draws the relief of its long phrase that the second Minuet comes to interrupt with its ringing polyphony in four voices. Finally the voluble Gigue does not touch the ground, until the flight of its last notes.
After the father, the sons! Vittorio Forte knows Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach very well, having recorded an endearing collection of his pieces two years ago (Abschied, Odradek label 2018). We hear his Fantasy in F major Wq 59/5 and his Rondo in A minor Wq 56/5, two pieces with well-defined characters, where the composer has not yet completely freed himself from the Baroque style. La Fantaisie plays on the contrasts of its moods, sometimes charming, free, sometimes with a beaded classicism, or bubbling. The Rondo, with its harmonic steps and solemn tone, is still Baroque. Jean-Chrétien's turn: here is a son who dresses in…classical fashion! The pianist performs his Sonata in A major opus 17 n°5, in two movements, Allegro and Presto. This music plays the tender card under its ingenuous tunes. What refinement in this song and its convincing inflections, tenderly murmured in the cover! Nothing that weighs or poses in the presto either, aerial!
Although Johann Sebastian Bach was left in the attic for a time, he aroused renewed interest among pianists from the end of the 19th century. The strength of this day is to offer transcriptions, some of which have become legendary, as if filiation had extended beyond blood ties. Thus the pianist gives us to hear the famous "Cantate du Veilleur" (Choral-Prelude "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" Cantate BWV 140), the tube that is the Sicilienne in G minor, taken from the Flute Sonata No. 2 BWV 1031, and finally the Prelude from the Cantata “Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir” BWV 29, in transcriptions by Wilhelm Kempff. If the Sicilian, with her tender and melancholy beauty, hits the bull's eye as always, speaking to the intimacy of each of us, the two cantata excerpts highlight the pianist's orchestral playing. The first (BWV 140) sounds like the organ of a cathedral, the second (BWV 29) under a generous pedal, bursts with a thousand lights, blazing like the Magnificat (BWV 243) – a transcription with a grandiose character rather unusual for Kempff . La Chaconne de la Partita n°2 in D minor BWV 1004 in its illustrious and formidable transcription by Ferruccio Busoni, brings this program to a close. All the springs of romantic writing transcend this piece, originally for solo violin, of which Bach used all the polyphonic skills. Vittorio Forte is in his element there, and makes this piano sound in the density of its bass, in this dark D minor, using his incredible expressive palette, his faculties to murmur, or on the contrary to project the resonances of the sound in all the surrounding space though open. Another son will join the concert for an encore: Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and his Polonaise in E minor, but the father will have the last word, with the sublime Air from suite n°3 BWV 1068, transcribed by Siloti._cc781905-5cde-3194 -bb3b-136bad5cf58d_
Jany CAMPELLO
Transcripts? Liszt's virtuosity and his work of creative appropriation never hinder the vocality of expression. Auf Flügeln des Gesanges: in Mendelssohn, as everywhere else, it is the wings of song that continually carry Forte's play, with naturalness and refusal of all sentimentalism: what accuracy of characters in Zyczenie and Moja pieszczotka by Chopin, what authentic momentum in love in the Schumanian Widmung, after the irresistible profusion of Frühlingsnacht.
Carried out with perfect tact, three Rachmaninov melodies transcribed by Earl Wild (O cease thy singing, Midsummer nights, Vocalise), precede the icing on the cake: four of the Seven Studies of Virtuosity on Gershwin's themes from the same Wild (The man I love, Embraceable you, Summertime, Fascinating rhythm) where music triumphs, with chic and elegance. Wildien in devil: hat the artist!
Alain Cochard - Concertclassic
Conquered by his delicate play, very nicely chiseled and full of valor. And his oral presentation of the works was a model of relevance and clarity. This pianist deserves our full attention.
Bertrand Boissard
Recentemente ho scoperto che in Francia é emigrato un pianista che aveva inziato la sua attività in Italia: il calabrese Vittorio Forte. Forte ha particolarità di una sonorità quasi utopica, valorizzata da senso del respiro che richiama l'arte belcantistica ottocentesca.
Extract from the book "da Benedetti Michelangeli alla Argerich" trent'anni con i grandi pianisti - Luca Ciammarughi, pianist and journalist
The first part associates the Wandering Shadows with the mazurka in C minor, then Les Fauvettes plaintives with the mazurka in A minor, in a beautiful and disturbing continuity, not only by the common tone, but by the musical sensitivity on the edge.
There follows the magnificent fantasy in F minor of Chopin, first very solemn, then more and more intimate and tormented, like the keyboard, tumbled and bumpy, in the middle of a dark nightmare.
Then Verdi is reborn, transcribed by Giuseppe Martucci, by La Force du destin. Equally heckled the keyboard, but in a less dark, grander may be in his virtuosity.
The third part takes us to the early twentieth century, when the classical piano intersects with blues and jazz.
Gershwin wrote his songs as a popular musician, just the chords and the melody, the arrangements were improvised. And it was Earl Wild who transcribed them so well for piano: The man I love, Embraceable you and Summertime, with all the richness of interpretation of the greatest jazzmen that these standards have known over the years, still gaining in depth and color.
For the finale, the Rhapsodie in blue, in the piano solo version of the composer himself, who was its first soloist. The only thing missing is the clarinet's opening flight. For the rest, the piano takes up all the symphonic space in incredible sound acrobatics, a magnificent game on rhythms and blue note, written in a month, and which has not aged in ninety years.
But it's not over, three reminders with little nuggets, a transcription by Bellini for the left hand, Casta Diva, a ragtime by Clément Doucet in homage to Chopin, Chopinata, and to close, a simple waltz by Chopin, " a real "as the pianist tells us, with his air of nothing.
Alain Lambert - Musicologie.org
On the third day of this marathon festival, Vittorio Forte , a dark young man with a Lisztian profile, from Calabria, offered an ambitious recital starting with the fearsome Fantasiestücke op.12 by Robert Schumann, which he takes on the labyrinthine and full of pitfalls with a perfect mastery of the game. The three Petrarque Sonnets from Liszt's Second Year of Pilgrimage confirm in this sensitive as well as profound performer, the variety of the sound palette and the inner song that shapes his speech. With Busoni, Liszt's soul mate, and his transcription of the Chaconne in D minor by JS Bach, Vittorio Forte achieved transcendental virtuosity served by extraordinary hands. By way of an encore, unexpected as much as welcome, he launched himself into a jazz-style quodlibet on Liszt's hits, a personal and well-crafted way of paying homage to him.
Francesca Ferrari - Resmusica
Very rare in Paris, Vittorio Forte gives the Institut Gœthe de Paris a thematic recital around the “Melodic Journey”, echoing the release of his new eponymous album at Lyrinx. The program brings together transcriptions by Liszt and by Earl Wild of Lieder, of melodies and songs by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Rachmaninov and Gershwin. These pieces, which are real recreations fully revealing the composers' personality without diverting the spirit of the original, are often performed in concert concerts. But Vittorio Forte makes a double journey, on the one hand in time, spanning 150 years, and on the other hand in space, since we go to Austria, Germany, Poland, Russia and the United States.
His pianistic inspiration, to make the melody sing well by sometimes taking a long time, especially in Schubert and Mendelssohn, seems somewhat contradictory to the vocal breath, more precisely biological, of a singer; it would be largely due to the Blüthner piano whose sound is very dense and immediate, but starting from Chopin and in particular with Rachmaninov and Gershwin, he follows his musical intuition to bring out the melody in the middle of a flood of notes, inevitably virtuosos. Four "transcriptions", taken from Seven Virtuoso Études on Popular Songs by Earl Wild (1915-2010), probably reveal the quality of Vittorio Forte best. Wild excelled in both jazz and classical repertoire - he played Gershwin's Rhapsody in blue in 1942 at the invitation of Toscanini - and these pieces are completely in line with Liszt, highlighting the possibilities that are both expressive and techniques. However, with what brilliance, with what delicacy, but also with what passion mixed with modesty our pianist plays these pieces! In bis, Over the Raimbow and the lullaby of Brahms (transcription of Cortot) to prolong the moment of grace.
Victoria Okada - Musicologie.org
Vittorio Forte likes to take his steps where his curiosity drives him, where others do not go. He repeats with a program that leads him from the clavichord and the appearance of the strong piano to the musical forms of the twentieth century where scholarly and popular mix in jazz.
Known for the finesse of his interpretations of Chopin, Vittorio Forte was no exception to the rule. If it is difficult to make discover works of Chopin so much those were played and replayed, one will greet the particular choice made by the interpreter of works perhaps less known but of an incontestable interest. La Barcarolle op. 60 in F major, sunny and bright, with its delicately balanced rhythm and its melodic fluidity, installs a peaceful climate but not without stylistic audacity. Constructed in three movements, like a nocturnal, the piece encloses a pendulum movement torn by a series of arpeggios between two rhythmic swings specific to the barcarolle. The shimmering water on which the gondolas sway lazily seems like a nostalgic reminiscence of what was not but whose dream persists. The mind begins to wander like music, which invents new combinations. A certain agitation however disturbs the too smooth reflection of this idle happiness, as if the dream carried with it a more tense memory which interrupts the course of it, introducing like musical hiatus in the invariable course of the frizzy water. Just as melodious, the Impromptu n ° 3 in G flat major, minimalist and all in subtleties, distills a pure and airy poetry which prolongs a reverie which comes to interrupt the hammered chords which open the Polonaise fantaisie op. 61. The last of Chopin's Poles, it also marks the change in the theme. With its violent chords followed by sweet complaints, the image of martyred Poland refers to an internal suffering. In this very dramatic piece with a striking rhythm, what is striking are its shifts, its distortions, its suspensions, its breaks in style and its alternations of tempos. The violence of a world that is falling apart as a soul reduced to despair, which struggles to try to see the light again. And extreme modernity.
S. Franck - Arts-chipels
By shaking the brushes in this way, the artist does not draw a dapper and nunuche Chopin full, perfect for the rombières, but a bitter and human Chopin as befits.
La grande Polonaise-fantaisie in A flat op. 61 is developed from a prelude played with the shredded mystery that is going well. The artist assumes the "fantasia" of a composition whose lines of force take pleasure in hiding behind
recurrences,
echoes between right and left hand, and
prepared or abrupt modulations, responsible for re-enunciating a theme in another color.
The musician lives in virtuoso passages as moments of calm with the same curiosity. His mastery of the score frees the text from its complexity, giving the feeling that it is an improvisation. The return of the opening peace then precedes the storm which thunders in a somber light streaked with octaves and repeated notes. This unbroken bubbling earned the performer long, well-deserved applause.
The Rhapsody in blue, in a piano solo version by George Gershwin himself, a priori ends the recital on a fifteen minute tube. From the wording of the first tube, jump to the ears three great qualities very "fortiennes":
the art of touch - distinction and characterization contribute to the success of the incipit;
the sense of phrasing (what spectrum ranging from silky legato to spicy staccato!); and
virtuoso magic, which is another aspect of the entertainment proper to the score, alongside the melody, the swing and the recurrence of the earworms.
B. Ferrier
His interpretation of Schumann, Chopin and Clementi left the audience speechless. He is one of those exceptional musicians who establish such a strong emotional contact with the public that the latter forgets the interpreter to find themselves facing the composer, whose presence becomes palpable. Combining intensity and lightness, his subtle play creates a very special atmosphere where everyone feels the delicious impression of being alone with the artist. Without breaking the spell, a nightly Gershwin Summertime ended this highly acclaimed classic recital on a more modern note "
The voice of the North
Vittorio Forte was Friday evening the guest of the festival "Around a piano". Vittorio's artistic path, unconventional, outside the conservatory, allowed him to train with the great names of the piano and to develop an exceptional personality. A superb phrasing, a sensitive and worked play served a program made up of Schubert, Schumann, Liszt and Bach and in bis, variations on themes of Liszt and a night of Chopin were applauded for a long time by an admiring public.
West France
Vittorio Forte brings in calmer waters, frock coats, romantic hair, listening to him is pure delight as he lives the music so intensely, his hand sometimes raised with grace, murmuring a few notes. It is remarkable of beauty and poetry, the emotion of the public is palpable.
Then he pays the luxury of giving, as a reminder, a jazz improvisation of the Hungarian rhapsodies of Liszt, completely funny and unbridled.
The Catalan Journal
Rare triumph that that obtained by Vittorio Forte after his recital at the Goethe Institute . While the great forties has just recorded the most complete of waltz integrals by Frédéric Chopin, he fomented a tailor-made recital for the series “Classique en Suites” by François Segré: Chopin, but not only. Despite the unusual format (eighty minutes of music against the sixty customary), the quality of this program and the singularity of the artist won over the audience, usually not very quick to bring his entertainer back to the stage three times .
Bertrand Ferrier
This is the hallmark of Vittorio Forte, a technical perfection combined with an extreme emotion that passes at your fingertips, a sensitivity that diffuses through its fine and delicate touch not free of splinters. The notes seem to be suspended, with light and subtle syncopes, almost imperceptible, as if delivering music could only be done by delivering it from the gangue of the accumulation of notes. As for Chopin, Vittorio Forte hears all the nuances, perceiving the changes in tones, rhythms and accents. It is a great pleasure but it is also very beautiful.
Arts-chipels - Sarah Franck