Fabio Parrini

“"His technique is fluid, responsive and natural; his sound is nuanced and varied, delicate when need be, robust when called for.… He treated Haydn’s Sonata No. 52 in E-flat as the grand, startling composition it is. The tempos were unhurried and steady. This was a fully considered, insightful performance… Parrini’s performance was arresting. In the first movement, he was alert to the vivid drama of Haydn’s wayward harmonies and stunning key shifts. He shaped the Adagio in long, lyrical arcs…His performance of Schubert’s magnificent late sonata in G major, D. 894, was reminiscent in its grace, intelligence and refinement of the lovely recording Peter Serkin made when he was 19 years old. Parrini understands the mystical qualities of this music. But the sonata is underpinned throughout with dance rhythms. Parrini’s feeling for the music’s dance elements brought forth his most free and vibrant playing. The Menuetto had lilt and pungency. The final Allegretto had bumptious charm with no loss to its soulful delicacy."”

“Parrini was impressive in his voicing in the quiet slow movement, both musicians shone in the vigorous Allegro, and the brief quiet time between movements was exactly the correct duration to delineate a boundary but also to bind the two disparate movements together. We don't always praise the sound of silence as much as we should when a well-thought caesura enhances the worth of a performance... The pianist had his work cut out for him throughout this sonata, since Brahms wrote dense inner voices, not a note of which can be omitted without sounding incomplete. It is as though Brahms the expert orchestrator is making the pianist perform a full orchestration that is inevitable and that cannot be given short shrift. Parrini was up to this difficult challenge. Coupled with a fine performance by Hoffman on viola, the Brahms was a collaborative effort of the first order.”

“Pianist Fabio Parrini established himself immediately as a fine collaborator, carefully voicing his piano pieces to complement the other instruments... Throughout the piece there was a lot of rhythmic interest. Ms. Steinbeck and Mr. Parrini were fully in command, and gave the audience an introduction to a very pleasing work with a lot of depth. It would be good to hear more of this composer’s works played with the same assurance and authority that this performance gave us... Having had the benefit of attending the working rehearsal during which the trio painstakingly put together their interpretation, I could appreciate the effort that went into putting together the angular syncopation, the hemiolas and accents, the open strings, the piano articulation, the harmonics and the coloration. The result was a performance that was definitive and authoritative. They made it sound easy... The three musicians performed the Andante movement from J.S. Bach’s Sonata No. 5 in E minor for flute, cello and piano with admirable balance to conclude the afternoon... In addition to providing fine collaborative playing, the Keowee Chamber Players provide a breadth of repertoire that is commendable. ”

“Fabio Parrini has been a friend of mine for more than a dozen years or so. As a musician he is a consummate artist with an amazing capacity for both technical detail and interpretive nuance. Every time I hear him or listen to his recordings, I learn something new, about either the music he performs or how it really should be played. I especially recommend his most recent recording of the Schumann Fantasie Op. 17, which captures an absolutely visionary performance.”

“"Mr. Parrini is a sensitive pianist. He chose George Gershwin's Three Preludes from 1926 as the opening work. In the second prelude, he demonstrated that an Italian-born classical pianist can "lay back" like the best jazz piano players, delaying each note of the tune until just after the beat. The third "Spanish Prelude" reminds one of Xavier Cugat's influence on jazz. Parrini chose more twentieth-century music to open the second half. Toru Takemitsu's Saegirarenai Kyūsoku I (Uninterrupted Rest) is written without barlines. The three brief movements evoke emotions, including meanness and love. It was a pleasure to hear these novel works in concert, played with authority and depth of feeling."”

“"Both [Eun-Sun Lee and Fabio Parrini] seemed especially comfortable in Mendelssohn's Sonata in F Major for violin and piano composed in 1838...Challenging sequences with brilliant solo interludes for both instruments proved an equalizing tour de force. As if sun broke through the clouds, the mood turned jubilant with instrumental pyrotechnics to match. The race-like final presto, with its graceful arching of phrases, gave full vent to the virtuosic duet performance."”

“Parrini's accompaniment revealed him an accomplished pianist and excellent collaborator....Parrini held the piano in check so the woodwinds could fly, then flew on his own when the score called the piano to center stage...Parrini explored many textures on the piano to enhance the foundations of the piece and complement the flute melodies.”

“(Keowee Chamber Players concert, Taktakishvili, Sonata for Flute and Piano) The performance of the third movement was exceptionally well executed and its shifting character - from allegro romp to understated march to the accelerated conclusion - wonderfully defined. ”

“The destiny of the instrument leads to Ravel's great use of color in "Scarbo" through the Romantic epic, as widely and fully illustrated by Schumann's "Symphonic Etudes", Op. 13. Parrini meditates upon those messages and is able to grasp their meaning, first as a historic document, and then as a moment of clear and illuminating art, which is more important. He tackles and unveils them with fierce technique, and adds a sort of very personal optimistic quality to it all, due to his youthful yet thoughtful character. The large audience listened to him attentively and applauded him as he deserved, obtaining an encore by Bach.”

“"The "Musical Spring" series of the "Amici della Musica" allowed Fabio Parrini (last year's winner of the "Porrino" Competition) to exhibit his flawless technique one more time, along with an uncommon intensity of expression."”