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Voices of the Press
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Hugh Canning, The Times, May 16th, 2010 - CD of the week - 5 stars
... Fialkowska was always one of those “best-kept secret” pianists, loved by connoisseurs for her tonal refinement and exquisite musical taste, but her ordeal seems to have released a new lease of life in her music-making. With her new arm muscle, she is completely unfazed by the pyrotechnics of the Grande Valse brillante (Op 34, No1) or the Scherzo in B minor (Op 20), and this easy virtuosity gives her time for deep reflection, especially in the more broadly conceived Barcarolle (Op 60) and the Ballade (Op 47), treated here as a vast pianistic tone poem, full of tenderness as well as drama.
In four favourite waltzes, four popular mazurkas and the grandly conceived Polonaise (Op 26, No1), the first of the series, Fialkowska reveals herself as a great Chopinian poet who can make the piano sing and dance. Her immaculately judged rubato never sounds calculated, but respects the bel canto inspiration of Chopin’s haunting melodies. In every respect, this carefully chosen and balanced programme repays repeated listening. This is some of Chopin’s greatest music and the playing is sheer bliss. If you buy one Chopin selection this year, make it Fialkowska’s. 5 stars
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Michael Church, The Independent (London), March 27, 2010
Album of the week - Could the excellence of this CD be in part due to Fialkowska's pianistic rebirth, after ground-breaking surgery to cure cancer in her left arm? Her technical brilliance is matched by the vivd originality of her interpretations. This medley of waltzes, nocturnes, preludes, and scherzos has a wonderful freshness.
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Andrew Clark, Financial Times (London), April 3, 2010
5 stars out of 5
The Chopin 200th anniversary has already thrown up its share of CDs, but I wager it will produce nothing more enjoyable or recommendable than Fialkowska’s recital, which marks a welcome return to the frontline for the experienced Canadian-Polish pianist after an illness-related hiatus.
Her comeback will be sealed next month by a recital and concerto performances in London, but it could have no more emphatic a calling card than this CD, an exquisitely balanced selection that captures Chopin in his many moods. It ranges from the sensitively explored introspection of the F minor Waltz Op posth., to a rapturous account of the fiercely demanding Scherzo No 2. Whether in the barnstorming A major Grande valse brillante, the soothing Barcarolle in F sharp or her exquisitely “felt” rendition of the Ballade No 3, Fialkowska displays impeccable stylistic antennae: she knows how to capture Chopin’s charm and spirit without sounding soft-centred or showy.
This is a CD that rewards repeated listening.
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James Manheim, www.allmusic.com, April 2010
This Chopin recital might be called offbeat and curiously evocative of an older time. Polish-Canadian pianist Janina Fialkowska was a student of Artur Rubinstein; while she doesn't sound like him, she sounds like a scion of old traditions in which Chopin was quite freely played. Her Chopin readings are poetic, almost impressionistic, and rhythmically irregular enough to catch your attention despite the mild emotional temperature of the whole. The sequence of three mazurkas toward the end offers performances characteristic of her approach as she molds the basic mazurka rhythm into any number of shapes. She never loses the beat entirely, however, and the individual pieces often have quite subtle flavors. The Polonaise in C sharp minor, Op. 26/1, and the two waltzes with the designation "Grande valse brillante" have an almost nostalgic feel in place of the usual stirring virtuosity. Each piece seems to map out a new terrain within an overall intimate sphere, and the intimate but clear sound engineering, produced in a small Quebec concert hall rather than in the overblown church spaces the ATMA label often favors, is ideally suited to Fialkowska's aims. This is a Chopin lover's disc that will deliver something new even to those who have heard these pieces many times.
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Frank Siebert, FonoForum (Germany), April 2010, „Star of the month“ selection CD
Discovery
Eight years ago her career was abruptly interrupted by a tumor operation on her left arm. For two years Janina Fialkowska, the pianist with Polish roots was not able to perform. The artist, who was supported by Arthur Rubinstein is not so well-known in this country.
The magnitude of this oversight of a music business that seems to be completely dedicated to the teenage cult, is brought to light by Fialkowska’s latest CD-Chopin, which appears like a spectacular discovery. What convinces and at the same time deeply movesis the simple straightforwardness of these recordings.
She says she learned from Rubinstein “to trust the composers, to put their works first and not myself”. After her cancer surgery the artists said: “I feel that I now understand much more of what’s behind the music.”
Who listens to Fialkowska’s recording, will find these two remarks reflected in her playing. In addition to a selection of Mazurkas and Waltzes, Fialkowska also turns to the bigger forms like the 3rd Ballade, the Scherzo Op.20 or the Polonaise Op.26 No.1. It’s not only the noble drive with which she pulls off the “Grande valse brillante” Op.34 No.1 or the sharp-edged drama stirring up the introduction of the b minor Scherzo, and it is not only the fine melancholy she lures out of the Mazurka e minor Op.41 No.2: what is so fascinating about Fialkowska’s play is the naturalness, the seriousness and the integrity of her master plan and it is the emotional richness displayed with tremendous beauty of tone without any cheap showmanship.
This recording is without any doubt one of the most beautiful contributions to the Chopin anniversary.
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Guy Dammann, International Piano (London, UK), March/April 2010
IP’s Selection CD. …Coming somewhat in advance of the flood of pianistic activity that will mark Chopin’s bicentenary, this refined and unfussy recital is therefore doubly welcome … The Grande valse brillante in F major is dispatched with a fearlessness that took me quite by surprise, with the softer passages showing no signs of the athletic strains imposed by the crazed ballroom tour that surrounds them. Similarly, the impassioned opening of the B minor Scherzo is breathtaking both in its precisely articulated virtuosity and in the ease with which Fialkowska retreats into the work’s many brooding resting places.
One of the highlights is the B major Nocturne … Fialkowska proves herself to be more than a cut above, producing an absolutely delightful reading that allows Chopin’s stretched melody to appear as if floating on a passing breeze. The trilled section before the coda is judged to perfection: nothing fancy, just precisely the gentle blurring of line the composer intended.
The A flat major Ballade provides another example of Fialkowska’s grown-up musicianship … But here, as elsewhere, Fialkowska simply takes Chopin’s notes on their own terms, inhabiting fully each transient area of exploration but never pushing the matter too far.
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James Harrington, American Record Guide, March/April 2010
This is a generous, well-chosen, and well-ordered group of pieces that includes the Barcarolle … I listened to this recording many times, in several different venues and came away on each occasion feeling enlightened by some of the most elegant Chopin playing I’ve heard in some time …
Her performances are without flaw, and there is so much that is good here that I only need to touch on a few things to convince you that this recording should be a part of any music lover’s collection.
There is a wonderful contrast between the powerful opening of the Polonaise and the almost languorous central episode. She gives the A-flat Waltz almost a teasing degree of panache that is rarely heard. The brilliant Waltz in F is taken at a blazing pace, first played quite aggressively, then at the softest dynamic level, with no slacking off in the tempo. The big pieces (Barcarolle, Ballade and Scherzo) are notable for their seamless transitions from the brilliant to lyrical sections and back again.
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Jed Distler, ClassicToday.com December 2009
In a catalog dominated by all-Chopin releases that focus upon complete works within a particular genre (the Sonatas, the Etudes, the Impromptus, and so forth), there's always room for a thoughtfully programmed and well executed mixed recital, such as this 2008 offering from Janina Fialkowska.
It begins with a C-sharp minor Op. 26 No. 1 Polonaise that evokes her mentor Arthur Rubinstein's swagger while also mining the music's darker corners. Fialkowska's internalized rubato yields original, even daring effects in the A-flat Op. 34 No. 1 Waltz, notably the dangerously stretched-out transition into the D-flat major theme. The F major Op. 34 No. 3's "dog chasing its tail" passagework and capriciously-phrased middle section come alive with skittish bravura.
Little sustain pedal supports Fialkowska's nuanced finger legato in the C-sharp minor Waltz. She also is one of the few pianists on disc to play the Barcarolle's opening measures without treating the opening note as a pedal point. Throughout the work, Fialkowska's improvisatory ebb and flow never seems disjointed or mannered …
Fialkowska plays the F-sharp minor Prelude outstandingly well, with long, singing lines and ideally clarified textural strands. The Op. 62 No. 1 Nocturne is conceived on a large and serious scale by virtue of Fialkowska's wide dynamic range and rhetorical breadth, even when her trills effectively die down to hushed, intimate levels. She begins the E minor Op. 41 No. 2 Mazurka in hesitant brushstrokes that grow in volume and expressive bleakness, while the extroverted D major Mazurka Op. 33 No. 2's off-beat accentuations and angular lilt truly "Mazurk"!
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The Toronto Star, Nov. 10, 2009
Montreal pianist Janina Fialkowska has taken 14 pieces by the quintessential Romantic, Frédéric Chopin, and laid them down as if for a piano recital, alternating moods and tempos along the way. We have the full range of his bonbons – Polonaises, Waltzes, Preludes, Mazurkas, a Barcarolle, a Ballade and a Scherzo – all played with a stylish confidence and underlying power. Even though these are all well-worn pieces, Fialkowska makes each sound fresh.
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Norman Lebrecht, The Lebrecht Report – CDs of the week, Dec. 16th, 2009 (www.scena.org)
CD of the week!
Before Chopin Year floods us with tinklers in micro-skirts and Lang Lang duetting with Richard Clayderman, wrap your ears around the real thing. Janina Fialkowska, a Canadian, ran off with the first Arthur Rubinstein competition in 1974 and won a devoted following for her warm and intimate tone, so unlike the bangers and crashers of the competition circuit.
A tumour in her left arm forced a career break early in the present decade, but she’s back now and more characterful than ever.
Her technique is fearless. Fialkowska takes the Grande valse brillante in F major as if it were the Moonlight sonata opening and she flickers through the waltzes, mazurkas and polonaises with the dazzle of a disco dancer. I particularly like her colour differentiations within the hackneyed old Minute Waltz, which I never expected to listen to again with pleasure.
Best of all is the B major nocturne, which she plays conversationally without extremes of quietude and pointless rubato pauses. This is high-class Chopin playing, deeply felt and demonstrably authentic. Fialkowska writes the booklet notes herself, with much the same directness, explaining her choices and contrasts in a language accessible to all. The sound, from a studio in Quebec, is as good as it gets.
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Joachim Kaiser, Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Munich, Germany), January 14th , 2010
Brilliant and highly virtuoso recordings: waltzes, the A flat Ballade , the Barcarolle .... an unusual testimony of the Art of perfect pianism.
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Russell Platt, THE NEW YORKER (online, Dec. 14th, 2009)
Fialkowska plays Chopin with a warmth, poetry, and detail of phrasing that is disappointingly rare today; she places her gifts at the composer’s feet. She moves through a selection of waltzes, preludes, and mazurkas with aplomb, which is hardly surprising since she began her career as a protégée of Arthur Rubinstein.
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Alex Baran, The Wholenote, Feb. 2010
Janina Fialkowska is a Canadian pianistic stalwart – more amazing still because of her recovery from a 2002 cancer surgery that threatened her career. Her performance of the Chopin standards in this recording is remarkably strong. Her masculine keyboard energy is undiminished and her feminine subtleties as seductive as ever. This Yin and Yang are so beautifully balanced in her interpretations that one quickly forgets the performer while being drawn deeply into the swirling emotions that make Chopin’s music unique.
Stepping out of the way of the music is something Fialkowska does with clever and manipulative grace. One easily takes the bait offered by her technical perfection and is drawn toward the fiery melancholy of Chopin’s world.
Most unusual in these performances is the jarring pull-apart of the three-four rhythm in the C sharp minor Waltz (Op. 64 No.2) and the D Major Mazurka (Op. 33 No.2). The irregularity of the left hand “oom-pa-pa” is taken to its absolute limit without ever compromising the pulse of the music. This is a high risk interpretation but carried off convincingly because Fialkowska’s Polish roots run deep and true – and her musicianship is impeccable…
This disc should definitely be a part of your Chopin collection.
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