"A supreme interpreter of Frédéric Chopin"
Both Chopin Concertos with the Vancouver Symphony under Bramwell Tovey
Pianist Janina Fialkowska a supreme interpreter of Frédéric Chopin Fialkowska, who studied under one of history’s most perceptive Chopin musicians, Arthur Rubinstein, played magically. Many players exaggerate Chopin’s rubato, that little theft of time so important to his music, but Fialkowska didn’t. She made the music sound as natural as it should be, evoking the playing of the excellent pianist Dang Thai Son.
Fialkowska’s interpretation had the coruscations we expect of Chopin’s highly decorative writing, a real sense of elegance, and in the languid slow movements, a feeling of the operatic composer Chopin so revered, Vincenzo Bellini.
Lloyd Dykk, straight.com (Vancouver's online source for news, arts, entertainment, culture and lifestyle), March 8, 2010
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"Beyond earthly creation"
Chopin E Minor concerto with the Wichita Symphony under Andrew Sewell
Chopin wrote two concerti to display his own ability at the piano, and soloist Janina Fialkowska was more than equal to the challenges presented by the score. At turns fiery and delicate, Fialkowska's consummate talents allowed her to communicate the score with apparent abandon. The tone she conjured from the piano seemed to be from something beyond earthly creation.
David Baxter, Wichita Eagle, Feb 22, 2010
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"Fialkowska’s artistry makes Chopin appear effortless"
Four concerts with Symphony Nova Scotia: Chopin's f minor concerto, Bernhard Gueller conducting
Janina Fialkowska, one of Canada’s finest Chopin interpreters, played the Piano Concerto No. 2 in F-Minor with Symphony Nova Scotia in the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium Thursday night. It was, as always, a very special treat to hear her.
Fialkowska plays Chopin with lightness and delicacy … It only sounds easy when it has been honed and polished like a master-sculptor turning marble into flesh. Fialkowska’s own effortless mastery, her breathtaking naturalness, puts you directly in touch with Chopin’s magical evocation of image and emotion.
Fialkowska rewarded the pleased audience and spared them beating their hands raw with a clever encore of Chopin’s well-known Waltz in C-sharp Minor. She introduced the halting Viennese waltz accompaniment with its slight pause between the second and third beats, and in the fourth repetition of the flying eighth notes in the interleaved B section, she played the rapid running notes twice as fast for 16 bars — a fitting touch of pure bravura.
Stephen Pedersen, Chronicle Herald, February 6th, 2010
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“The whole audience was transported”
Chopin’s f minor concerto with the Augsburg Philharmonic in Germany, Jan Soederblom conducting
“Stupendous … irresistibly virtuoso … enormous applause. The whole audience was transported. Amazed, we experienced what Chopin demands, how his difficult, rich, and mysterious art still has such an impact.”
Joachim Kaiser, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Munich, Jan 14, 2010
Fialkowska’s approach to renounce on a too obvious virtuoso attitude was convincing. Also the “parlando” style which she displayed in the recitative of the Larghetto revealed her deep understanding of the composer’s idiom and with confidence she circumnavigated tastefully any undue sentimentality.
As an encore Janina Fialkowska demonstrated how to bring to life a waltz frozen in its art form. In Chopin’s c sharp minor waltz, the Canadian pianist revealed with a lot of tempo variability and with clear and sparkling, but at the same time softly drawn lines her mastery of the piano-magician’s musical language.
Stefan Dosch, Augsburger Allgemeine, Jan.13, 2010
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