PrintCelebrity Recital Series Janina Fialkowska Chopin recital
25 May 2010 Cadogan Hall, London
Chopin Recital
26 May Fairfield Hall, Croydon & 27 May Cadogan Hall
Chopin Piano Concerto No.1, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
To mark Chopin’s 200th Anniversary, the distinguished Chopin pianist Janina Fialkowska returns to the concert platform and recording studio on shining form following cancer treatment
“high-class Chopin playing, deeply felt and demonstrably authentic”
Norman Lebrecht, Scena Musicale
“a born Chopin interpreter”
Arthur Rubinstein
Latest recording – Chopin Recital on the ATMA Classique label
Re-release of historic Chopin Etudes & Sonatas recordings in 2 CD-box set on the ATMA Classique label
Following groundbreaking treatment on her arm, the highly-respected pianist Janina Fialkowska has been gradually resuming public performances which cancer of the shoulder muscle threatened to bring to an abrupt end. Now six years after successful treatment, Canadian-Polish Fialkowska has been determinedly rebuilding her career, returning to the concert platform and recording studio. Three new discs later and with a busy schedule of engagements across the US, Canada and Europe in 2010, Fialkowska has been welcomed back with triumphant reviews, recognising her trademark distinguished style and subtle artistry.
To celebrate Chopin’s centenary and to mark her full comeback, Fialkowska returns to London for three concerts, a Chopin recital on 25 May followed by a performance of the composer’s first piano concerto with the RPO in Fairfield Hall, Croydon on 26 May and Cadogan Hall on 27 May.
Janina Fialkowska is a pianist of rare refinement with a distinguished career spanning over 30 years. Her career was launched in 1974 by the legendary Polish pianist Arthur Rubinstein after her prize-winning performance at his inaugural Master Piano Competition in Israel in 1974. Rubinstein proclaimed her to be “a born Chopin interpreter”.
Fialkowska went on to perform with some of the world’s leading orchestras such as the Cleveland Symphony, the LA Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Minnesota, the Royal Concertgebouw, Israel Philharmonic, Osaka Philharmonic, Hallé, LPO, RPO, Philharmonia and the BBC Orchestras. She has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Lorin Maazel, Bernard Haitink, Zubin Mehta, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Andrew Davis and Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Hans Graf. She has also championed new works such the piano concerto by Sir Andrzej Panufnik and premiered the 3rd piano concerto of Liszt with the Chicago Symphony when a missing part of the manuscript was rediscovered following the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Originally trained by Yvonne Lefebure and Sasha Gorodnitzki, Fialkowska descends from a distinguished musical lineage of great pianists, which go back to Alfred Cortot and Anton Rubinstein. The lyricism of her playing is never forfeited in favour of showy, brash virtuosity and her measured approach, sensitivity and ability to create intimacy provide rare insights into the performance of Chopin and Liszt, which has won her world-wide recognition with her numerous recordings. In recognition of her services to the musical scene in Canada, Fialkowska was awarded the Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002.
In 2002, she was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in her left shoulder muscle, which left her unable to move her left limb and brought her performances to a sudden hiatus. Fialkowska was determined not to give up. Undaunted, she first set about learning the concertos and works originally written for the left hand only and transcribed them for her right hand.
Following experimental treatment, surgeons completed a rare muscle transfer procedure, which eventually allowed the pianist to regain control of the movement in her left arm. This allowed Fialkowska to make a gradual comeback to the platform and in 2004 she gave her first concert in Germany. Following her gradual re-entry into concert life with appearances with a performance of Grieg’s piano concerto with the RPO three years ago and recital at the Southbank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall two years ago, Fialkowska has made a full return to the stage.
Since then, she has rebuilt her performing and recording career, with 3 discs for the ATMA label, which radiate a new found enthusiasm and joy. Her more recent recording Chopin Recital, which was has just been released in December 2009, has been met with critical acclaim from Norman Lebrecht in the UK and Joachim Kaiser in Germany and New York critic Russell Platt. This will be followed by a 2-CD box set of her past recordings of Chopin Sonatas and Chopin Etudes, which will be re-released later in the year.
Recently in a bizarre twist of fate, it was discovered that one of Fialkowska’s most stunning recordings was misattributed to the English pianist Joyce Hatto in the recording scandal, which rocked the music world. When it was discovered that Joyce Hatto’s disc of “legendary” past performances was proven to be a hoax, there was much speculation about the provenance of the stunning rendition of Liszt’s fiendishly difficult Mephisto Waltz, which had initially enthralled pianophiles across the globe. It has subsequently been uncovered that Hatto’s husband had stolen the legendary recording of the Mephisto Waltz made by Janina Fialkowska herself.
2010 will be an exciting year for Fialkowska, with a welcome return to the UK, an extensive tour of some 50 engagements in North America and the premiere of the Chopin-inspired piano concerto Prelude Variations written for her by John Burge. In September 2010, Fialkowska will inaugurate an International Piano Academy in Bavaria where she will give master classes to advanced and highly-gifted students and spread her inspirational conviction in the face of adversity.
www.fialkowska.com
For further information about Janina Fialkowska, please contact:
Nicky Thomas Media Consultancy
Mobile: 00 44 7768 566530
Email: nickycathomas(at)btinternet.com
Latest reviews of Fialkowska’s new Chopin Recital disc on ATMA label
This will be followed by the re-release of her legendary recordings of the Chopin Etudes and Sonata in a 2-CD box set later in the year.
“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 Candadian, ran off with the first Artur 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.
The sound, from a studio in Quebec, is as good as it gets.”
Norman Lebrecht, Scena Musicale. December 16th 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.
Russell Platt – The New Yorker. December 14th 2009
“Recently the pianist produced a Chopin CD. Brilliant and highly virtuoso recordings: waltzes, the A flat Ballade, the Barcarolle ... an unusual testimony of the Art of perfect pianism.”
Joachim Kaiser, Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Munich) November 16th 2006
JANINA FIALKOWSKA: UK CONCERTS
25 May 2010 Cadogan Hall
Chopin Recital
Polonaise in C minor Op.26, No.1
Ballade No.3 in A flat major, Op. 47
Waltz in C sharp minor Op. 64, No.2
Grande Valse Brillante in A flat Op.34, No.1
Nocturne in B major Op.62, No.1
Prelude in F sharp minor Op.28, No.8
Prelude in A flat major Op 28, No.17
Scherzo No.2 in B flat minor Op.31
Mazurka in e minor, Opus 41/1
Mazurka in d major, Opus 33/2
Mazurka in a minor, Opus 59/1
Sonata in b minor, Opus 58
26 May 2010 Fairfield Hall Croydon & 27 May 2010 Cadogan Hall
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor Jahja Ling
Janina Fialkowska
Weber: Oberon Overture
Chopin: Piano Concerto No.1
Sibelius: Symphony No.2
www.rpo.co.uk
Cadogan Hall Box Office: 020 8688 9291
www.fialkowska.com
For further information about Janina Fialkowska, please contact:
Nicky Thomas Media Consultancy
Mobile: 00 44 7768 566530
Email: nickycathomas(at)btinternet.com