Release Date: 27 September 2019
Label: Atma Classique
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 722056276627
Genres: Classical Solo Instrumental
Description
Les sons et les parfums is a newly recorded personal anthology of 20th century French music curated and performed by pianist Janina Fialkowska . This affectionate musical memoir evokes a vibrant portrait of Paris during Fialkowska's youth, when "Poulenc and Tailleferre were still very much alive, and the souls of Ravel, Debussy, and Fauré were still omnipresent."
"This recording awakens in me a feeling of pure nostalgia, not only for those long ago studies immersed in the 'French School', but also to the evocative power of this music. These composers, who are at once singular but different from each other, magically revive this now-defunct Paris, which I had the good fortune to know in my youth, "- writes Janina Fialkowska.
For over 40 years, Janina Fialkowska has enchanted audiences and critics around the world. Praised for her musical integrity, her refreshing natural approach, and her unique piano sound, she is known as "one of the Grandes Dames of piano playing" (Frankfurter Allgemeine). Fialkowska has received her native Canada's highest honours, including "Officer of the Order of Canada", the "Governor General's 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award in Classical Music", as well as three honorary doctorates. She passes on her considerable musical experience in master classes and at her annual "International Piano Academy" in Bavaria, where she now resides. Fialkowska is a frequent juror for the world's most prestigious piano competitions. Janina Fialkowska began her piano studies in her native Montreal with her mother at age 4, and later with Yvonne Hubert. In Paris she studied with Yvonne Lefébure and in New York at the Juilliard School with Sascha Gorodnitzki. Fialkowksa's career was launched in 1974, when the legendary Arthur Rubinstein became her mentor after her prize-winning performance at his inaugural Master Piano Competition. Rubinstein recognized her as a "born Chopin interpreter," which laid the foundation for her lifelong identification with this composer.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM "This programme, selected with such care and affection, is imbued with the character, style and intelligence which are the hallmarks of Fialkowska's playing…'Claire de lune' is lifted from the context of its suite and presented here as a stand-alone. The highest accolade I can think of for Fialkowska's music-making is that her conception of Debussy's shimmering moonlight is so strikingly original, yet stylistically aware and profoundly felt, that it's as if you've never heard it before. There's simply no one quite like her." - Patrick Rucker, Gramophone Awards issue, 2019.
"This CD is a 'Box of Delights.' Each work played here is a miniature masterpiece that explores the genius of French pianism. Not all the works are well-known: one at least has become unbelievably popular, but avoids becoming hackneyed, by the sheer poetry of the music and the magical performance given by Janina Fialkowska…I enjoyed Janina Fialkowska's inspired playing in all these pieces. She brings huge resources of talent, technique and interpretation to this recital." - MusicWeb International, October 2019
Tracklisting
Yannick Nezet-Seguin; Orchestre Metropolitain de Montreal
David Jalbert
David Jacques
Soloists; Orchestre classique de Montreal; Alain Trudel
Philip Chiu
Myriam Leblanc; Ensemble Mirabilia
Louise Bessette
Ensemble Caprice
Janina Fialkowska
Janina Fialkowska
Janina Fialkowska
Janina Fialkowska
Janina Fialkowska
Janina Fialkowska
Janina Fialkowska
