Add this copy of Chopin, Frederic: Complete Mazurkas to cart. $36.80, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2014 by Atma Classique: ACD2 2682.
Janina Fialkowska (b. 1951) is a Canadian pianist who deserves to be far better known. She studied in Canada and France, won competitions, and has concertized and recorded widely. In 2002, at the outset of a performance tour, cancer was discovered in Fialkowska's upper left arm requiring radical surgery. She feared that her career might be over. Undaunted, she performed for several months with her right hand, transcribing music that had been composed for left hand alone. In 2004, Fialkowska returned triumphantly to the concert stage performing music for the piano with both hands. Among other honors, Fialkowska is an Officer of the Order of Canada and, in 2012, received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
Although she performs a broad range of music, Fialkowska is best known for her interpretations of Liszt and Chopin. In 2013, she received the BBC "Instrumentalist of the Year Award" for a CD recital of Chopin's piano music. Fialkowska has followed-up that CD with this new two-volume set devoted to the complete Chopin Mazurkas. Her playing is subdued, beautiful and thoughtful. It captures the elusive, idiosyncratic character of these short pieces.
Chopin composed 55 mazurkas, more pieces by far in this form than in any other genre. The mazurkas range from the early compositions of opus 6 to Chopin's final work, the sad F minor mazurka, opus 68, no. 4. Each of the mazurkas is short, but each is unique. Chopin put into these pieces his love for Poland, his melancholy, and his hope. The music is varied, evocative and reflective. The mazurkas make great use of melody together with a substantial degree of counterpoint. They are strongly rhythmic and frequently use unusual harmonic modes. In piano recitals, performers generally choose a small number of mazurkas to perform. But there are several famous recordings of the entire set.
In her liner notes, Fialkowska describes the mazurkas as "55 opportunities to hear exquisite moments in paradise".Fialkowska's takes these short Polish dances seriously rather than as simply salon pieces. She plays both with a flowing free rhythm and with a great deal of control and restraint. Her playing tends toward the subdued with little in the way of virtuosity for its own sake. Her playing stresses melody and lovely phrasing with legato tone, balance between the hands, and a broad dynamic range. She offers an emotive, self-effacing performance which encourages the listener to concentrate on Chopin.
The better-known of the mazurkas include the A minor, opus 17 no. 4, the C major, opus 24 no. 2,, the D major, opus 33 no. 2, the B major, opus 56 no. 1, the A minor, opus 59 no. 1, among several others. I enjoyed hearing some of my favorites among the mazurkas together with other pieces which also are beautiful but less familiar. Due to the brief duration and intensity of each work, It is valuable to listen to the mazurkas only a few at a time with breaks in between.
Lovers of the piano and of Chopin will enjoy getting to know Janina Fialkowska through her recording of Chopin's complete mazurkas. The recording is on the ATMA Classique label and distributed by Naxos. Naxos kindly provided me with a review copy.