For several seasons pianist Janina Fialkowska was a much admired and frequent soloist with the Carmel Bach Festival. Thus it was a pleasure to welcome her back to Sunset Center yesterday afternoon in a concert presented by the Carmel Music Society. This all-Mozart program consisted of the Piano Concertos in C Major, K.415, and E-flat Major, K.449, plus that perennial favorite Eine kleine Nachtmusik.
We know that the orchestral accompaniments for Mozart’s concerto performances often had to be adjusted to the resources available, so there were times the instrumental ensemble was as small as a string quartet. This is precisely what we heard on this occasion as Ms. Fialkowska was joined by the Chamber Players of Canada, consisting of violinists Jonathan Crow and Manuela Milani, violist Guylaine Lemaire and cellist Julian Armour. This caused no inconvenience, since Mozart’s first draft of the C Major Piano Concerto was written without wind instruments, and the E-flat Concerto, K.449 score was written in such a way that the wind parts could be omitted for a performance with a string ensemble.
Before the concert, the Carmel Music Society’s new Executive Director, Peter Tuff, came out on stage to greet the audience and to inform us of a slight change in the order of the program. Originally, Eine kleine Nachtmusik was to end the program; however, the players decided it was more appropriate to place it at the beginning. As spokesperson for the Chamber Players of Canada, cellist Julian Armour addressed the audience to tell us that Eine kleine Nachtmusik, although often performed by various-sized string ensembles was originally written for string quartet, so that it was a “one on one experience” for the string players. He also stated his opinion that this work is the most popular piece of classical music ever written. This statement probably got a few people in the audience mentally making their own lists — Rossini’s “William Tell” Overture,” Ravel’s “Bolero” wedding marches by Mendelssohn and Wagner, etc., etc.
However, once the Chamber Players of Canada put bows to strings, all thoughts of competing popular works were banished as the lovely, precise ensemble from the four musicians grabbed us by the throat and commanded our attention for almost 25 minutes. We heard elegant, stylish performances full of nicely shaped phrases, with playing so full of energy and variety of dynamics that at times the players sounded like a much larger ensemble.
When pianist Janina Fialkowska finally walked out on stage in her brilliant “coat of many colors” it was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, and her presence spurred the ensemble to new heights of expressive music making. I have to confess that this was the first time I had ever heard two Mozart concerti played “a quartro.” I hope it is not the last, for it was a very satisfying experience.
Ms. Fialkowska played with the right combination of tasteful elegance, stylistic confidence and boldly expressive power that suited these two concerti well. Her phrasing was always super musical and her fast-moving passages (although sometimes rushed) were impressive for their dramatic scope. This was very fine Mozart playing. There were some special moments to be treasured — the gorgeous slow movement of K.449, which was so full of very deep feeling, and the fabulous third movement of K.449, which contained many twists and turns in unexpected directions
Responding to the enthusiastic audience applause, Ms. Fialkowska and the players encored the coda from the E-flat Concerto, K. 449. It was even more impressive and charming the second time.
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