A recital-monologue by Inna Faliks
Inna Faliks is a spellbinding Ukranian-born pianist with a glowing international reputation. Her long-standing practice of alternating musical interludes with the spoken word takes the form of narrative storytelling in Polonaise-Fantaisie: The Story of a Pianist. This captivating work chronicles Faliks’ life’s path: her family’s emigration to America, her formative early influences, and her evolution as an artist. It’s also her love story, as she is reunited as an adult with the childhood friend who is now her husband. Each episode of Inna Faliks’ saga, written and narrated by the pianist herself, alternates with a beautifully played masterpiece—from composers including Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and Mozart—that is closely connected to her life story from childhood onward. Music and words combine to spin a powerful and moving tale.
Inna Faliks has established herself as one of the most exciting, committed, communicative, and poetic artists of her generation. Renowned for her versatility, she is equally at home in the great concerti, standard solo repertoire, chamber music, interdisciplinary projects, and work with contemporary composers. Her distinguished career has taken her to numerous recitals and concerti in prestigious venues in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and she is the winner of many competitions, including the Pro Musicis International Award. She is the founder and curator of Music/Words, a series that pairs live performances with readings by established contemporary poets. The series has been heard and seen, live and on the radio, nationwide for eight seasons. Inna Faliks is Professor of Piano at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where she is also Head of Piano.
www.innafaliks.com
Program
Basso Ostinato — Rodion Shchedrin (Born 1932–)
Prelude and Fugue in G-sharp Minor, BWV 863 — Johann Sebastian Bach (1685– 1750)
Ballade in Black and White — Jan Freidlin (Born 1944– )
composed for Inna Faliks and premiered in Weill Hall in 2011
Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397 — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
The Maiden’s Wish — Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
(arr. Franz Liszt (1811–1886))
“La campanella” — Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840) / Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61 — Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
Bagatelles, Op. 126 — Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Bagatelle No. 1
Bagatelles No. 2 and No. 3
Bagatelle No. 4
Bagatelle No. 5
Bagatelle No. 6
Polonaise-fantaisie: The Story of a Pianist is the hybrid of a piano recital and an autobiographical monologue, and Inna considers it the most personal project she has ever done. She says: “It is my hope that, in sharing this story, I offer audiences a glimpse into a life of a performing musician, as well as into my very personal story – the story that makes me the artist I am today.”
When Faliks was pregnant with her son Nathaniel, she started writing down vivid memories of her childhood in Odessa, the former Soviet Union, and of immigration to the US. Gradually, these started to take the shape of a book about a life in music. At that time, she was living in New York City, performing, and curating her series, Music/Words, where poets read between musical performances. “Poetry inspired me for as long as I can remember, and influenced my first CD (Sound of Verse, MSR Classics.) I hadn’t written in years. It was profoundly satisfying to be writing once again.”
A few years later, after Faliks had moved to Los Angeles to head the piano department at UCLA, the chapters of the book found their way into the hands of Cynthia Comsky, an incredible producer and magnificent lady. She insisted that Faliks use them to create a recital-monologue. Many memories described in the book had musical pieces inexorably connected to them. Inna chose pieces that had been with her since childhood, as well as those that found their way into her repertoire, along her path, to connect and illuminate the narrative. The format, play-read-play-read, echoes the format of my Music/Words programs, where the poems and the music create an arch that is, hopefully, emotionally resonant. Cameron Watson, a brilliant director, directed Faliks and wonderful actress Rebecca Mozo, in a performance of the work at the Ebell of Los Angeles, in 2015, just a few months after Inna’s daughter Frida was born.
Faliks says “I know that I am the artist that I am partially thanks to growing up in the Odessa of the past – seven people in a three-room apartment, surrounded by books, music, ideas and friends (one of whom is Misha. You will meet him in the story. He is my husband and the father of my two children).”
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