Volume 27 Issue 8 | July 1 - September 20, 2022

Competition First Place Winner. Fialkowska will have much to
impart to Liu as they work on the composer’s Piano Concerto No.2.
Undoubtedly, she will draw on wisdom from her famous teacher.
Expect entertaining anecdotes.
Named one of the 15 best Canadian pianists of all time by CBC
Radio, David Jalbert, now in his mid-40s, gives an afternoon recital
on July 20. The virtuosic program includes Kelly-Marie Murphy’s
Smoke Darkened Sky (2021); Beethoven’s profound Sonata in E
Major, Op.109; Debussy’s Cloches à travers les feuilles and Poissons
d’or; and Prokofiev’s mighty Sonata No.7, Op.83. Jalbert will then
catch a breath before joining twentysomething cellist, Cameron
Crozman, in a mid-afternoon concert spotlighting the muchheralded
Crozman. Jalbert and Crozman will perform Paul Klengel’s
arrangement of Brahms’ Sonata for Violin and Piano Op.78.
The recital concludes with Alexina Louie’s “Quasi Cadenza” for
solo cello.
Astute programming choices abound. The Quatuor Despax
– comprised of four siblings, two sisters and two brothers,
from Gatineau – opens the late afternoon July 20 concert with
Beethoven’s String Quartet Op.18, No.3 – an adroit programming
touch that serves as a warm-up for their role as “the orchestra” in
Liu’s performance of Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto at 7:30pm,
July 20. The concert is rounded out by the Rolston String Quartet,
first-prize winners at the 2016 Banff International String Quartet
Competition, teaming up with bassist Joel Quarrington for Dvořák’s
String Quintet.
The first week of Pianofest continues in the afternoon of July 21:
Fialkowska, supported by the Rolstons and Quarrington, performs
Beethoven’s preternatural Piano Concerto No.4. Crozman then joins
with the Rolstons for Schubert’s singular Quintet in C. That evening,
the redoubtable Stewart Goodyear adds heft to the pianistic girth,
performing Liszt’s evocative Sonata in B Minor, his own Acabris!
Acabras! Acabram! (inspired by NFB animated films like The Log
Quatuor Despax
Driver’s Waltz), Jennifer Higdon’s Secret and Glass Gardens – dedicated
to Lang Lang, it portrays a journey through a garden of wonder
and discovery – and Debussy’s Masques and L’isle joyeuse.
Jalbert then returns on July 22 to bring the first week to a close,
performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5 “Emperor” with the
Boris Brott Academy Orchestra, who complete the evening with
Elgar’s ever-popular Enigma Variations.
thewholenote.com July 1 - September 20, 2022 | 19