Canadian pianist Janina Fialkowska has won the award for best instrumental CD of 2012 at the BBC Music Magazine Awards for her ATMA Classique release entitled Chopin Recital 2. The announcement was made April 9 at a champagne reception at Kings Place in London, England.
“I’m overwhelmed by the prize,” Fialkowska told the Independent. “I’ve devoted most of my professional life to the music of Chopin and it’s nice to have my playing recognized in this way.”
The BBC Music Magazine Awardsare the only classical music awards in which the main categories are voted for by the public. Voting for the eighth edition of theawards began Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, on the BBC Music Magazine website.
Montreal-born Fialkowska, 61, is recognized the world over as one of the great interpreters of the music of Frédéric Chopin, whom she names as her favourite composer. The award is especially sweet since it follows Fialkowska's recovery from cancer in her shoulder that severely limited her ability to play the piano.
Last May, Fialkowska was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2012 Governor General's Performing Arts Awards.
On Sunday, April 14, CBC Radio 2's In Concert will broadcast Fialkowska's recent recital in the CBC/McGill Concert Series, recorded at Pollack Hall in Montreal.
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