Recordings

The Chamber Players of Canada have made seven highly-acclaimed recordings:

Mozart: Piano Concertos – Janina Fialkowska / The Chamber Players of Canada (ATMA)

Listen: Concerto No. 11 in F major, K.413 (387a) - Allegro, 9'24

BBC Music Magazine: Mozart’s woodwind can never lightly be excluded, so characteristic are they; but turn a blind ear: the Chamber Players of Canada certainly won’t disappoint you!

Rick Philips, Sound Advice: 5 stars out of 5: All around - another winner for them. Five out of five.

Thomas Roth, SA-CD.net: 5 stars, “This is surely the disc that I have had most pleasure from during the last six months, it is a delight from beginning to end… Two concertos with a youthful stamp played by musicians who obviously know and love the music intimately…The rapport between Fialkowska and the string players is a match made in heaven.”

Richard Todd, The Ottawa Citizen: 4½ stars “Janina Fialkowska and the string ensemble achieve an almost perfect consensus in their playing…As always, the playing is of the highest quality.”

Arthur Kaptainis, The Montreal Gazette: “…a spirited and idiomatic ensemble (the start of No. 12 could be taken for a string quintet) and the filler, the early Quartet K. 157 in C Major, is warm (this time with no double-bass ringer). Again, the direct expression of all four string players preserves the performance from the anonymity of "Mozart" style.”

John Terauds, The Toronto Star (reviewing a concert before the recording): “ Fialkowska and her partners lent the evening intimacy … they breathed into the music a lithe vibrancy that can often elude the big orchestra … Reducing the players to six … highlighted every effect that Mozart had penned into the score. These performers are scheduled to sit down and record these concertos soon. If the concert is any indication, this will be a Mozart disc to treasure.”

Eldon Rathburn: Chamber Works – The Chamber Players of Canada (ATMA)

American Record Guide: “The excellent string quartet consists of violinists Jonathan Crow and Manuela Milani, violist Guylaine Lemaire and cellist Julian Armour.”

Chopin: Piano Concertos – Janina Fialkowska / The Chamber Players of Canada (ATMA)

Rick Philips, Sound Advice: 5 stars out of 5,. “I loved the chamber version of these concertos...a nice concept, well executed… the full five stars..”

Opus magazine: “These are really outstanding performances that hold the listener’s attention throughout on the strength of perfect ensemble, committed playing, and sensitivity to style.”

Claude Gingras, La Presse: “Impeccables également, les cinq cordistes qui l’entourent.”

The Globe and Mail: Less is definitely more in this chamber version of Chopin's two piano concertos. With some musicological sleuth work, Canadian pianist Janina Fialkowska turned up 19th-century parts that validate the practice of replacing the orchestral accompaniment with string quintet for both concertos, a forum she uses to full advantage. Her interpretation of the beautiful slow movement to the F Minor Concerto, where the opening wind entries are taken by the piano (thus establishing it from the first as a protagonist) is a case in point. The biggest change is in immediacy, for a smaller, more flexible accompaniment permits more rhetorical detail, consistently moving the sentimental focus from the general to the particular. Even modest string melodies carry more import, and Fialkowska makes every note, however ornamental, significant. The recitative-like section is especially eloquent, while elsewhere she catches the pathos in passages that others toss off like so much glitter."

Schubert: Quintet in A major, The Trout – The Chamber Players of Canada (ATMA)

The Ottawa Citizen: “This is an admirable and highly recommended performance overall. The precision of ensemble that has marked the Players’ previous recordings is present here, along with a vigour and geniality particularly suited to this piece.”

Schubert: Octet for Winds and Strings – The Chamber Players of Canada (CBC Records)

The Whole Note, Toronto: “Every instrument gets moments in the sun, to shine and emote, and the opportunities are taken with authority and humanity by the wonderful players on this disc.”

The Philadelphia Enquirer: “...do yourself a favor and use this lovely release to experience one of the most melodically rich works of a composer known for melodic richness. ”

The Dallas Morning News: “Grade A…they play with utter unanimity…It's hard to imagine this adorable music more lovingly played, and the sonics are first rate.”

Lancette Journal of the Arts: “Quite lovely, really. One says this not only about the entire score but also thanks, in part, to the fine playing of the chamber group.”

Haydn: The Seven Last Words of Christ – The Chamber Players of Canada (CMS Classics)

Rick Philips, Sound Advice: 5 stars out of 5. “This is a beautifully played performance, devout, moving and sincere...I give it 5 stars out of 5.”

Richard Todd, Ottawa Citizen: 4 1/2 stars and #4 on their list of best classical recordings for 2002. “An exquisite account of the score. This is a release that no string quartet lover should be without.”

Schubert: Quintet in C major – The Chamber Players of Canada (CMS Classics)

Ottawa Citizen: 5 stars out of 5. Top classical CD of 2002. "If you require only one version of this quintet, than this is the one.”