Inna Faliks
Pianist
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Never need a connoisseur look beyond the striking artistry of Ms. Faliks to find works of great lyricism, and spine-tingling,
utterly sublime beauty. World Music Report – June 29, 2024
“Adventurous and passionate” (The New Yorker) Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks has established herself as one of the most communicative, and poetic artists of her generation. She has made a name for herself through commanding performances of standard piano repertoire, as well genre-bending, interdisciplinary projects, and work with contemporary composers.
Ms. Faliks’s distinguished career has brought thousands of recitals and concerts throughout the US, Asia, and Europe. Recent seasons have included performances at the Ravinia Festival, National Gallery of Art, Alice Tully Hall, and the Wallis Annenberg Center, tours of China, with appearances in all of its major halls including the Beijing Center for Performing Arts, Shanghai Oriental Arts Theater and Tianjin Grand Theater; debuts at the Festival Internacional de Piano in Mexico, the Fazioli Series in Italy, Israel’s Tel Aviv Museum, Portland Piano Festival, Camerata Pacifica and a collaboration with the contemporary dance company, Bodytraffic at the Broad Stage. She has performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Concert Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Salle Cortot in Paris, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall and at many important festivals such as Verbier, Mondo Musica Cremona, Gilmore, Newport Classical and the Peninsula Music Festival where she made her fourth appearance in August 2024 with Victor Yampolsky, Music in the Mountains, Brevard, Taos, the International Keyboard Festival in New York, Bargemusic Here and Now, and Chautauqua. Since her acclaimed teenage debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Harvey Felder she has been regularly engaged as a concerto soloist: Rachmaninoff 2nd concerto with Dmitry Sitkovetsky and the Greensboro Symphony, Gershwin with Daniel Meyer and the Erie Symphony, Clara Schumann with Erin Freeman at the Wintergreen Festival, Beethoven 3rd with the Williamsburg Symphony, Beethoven 4th with the Santa Barbara Symphony, Prokofiev 1 and 3 with Victor Yampolsky and the Peninsula Festival Orchestra, Tchaikovsky 1 with Robert Moody and the Memphis Symphony, and numerous concerti under the batons of such renowned conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Keith Lockhart, Edward Polochick, and Neal Stuhlberg, as well as new generation conductors Thomas Heuser and Richard Scerbo with whom she premiered Clarice Assad’s Lilith Concerto in spring 2024. Summer 2024 brought her debut with Tokyo Sinfonia in Oji Hall. She made her debut with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra in Ocotber 2024 performing the Clara Schumann Piano Concerto under Perry So.
Inquisitive and versatile, Inna Faliks has had a strong commitment to contemporary music giving premieres of works composed for and dedicated her by Billy Childs, Timo Andres, Richard Danielpour, Paola Prestini, Ljova, Clarice Assad, and Peter Golub. In “Reimagine Beethoven and Ravel” contemporary composes respond to Beethoven Bagatelles and Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit. In “13 Ways of Looking at the Goldberg” contemporary composers’ created variations based on Bach’s Goldbergs. She performed and recorded unknown piano works of the Russian poet Boris Pasternak. She created a one-woman show which led to “Polonaise-Fantaisie, Story of a Pianist”, an autobiographical monologue for pianist and actress, presented as a solo show in New York’s Symphony Space, Shenandoah Conservatory, Music Worcester, the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Italy and for her London debut at JE3 Arts Centre and led eventually her musical memoir, Weight in the Fingertips: A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage, published in 2023 by Backbeat / Globe Pequot. A committed chamber musician, she has had notable collaborations with Gilbert Kalish, Ron Leonard, Fred Sherry, Ilya Kaler, Colin Carr, Wendy Warner, Clive Greensmith, Antonio Lysy, and this past fall with Rachel Barton Pine at Ravinia.
Inna Faliks has been featured on radio and television throughout the world. She co-starred with Downton Abbey’s Lesley Nicol in “Admission – One Shilling,” a play for pianist and actor based on the life of the great British pianist, Dame Myra Hess. Her most recent CD releases, Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel on Navona Records and The Schumann Project Volume 1, on MSR Classics, received rave reviews, and were named to several “best of 2021” lists. With her all-Beethoven CD release on MSR, WTTW called Faliks “High priestess of the piano, concert pianist of the highest order, as dramatic and subtle as a great stage actor.” Sound of Verse, was released in 2009, featuring music of Boris Pasternak, Rachmaninoff and Ravel. “Polonaise-Fantaisie, Story of a Pianist” on Delos captures her autobiographical recital with works from Bach to Carter. A new recording, “Manuscripts Don’t Burn,” was released in 2024 with premiers by Maya Miro Johnson and Veronika Krauss.
Faliks is founder and curator of Music/Words, an award-winning poetry-music series: performances in collaboration with some of the nation’s most distinguished poets, frequently broadcast over Chicago’s WFMT radio.
A past winner of many prestigious competitions, Inna Faliks is currently Professor of Piano and Head of Piano at UCLA. She is in demand as Artist Teacher and is frequently invited to judge competitions and give masterclasses at major conservatories and universities. As a writer, she has been published by Los Angeles Times and Washington Post.
Inna Faliks is a Yamaha Artist. www.innafaliks.com
October 2024 - please discard any earlier versions of this bio.
PRESS COMMENTS
Inna Faliks: The Art of the Sublime
“Sublime is awe-inspiringly grand, something that strikes the mind with grandeur and power. And thus, we arrive at the truth about the artistry of Inna Faliks. Never need a connoisseur look beyond the striking artistry of Ms. Faliks to find works of great lyricism, and spine-tingling, utterly sublime beauty. There is no other single word, indeed no other way to approach her writing: her extraordinarily lyrical writing, both of her autobiography and the works of music that have sprung from it. There is extraordinarily eloquent poetry and intellectual value in both. remarkably there can also be little doubt that Ms. Faliks’ lyrical prose also springs from the brilliantly exacting poetics that govern her exceptional musicianship – and, of course, her pianism. Both the book – laced with seductive, poetic imagery – and the recording show Ms. Faliks to be a sublime artist whose time has come. The importance of Inna Faliks’ autobiography and this accompanying disc cannot be recommended too highly. Both will no doubt propel this extraordinary artist into the rarefied realm. Seldom does a recitation and solo piano programme such as this hang together so perfectly, each successive work tightening the ratchet of intensity. It helps that Inna Faliks is at the top of her communicative powers. in the opening Suite she produces a tight and sweet unity of purpose between words and music. The outer movements neatly enfold inner movements of scintillating warmth and beauty. The middle movements are by turns rapturously lyrical, sparkling and luscious. Two other works take Faliks’ pianism into sublimely cosmic regions in which the four movements of the Japanese-influenced Godai blossom and bloom because of the deftly woven textures that constantly engage the imagination. While the final work Hero is luminously performed. The importance of Inna Faliks’ autobiography and this disc cannot be recommended too highly. Both will no doubt propel this extraordinary artist into the rarefied realm.”
World Music Report – June 29, 2024
Bringing Humanity to Storytelling
“At National Sawdust Inna Faliks introduced the program from her new CD weaving personal narrative through a diverse selection of old masters and new music performed at the piano. With a dramatic feel for timing and declamatory finesse, Faliks’ presence was simultaneously strong and emotionally vulnerable. At the piano, her flawless technique and expressiveness connected the dots and pauses between her commentary and the music, making the lessons gleaned from her life as stimulating as instructive. With her deep and warmly resonating voice, Faliks rendered an intimate program with remarkable emotional honesty.” Get Classical – June 9, 2024
Revieweing her autobiography: Weight In the Fingertips:
“A captivating, deeply personal account. She writes with a directness and an inviting intimacy that I would categorize as ‘un-put-down-able’ – I gasped aloud at some of the plot twists.” Piano Magazine – Summer 2024
“Faliks went on to infuse Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G sharp Minor with melancholy. Spare, judicious use of the sustain pedal helped affirm a rich, expressive middle ground between originalism harking back to the harpsichord era and the sweeping personalization of someone like Simone Dinnerstein. Faliks showed off her shimmering dexterity with Liszt/Chopin ‘Maiden’s Wish,’ a feathery yet assertive account, as glorious as I’ve ever heard. Shchedrin’s powerful showpiece ‘Basso Ostinato,’ played with stealth and fury, led into readings with intriguing music scored from the ‘Master and Margarita Suite’ by Veronika Krausas. Faliks finished with Chopin’s ‘Polonaise-Fantaisie.’ In the best performances of works like this, a musician can reveal something different, personal, new to a listener. This was one of those performances. The pianist infused it with personality and panache. The middle voices sprang to life in the interplay of the hands. Truly remarkable.” Blogcritics – May 26, 2024
A Very Special Piano Recording
“Inna Faliks shows herself to be a very personal and innovative pianist. The bottom line is that this is an album for and of our time. It gives the pianist the opportunity to make her mark.” Pizzicatto – May 20, 2024
Review of Clarice Assad’s Lilith Concerto for piano and orchestra
“Lilith was an explosion of sonic energy, whose heroine was made visibly palpable through Faliks’ brilliant technique and interpretive gifts.” B’nai B’rith International - March 26, 2024
“To appreciate excellence at this level, all one has to do is sit back and let the magic wash over you. However, this time I was treated to a multilayered performance that would not only intrigue my ears but also delight my eyes. Inna Faliks at the piano was mesmerizing and valorous. I come for her brilliance, but I stay for the revelation she gives to the pieces. Together, these two are sublime. Faliks and Cani chose works from Schubert and Chopin transcribed by Franz List, Johannes Brahms, Eugène Ysaÿe, and Ludwig van Beethoven. All wonderful selections filled with emotion and passion. The Community Auditorium was packed and during the performance; the audience was hypnotized with the sublime musings of these two world-class musicians. But when the music stopped, the audience, including myself, rose to our feet and played our own tune of appreciation and wonderment.” Noho News – January 25, 2024
Rachel Barton Pine and Inna Faliks Show Off the Blues at Ravinia
“Pine and Faliks gave a lovely recital at Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall. The program included bluesy and soulful modern music by African American composers: also music by European composers influenced by African music. Pine and Faliks made the concert very entertaining explaining each work. It gave off a nice audience rapport. The playing was great. Faliks joined the stage for Beethoven’s Violin Sonata Op. 47. It’s always a sign of a good performance when a work is given new life. This performance pulled everything out of them. Same with the finale. Pine and Faliks delivered some great excitement; their performance raised the stature of this work in my ears. The second half opened with William Grant Still Here’s One. In a very short piece, Pine and Faliks were able to extract intense emotions. It was wonderful. Between two pieces by Still was a moving tone poem, Incident on Larpenteur Avenue, in which Billy Childs commemorated the tragic shooting outside of St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2016. Pine and Faliks wonderfully conveyed the overall shock and sadness of the occasion. Closing the program was the Violin Sonata in G-Major by Ravel: ‘Perpetulum mobile’is a fired-up tune that goes ever forward like an
unstoppable train. Pine and Faliks gave it the right locomotion.”
Thirdcoastreview.com – November 6, 2023
“Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel finds Inna breaking new ground, paying a respectful homage to Beethoven and Ravel. Nine composers were commisisoned to craft responses to Beethoven’s Bagatelles, as well as Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit. The results are exhilarating, not least owing to Falik’s stunningly precise and sensitive pianistic interpretation. The Ukrainian-American pianist ties together Classical, Romantic and modern pieces with disarming nonchalance and rock-solid technical skill. Reimagine proudly raises a monument not only to the genius of Beethoven and Ravel, but to the perserverance and verve of some of today’s most exciting and important composers. A fascinating project that saw Paola Prestini inspired by the fluidity of Ondine, Timo Andres inspired by Ravel’s depiction of the gallows, Bill Childs inspired by Scarbo. Very fine, committed playing from Inna Faliks, a truly fascinating mirror on this very well-known suite. It was, though, her stunning performance of the full original suite that won the day. A ravishing performance of Ondine and a fascinating one of Le Gibet. Scabro was a revelation for the clarity of detail, and her scintillating, fearless playing of a piece that Ravel wrote specifically to outdo Islamey for transcendental difficulty.” Aworthy Music Commentary - September 26, 2023 - September 26, 2023
“Inna Faliks played with a rare and uncompromising talent that demanded attention. The story of this pianist is as harrowing as it is adventurous: each piece not only complemented her story but also punctuated the drama and emotion. This virtuoso plays with such intensity and passion that, at times, you may forget to breathe. At other times, she gently caresses the keys, applying just enough pressure to make the audience feel each and every note. Faliks is not only technically flawless but plays them as if they were being heard for the first time. Fierce energy at the keyboard is balanced by the charm of her stories. This only partly explains the incredible talent of such a pianist. Her talents also lie in how she shares her music with us. She seduces us with thunderous passion and captivates us with her story of one young girl now living her dream: sharing the story of her life, as well as her exquisite playing. Inna Faliks gave us a wonderful performance. She’s a world-class pianist with a
fascinating story and a beautiful soul. Bravo!”
NoHo News - June 14, 2023
Extraordinary story of a great artist told with mastery, intelligence and beauty
“Eloquent as a poet, but above all an eloquence in music that is so immediate and simple as every note touched places that other musicians can rarely reach. Streams of gold and silver sounds were thrown off with an ease and precision that were breathtaking in their audacity. The mighty Polonaise Fantaisie, from which this moving tale takes its name, was played with aristocratic style and ravishing beauty. What a story! Simple great music pouring from a sensitive soul as she communicates the remarkable adventure that is her life. No greater story could there be than this extraordinary love of life.” - AxworthyMusicCommentary - March 10, 2023
“Inna Faliks is not only a pianist of the highest order. She programs to reveal new insights; she is especially striking as a commissioner of new music. Her program began with Jan Freidlin Ballade in Black and White, an exciting work, made for Faliks’ many talents. Faliks interprets like a conductor. She shows us lines and phrases as they interconnect, cross and diverge. She can create an unusual lightness. Clara Schumann's Piano sonata is full of melody. Her chromaticism and unstable harmonies are revealed as Falik’s performs; another of Falik’s gifts. Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit bring us to another place. Famous for its difficulty, its difficulty is never perceived. Instead, we are led through pyrotechnics, always performed in service of the music.”
- BerkshireFineArts – July 14, 2022
“For Faliks, music is about more than just playing it, which she does exquisitely. She reimagines it. She established a deep human connection with the audience, beyond being just a pianist and performer. She opened her concert with Ballade in Black and White by Jan Friedlin which she executed most beautifully, gracefully sweeping through its musical landscapes with eloquence, passion, and sensitivity to its ever-changing moods, phrases, and the space between them, like an actor, moving beyond the lines to create a drama that tells a story. Falik’s beautiful singing tone and elegant phrasing inspired a nearby songbird who vied in competition, both expressing something of the eternal beauty that each of them sought to express. As compelling as the first half of this program was, the second half of the evening proved even more so. The suite of Ravel-inspired commissions was followed by Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit, one of the most difficult works of piano literature delivered in a dazzling and scintillating performance. Faliks is a piano virtuoso of the highest order who performs with power and vigor, fully cognizant of the musical value of even the most demanding technical passages and never failing to execute them flawlessly, always in control, and never losing the character, expressivity, and dramatic impact of the music. Her amazing technique is matched by a deep and reverent musicality, passionate and inspiring, living up to her desire to be ‘more than…’ Inna Faliks is a personality who deserves to be explored and savored over a long period of time. “
- Boston Musical Intelligencer – July 9, 2022
“While Ukrainian-American pianist Inna Faliks’ Ukraine-centric recital at the Wende contained no Ukrainian music, its programmatic theme was the novel ‘Master and Margarita’ by Ukrainian-born Mikhail Bulgakov. At her Wende recital earlier this month, Faliks premiered Veronika Krausas’ ‘Master & Margarita’ Suite, written for the occasion. In the novel, the devil wreaks marvelous havoc on Soviet Moscow. In her suite of seven sly dances, Krausas lightly waltzes around and toys with fanciful passages from the Bulgakov’s novel. As with Silvestrov, what isn’t there is as intriguing as what is. Each dance is a kind of fantasy, full of musical hints. Crossing borders is, and has always been, the way of music.”
- Los Angeles Times – May 12, 2022
“Whew!!! BargeMusic presented eight transformations last night, ranging from Beethoven bagatelles to an impossible-to-play Ravel to a more impossible-to-play ‘response.’ The stunning performance by Inna Faliks was a concert which whirled away from its hour-plus duration to a minute-to-minute revelation. Faliks has a devoted following on both coasts, not only for her own artistry but the unusual premieres. Faliks chose to play modern inspirations prior to each Beethoven, but without a pause between. The last two works showed two miracles. First was Pursuit (in response to “Scarbo”) by Billy Childs. Ravel set out to make the most difficult work ever written. Mr. Childs succeeded wildly, with a wild piano monstrosity which seemingly would take thirteen fingers to play. The familiar miracle was Ms. Faliks. She succeeesd with digital faultlessness in Ravel. But, as in her Beethoven Bagatelles, her fingers were the tools for emotional subtlety. Whether the simple clarity of Beethoven’s simple sketches, or Ravel’s elaborate, swirling gyrations of a demon flying and crashing, moving so quickly that time and space were colliding. Ravel wrote this the year of Einstein’s great time/space discovery, yet Ms. Faliks turned his pre-quantum mechanics into a personal cosmic journey of hide-and-seek shadows and blazing light, a cosmic chase and a moonlit nightmare. As I said at the beginning, ‘Whew.’ No other words describe it.”
- Concertonet – December 16, 2021
“The title may be ‘Reimagine,’ but the concept is yet another amazing product of Inna Faliks‘s extraordinary imagination. Besides the quality of the music and her exceptional pianism, we have to consider other great aspects of this recording. The program alternates a newly composed Bagatelle response with each of Beethoven’s original six Bagatelles, Op.126. The second part is a series of responses to Ravel’s Gaspard del la Nuit. We should also honor Faliks for commissioning works from mine composers during the pandemic. All were written specifically for her. Her Gaspard de la Nuit recording from over 10 years ago is still memorable. The new works are every bit as demanding as Ravel’s notorious original. ‘Scarbo’ was taken by Billy Childs to an even darker place in ‘Pursuit’. He used the theme of a black man pursued by either a slave catcher, a KKK mob, or even the police. He calls Faliks’s interpretation of the piece extraordinary. This release continues a lengthening list of great recordings from Faliks. I have been fortunate to see her perform in person a couple of times. She told me she hopes to be in New York this season for this program. You can be sure I will be there.”
- American Record Guide – November 17, 2021
“By juxtaposing two large-scale Schumann works, Faliks demonstrates the stylistic and character differences between the two composers very clearly, while espousing a lyrical reading of both works. Clara’s Piano Sonata in G Minor is characterized by Faliks’ sweetness of sound and elegance of temperament. She achieves a remarkable legato in lyrical passages, and a consistently warm and generous sound, even in energetic sections. By contrast, her approach to Robert’s Symphonic Etudes is just that—symphonic; she coaxes a tremendous range of color and articulation from the instrument, giving each etude a specific sound world to inhabit, from the most playful to the most furious. Especially impressive is the handling of the notorious Etude IV, in which she shapes each arpeggiation very subtly in accordance with the harmonic progression and shape of each phrase. The finale showcases the dynamic power of the instrument, and Faliks produces a massive sound while retaining its fundamental warmth, giving a true sense of joy to the end of the journey.”
- Piano Magazine – September 17, 2021
“Inna Faliks is a passionately committed artist who has made a name for herself through poetic and commanding performances of standard piano repertoire, genre-bending interdisciplinary projects and inquisitive work with Contemporary composers. Faliks gives a warm and expressive performance of the beautiful Piano Sonata in G minor written by Clara. Robert Schumann’s large-scale Symphonic Études are among his most difficult compositions to perform but Inna Faliks plays this dramatic, powerful music here with tremendous verve and sensitivity, revealing both her mastery of the piano and her deep understanding of the composer’s work. This impressive first volume in The Schumann Project is highly recommended and will leave listeners eager to discover what further insights future releases in the series may bring. ‘Her quiet, breathless opening of the staccato Étude 9, marked Presto possibile, puts Faliks is in a league with some of the greatest pianists to record this work.”
- Fanfare – September 1, 2021
“With this, Inna Faliks shows herself to be both an extraordinary musician and inspired conceptualist. Enhancing the impact of the recording, the six bagatelles appear alongside the compositions they inspired. Collectively, the results are stunning, for both Faliks’ impeccable execution of the material and the sensitivity she demonstrates in her interpretations. Faliks gives eloquent voice to the material, and her assured command of tempo and phrasing makes listening to her all the more rewarding. Reimagine succeeds on multiple levels.”
- Textura Review – July 16, 2021
“The piano genius Inna Faliks turns in an incredible interpretation of Beethoven and Ravel with Reimagine, where she brings ingenuity to classic compositions while still keeping the integrity of the originals intact. Faliks displays incredible flexibility. ‘Variations On A Spell’ twinkles with a meticulous manipulation of keys as Faliks offers a dreamy, absorbing landscape. Nine modern day composers were brought in for this effort, and together with Faliks’ technical prowess, they offer us Classical, Romantic and contemporary pieces that breathe new life into already exceptional music.”
- Take Effect – July 15, 2021
“This album is, quite simply put, a real surprise. Not just for the fine playing of Inna Faliks or her imaginative programming, but for the quality of the nine new works that reimagine collectively the two pianistic classics at the heart of the program. Each [of the responses to Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit] is a substantial, independent concert work in its own right. Billy Childs’s Pursuit is a ‘Scarbo’ for the 21st century, tailored to Inna Faliks’s cultured pianism. Impressive.”
- Gramophone Magazine – July 9, 2021
“Ukrainian-born American pianist Inna Faliks has a busy concert schedule and a long established interest in presenting programs that include poetry and spoken word, I attended one of these enjoyable and unique programs in New York several years ago. Volume 1 of The Schumann Project, each program is planned to juxtapose a major work by both Robert and Clara. Clara’s Piano Sonata in G minor opens this program. The performance here comes with a deep understanding of the composer, developed over a lifetime. The youthfulness in this work is played with a clarity and sense of style and Faliks’s misses nothing. We get an enticing view of the work that is dramatic, tender, sparkling, and energetic as is called for in the four movements. Robert’s Symphonic Études are considered among the most difficult of Robert’s large-scale composition and Faliks is up to every demand. The rhythmic accuracy of Faliks playing brings extra interest and even a snap to these variations. Faliks plays each group of repeated chords with forward movement and dynamic shaping. Her quiet, breathless opening of the staccato Étude 9, marked Presto possibile, puts Faliks is in a league with some of the greatest pianists to record this work. She does face formidable competition from greats like Richter, Kempff, Gilels, and Ashkenazy, to name a few. That her album concept is unique and her exceptional pianism backs it up is all the reason you need to add this to your library. With the superb recorded sound and high production values all around, I am certain to be on the lookout for all future volumes in this series”
- Fanfare – June 14, 2021
“Pianist Inna Faliks excels particularly at innovative and interesting programming, whether live or on album. Her latest release, Reimagine is a big success on both a curatorial and interpretive level.
With the Beethoven, Faliks is typically understated, yet finds interesting places for flash. She shows off a calm precision and nimble command of how artfully phrases are handed off – along with the jokes in the lefthand. Danielpour‘s Childhood Nightmare, after No. 3 is the album’s piece de resistance and the closest thing here to the original.”
- New York Music Daily – June 14, 2021
“Inna Faliks performs with devotion and energy. The scale of Faliks’ performance proves immense, and it embraces a manic shift of moods and temperaments, including a truly explosive Etude VII. The finale takes us from what had been a dark vision and ends with a striking apotheosis.”
- Audiophile Audition – June 10, 2021
Mozart Piano Concerto in D Minor:
“Faliks captured the complexity of this piece on her piano as she deftly moved her long delicate fingers across the keyboard, never missing the nuances of the composer. She was most ably backed by the fine orchestra. Once again, the Columbia Orchestra brought fine and exciting music to the Rouse Auditorium. The playing of Inna Faliks added to a most memorable night of wonderful sounds.”
- MDTheatreGuide – February 10, 2020
“Pianist Faliks worked expertly at the keys, the pedals, and inside the instrument to produce the volatile mix of roars, pings, and misty resonances in this world premiere of Johnson’s score.”
- New York Classical Review – January 4, 2020
“That wondrous virtuoso pianist Inna Faliks has commissioned music for the Ukrainian-Russian cult novel–symbolic, funny, sarcastic, allegorical and damned frustrating–The Master and Margarita, played here.”
- Concertonet – January 4, 2020
“Pianist Inna Faliks gave the convincing world premiere of composer Richard Danielpour’s Eleven Bagatelles for the Piano along with a program of Chopin and Schumann at the Wallis Annenberg Center. A concert pianist has the task of maintaining momentum throughout an evening of solo works, and Faliks delivered. Liszt’s furiously fast La Campanella proved to be a highlight of the night.”
- SF Classical Voice May 14, 2019
“Striking music-making. The very opening was so explosive that it must have given some audience-members a bit of a shock. Shchedrin Six Pieces for Solo Piano dates from 1961. Ms. Faliks’ performance of the piece was ferocious and torrential, and firmly established her virtuoso credentials. Beethoven Six Bagatelles Op.126 are as timeless and many-sided as any of the larger and more celebrated works of his last years. Evidence indicates Beethoven viewed the set as being of some significance in his output, and a unified work; this was certainly how Ms. Faliks played them. Her playing had an engagingly impulsive and improvisatory character, skillfully observing Beethoven’s turn-on-a-dime contrasts of pace and mood within each piece. An encore demonstrated the fingers of her right to be positively diamond-tipped in their delineation of Liszt’s ‘La campanella.’ This was a virtuoso display indeed.”
- LA Opus – June 15, 2018
Faliks reinvigorates Schumann
“Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor is a repertoire staple, but Inna Faliks brought a fresh approach and highly personal interpretive instincts to her performance of this masterwork with the Miami Symphony Orchestra under Eduardo Marturet. She proved to be an interesting and musically imaginative artist. From the opening bars of the Schumann concerto, Faliks bent the musical line, coloring her phrases with subtle rubato. She brought plenty of power to the keyboard-spanning runs and octaves. Her pearly tone and poetic bent suggested a more Chopinesque approach.
In the second movement, Faliks’ winning combination of whimsy and heart-on-sleeve fervor turned the short opening figures into a burst of pianistic song. The Allegro vivace finale was replete with bold syncopations. Faliks’ elegant and impulsive shaping of thematic lines was always cleanly articulated. Her lighter approach to the score was musically engrossing and refreshing. A standing ovation brought Faliks back for Liszt’s La Campanella as an encore. She deftly traced the melodic curves of the familiar theme and drew a bell-like sound from the Steinway grand.”
South Florida Classical Review – April 30, 2018
This is a unique program, combining an autobiography with music linked to that story: Faliks telling her own story. Poignant, humorous, and perceptive, the spoken words allow you to get to know Faliks far beyond other pianists you may listen to. The piano pieces are very well performed and extremely well selected and ordered. Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantasy, her performance here is as good as any I have heard. Her Gershwin is also memorable and has as natural a feel as any pianist raised and trained in the US would have. The program is a complete picture of the wide range of repertoire she excels at.”
- American Record Guide – April 25, 2018
“Faliks is a poetic pianist, unafraid to linger over a short pause or craft a melodic fragment to explode and fade with blinding speed. But especially, she never lost the singing-through line so crucial to navigating Mahler’s often chaotic universe. The Scherzo’s staccato, martial rhythms could be crisply stern but also piquant and witty. Its lyrical moments glowed, thanks to Falik’s pliant, flexible melody lines.”
- Classical Voice of North America – September 18, 2017
“The Newport Music Festival got serious Thursday night with its marathon Beethoven series, rounding up three pianists to tackle the composer’s last three piano sonatas. But it was Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks, who blew the other two pianists out of the water with her enthralling account of Opus 111, the last of the three sonatas and one of Beethoven’s most stunning creations. This amazing score was clearly in her DNA, as Faliks charged into the brooding introduction. And from there she had the audience hanging on every note. This was one of the most moving performances I’ve ever heard of Opus 111, a work whose stormy opening gives way to a great hymn to humanity.”
- Providence Journal – July 18, 2017
“A rousing performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 came next. Inna Faliks’ performance was anything but routine. The highlight of her performance was the wonderful intimate chamber music quality her performance of the nocturne-like second movement with its dialogue between keyboard and woodwinds. There was no want of bravura in the finale. Sitkovetsky provided a consummate accompaniment, giving full rein to the rich tapestry of melodies while carefully balancing with his soloist. Every section of the orchestra gave their all. The hearty standing ovation was rewarded by Faliks’ jaw-dropping performance of the Variations on a Theme by Corelli, by Rachmaninoff. I could not help but think of all the implications of the word ‘prestidigitation’ as I watched her ‘handiwork’ in disbelief.”
- Classical Voice of North Carolina – May 12, 2016
“Rachmaninoff’s C Minor Concerto followed with Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks as the soloist. Ms. Falik’s mastery is solid, and her performance with the symphony was strong and polished. Her precision and power were impressive. The final movement was played energetically, and again audience applause was loud and long.”
- Classical Sonoma - September 20, 2015