“Virtuoso pianist Inna Faliks’ latest installment of her innovative Music/Words series last night was a throwback to the Paris salons of the late 1800s, in the aptly lowlit atmosphere of the back room at the Gershwin Hotel. As she describes it, the concept of the series is to match music with poetry that shares a mood or evokes similar emotions, rather than referring to specific ideas or events. As an attempt to link two worlds that otherwise don’t usually intersect, it’s an admirable idea. Musically, this program was extremely diverse, spanning from classical to late Romantic, with Faliks pulling one of the obscurities she’s so fond of out of the woodwork as well. Lyrically, it was surreal, impactful, and relevant…Faliks was…the star of this show, playing with her signature blend of lithe grace and raw power, particularly as she made her way through the nocturnal scenes of Liszt’s Harmonies du Soir, and then the composer’s transcription of Paganini’s La Campanella, which she imbued with playful charm and then maintained it all the way through the dance’s knotty, rapidfire thicket of staccato. Her obscurity du jour turned out to be 20th century Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin’s Basso Ostinato, a fascinatingly biting, expansively acidic prelude that built from a walking bassline to echoes of Alban Berg and Vincent Persichetti. Faliks’ next program in the Music/Words series, on April 22 at 7:30 PM at the Cornelia Street Cafe with Brazilian pianist Clarice Assad and poet Irina Mashinski promises to be equally intriguing.”
– Lucid Culture blog, February 2012
“In a programme-note introducing her new solo disc, “Sound of Verse” pianist Inna Faliks states that she was inspired by literature and poetry in choosing the repertoire. What’s also intruiging about the recording is Faliks’ prowess in rendering each piece with a keen combination of expressive acuity and textural clarity…………Faliks, a Ukrainian-born American pianist, plays these (Pasternak) pieces with the same concentration and attention to detail that she applies to the Ravel-beautifully limned and paced – and to Rachmaninov’s Piano Sonata # 2 in the original 1913 version. Intensely felt, her Rachmaninoff abounds in poetic phrasing and finely gauged drama.”
— Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone Magazine, February 2010
“Inna Faliks, born 1978 and living in New York, began with Bach’s Fugue in G Sharp Minor (Wohltemperiertes Clavier Vol I), which projected a great conviction from the first note. Altogether she succeeded in achieving a majestic conception. Beethoven’s Bagatelles op.126 also demonstrated a mature musical personality, which revealed the six miniatures, their inner content sharply defined without exaggeration. In the Sonata op 111 Faliks played with the courage to take risks and with an expressive intensity, which went beyond all technical perfection and showed a musician at rest within herself, as she constructed her interpretation with clear vision.”
— General-Anzeiger, Bonn, Germany, December 2007
“Mastery of the piano…A powerful pianist with technique to burn, a wonderful variety of tone colors at all dynamic levels. Her Ravel is reminiscent of Argerich EMI recording… and the Rachmaninoff reminds me of the early Van Cliburn recording made in Russia with a little more boldness.”
— American Record Guide, February 2010
“Faliks offered powerfully driven, technically accomplished accounts of Rodion Shchedrin’s Basso Ostinato and Alexander Scriabin’s Sonata No. 5.”
— Baltimore Sun (Maryland) 2003
“Firm and vibrant playing … tonal weight and great expressive flourish … a delight to hear… riveting passion and playfulness, warmly poetic.”
— Baltimore Sun (Maryland) 2002
“Poetry … A kind of panoramic vision that looks ahead almost to the world of Gustav Mahler emerged in Faliks’ performance of Beethoven’s Sonata, Op. 111.”
— Washington Post (DC)
“Faliks filled Chopin’s Sonata No. 2 with fervent thrust, lyrical warmth and concentration, and extracting seductive charm and gleaming sonorities from Liszt’s “La Campanella”.
she molded a boldly inflected performance of Beethoven.”
— The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“… is a rapturous work for the stouthearted pianist. The composer himself (Rachmaninoff) was a piano virtuoso with gargantuan hands, and it takes an artist with at least the same matching ego if not the digits. Inna Faliks has both … pyrotechnic performance.”
— Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)
“… is an authoritative performer who infuses every note with brilliance and personality … delivered with impressive accuracy and uncommon self-assurance.”
— The Island Pocket (Hilton Head, South Carolina)
“… never sounded better than under Faliks’ fingers. This reviewer does not recall hearing its equal in propulsion, authority, lightness, and full dynamics.”
— Hopkins Gazette (Maryland)
“Faliks is a dynamic pianist with lots of passion for Rachmaninoff. It was electrifying.”
— The Free Times (South Carolina), February 2008
“Faliks… who performs all over the world… knocked the socks of this difficult work, with focused accuracy and zero histrionics. The orchestra responded with equal poise.”
— The State (South Carolina), February 2008
