Fialkowska will be making her third appearance in the Lyell Gustin Recital series on March 18 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. As Fialkowska said in our email connection, “CBC-Radio Canada chose to send me to represent Canada in the first Arthur Rubinstein International piano competition. I accepted because I wanted to meet my hero, Rubinstein,
and the timing was so good that I would only miss three days of law school.”

In Jerusalem, Fialkowska, then 23, played her first round, advanced to the second where Rubinstein, as chairperson, had agreed to judge the second round and the finals. “After playing the second round, there was a party for the contestants and the jurors. I met Rubinstein and was overwhelmed when he said he loved my playing. It was like a dream come true. I instantly dropped all thoughts of going to law school,” she said.

“There was a long delay before we found out who made the finals. Rubinstein later told me that one of the judges, who had two pupils in the competition, gave me a zero and that I didn’t have enough points to reach the finals. This could never happen in competitions today as they have too many checks and balances and the scoring is very transparent. But back in those days, there was always hanky-panky going on.

“Anyway, Rubinstein and many of the other jurors were annoyed because they had voted for me. Rubinstein said he would withdraw his name from the competition if I didn’t make the finals. That’s how I got to win the prize.” Rubinstein took care of Fialkowska’s career for the next seven years. Rubinstein went on a 44-concert tour in 1975-76 and stipulated at every date he played that Fialkowska should get the same bookings the following year. She went to the major leagues, like playing with the Philadelphia Orchestra, London orchestras, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; it was a whirlwind tour. He called her “a born
Chopin interpreter.”

On a list of pianists for whom Rubinstein served as a mentor, Fialkowska was among the magical eight.“I played a lot for him in his last days. He was always full of advice. He was very generous and kind to me. He was not only a huge inspiration musically, but he was a professional on tour. He never made fusses on tour, was always courteous, agreeable and always on time. I spent a lot of time in the Rubinstein home in Paris, as well as the summers in Marbella, Spain.”

Fialkowska was born in Montreal, began studies with her mother at the age of four and was always encouraged to continue her studies. She loved Mozart and listened to recordings of his work in early childhood. Rubinstein played Chopin with the Montreal Symphony, “when I was 12 years old and the concerto spoke to me and stirred my emotions.” She was influenced by Liszt, “who writes so beautifully for the modern keyboard, mixing his spirituality and religion with lots of Faustian devils that one finds in his work, very exciting and very thrilling to perform.”

She has received many honours. Among them are Officer of the Order of Canada, the Governor-General’s 2012 lifetime achievement award in classical music and the BBC Music Magazine’s 2013 prize for instrumental CD of the year. She won a Canadian Juno award in 2018 for a Chopin recital.

She once divided time between United States and Germany, “but I married a wonderful German, Harry Oesterle, and we stay in Europe now. Yes, I like that a pianist is well-respected in Germany, I love the ancient history, the castles and the churches. There are still about 130 orchestras in Germany.”

Fialkowska loves coming to Saskatoon, calling it one of Canada’s most attractive cities, and she’s always felt welcome in the Gustin series. Her program will include some French works from a newly-released ATMA Classique and some signature Chopin.

-Ned Powers