classicalLooking svelte and radiant, Janina Fialkowska returned to the stage of Sunset Center where, over many years at the Carmel Bach Festival, she built up a considerable local audience for her piano artistry. That her appearance last Saturday, in the festival''s Bravissima 2001 series, attracted less than a full house can partly be attributed to the rarity of local piano recitals--especially since the instrument was banished from the festival, and the demise of the lamented Keyboard Artist series.

Out-of-sight equals out-of-mind.

Fialkowska''s playing, however, was full of freshness, a survey of numerous styles offered with generous insights. Voice-leading stood clearly revealed in the weaving threads of J.S. Bach''s Partita in B flat, its dancing rhythms inspiring toes to tap inside shoes. Mozart''s Sonata in A Minor got off to a brisk and bracing start, sharpening the contrast with the circumspect andante cantabile that followed. At 10 minutes playing time, Beethoven''s Sonata in F, Op.10:2, was a charming bauble whose boldest assertions are best enjoyed as mischief. Fialkowska boldly punctuated her program''s first half with Chopin''s Ballade in G Minor.

In Schumann''s Faschingsschwank aus Wien, however, she skated the surface of the composer''s unique style, elusive as it may be in such facile fare. A few well-placed hesitations would have made more of it. This short sampler came to its scheduled conclusion with Liszt''s manipulations of tunes from Mendelssohn''s Midsummer Night''s Dream.

classical calendar Schubert Ensemble Thursday, 8pm. Chamber Music Monterey Bay hosts London-based musicians in Bottessini''s Passione Amorosa, Edward Rushton''s L''An Mil, Schubert''s "Trout" Quintet, Dvorak''s Piano Quartet in E flat. Sunset Center, San Carlos and 9th, Carmel. $18/adults, $7/students (under 21.) 625-2212.

Ensemble Monterey Friday/Saturday, 8pm. John Anderson conducts romantic works by Finzi, Strauss, Grieg, featuring pianist Melinda Coffey, clarinetist Bruce Foster, bassoonist Jane Orzel. Friday: Steinbeck Center, 1 S. Main, Salinas. Saturday: Church of Religious Science, Franklin and Pacific, Monterey. $18/general, $15/students and seniors. 372-4523.

St. Petersburg String Quartet Tuesday, 8pm. Carmel Music Society hosts acclaimed ensemble. Sunset Center, San Carlos and 9th, Carmel. $20-35. 624-9938.