Other Links
Editorial Board
- UK Editors
- Roger Jones and John Quinn
Editors for The Americas - Bruce Hodges and Jonathan Spencer Jones
European Editors - Bettina Mara and Jens F Laurson
Consulting Editor - Bill Kenny
Assistant Webmaster -Stan Metzger
Founder - Len Mullenger
Google Site Search
SEEN AND HEARD UK
CONCERT REVIEW
Bach : Partita No.1 in Bb BWV825
Beethoven : Fifteen Variations and a Fugue on an Original Theme in E flat Op.35 ('Eroica')
Handel : Suite No.8 in F minor for keyboard HWV433
Brahms : 25 Variations and Fuge on a
theme by G F Handel Op.24
Angela Hewitt's demeanour seems at odds with the scale of
a Festival Hall solo recital. She modestly takes the stage
but is greeted with a rock star welcome, and her graceful
relationship with the piano keyboard seems more
appropriate to the drawing room than the concert hall. She
is a professional, of course, so she is more than capable
of living up to the star billing. She is also able to
project right to the back of the hall, while giving
everybody present the feeling she is playing just for
them.
The programme was well chosen to play to her strengths,
particularly that combination she achieves of simplicity
of style combined with depth of emotion. That comes across
best in the fast contrapuntal music that looks mechanical
on paper but which she can mould through infinitely subtle
dynamic gradation. The Gigue from the Bach First Partita
is a case in point, as is the finale of the 'Eroica'
Variations and just about everything in the Handel Eighth
Suite. The programme did two of the composers - Beethoven
and Brahms - fewer favours, and they both have far better
works to their names, although something tells me their
reputations are unlikely to suffer.
For listeners like myself who automatically associate the
Bach Partitas with the almost neurotic interpretations of
Glenn Gould, Angela Hewitt is a breath of fresh air. For
Hewitt, the elegance of the music's surface is just as
important as what lies beneath. That's not to say that
there is no depth here, but rather that she doesn't need
to introduce any angst into this music to give it its full
emotional impact. Given the clarity of line that typifies
her Bach, her playing style is often surprisingly legato.
She often gives the impression that her brain is half a
beat or so ahead of her hands by making it seem like she
is rushing scale or sequence passages. It's all an
illusion though; everything is exactly on the beat.
The artistic integrity of Hewitt's approach is
demonstrated by the fact that nobody ever questions her
ambivalence to historical performance practice issues. Her
Bach and Handel interpretations rely heavily on long
hairpins, which is absurd in music written for the
harpsichord. There is plenty of pedalling here too. And
then in the Beethoven and Brahms, we are presented with
dainty and elegant performances of music by
composer/pianists who were anything but. None of this
matters, of course; in fact, it only goes to strengthen
her Bach. It is an unwritten rule that as a pianist you
have to mould Bach's music into your own image, so the
more liberties Hewitt takes the stronger her readings
become.
Even so, her style is all about subtlety. In the Brahms
and the Beethoven, you often get the feeling that the
composers are relying on simple oppositions of dynamic or
tempo between successive variations to articulate the
form. But Hewitt won't let them off that lightly, and
insists on continuity across longer spans. This allows her
to build up to fairly dramatic climaxes, or wind down to
wonderfully tranquil interludes, yet without resorting to
extreme dynamics at either end of the spectrum.
She and her Fazioli piano make a great pairing. Where did
the RFH get that piano? I'm sure they usually have a
Steinway. Perhaps she brought it with her. It's not as
strident as the Steinway though, and it responds
beautifully to her touch. Up till tonight, I'd only been
familiar with Hewitt's work through recordings, but it is
a real delight to watch her fingers literally dancing
across the keys. And that playful touch, combined with the
roundness of the piano's tone, adds up to a sound to which
both Beethoven and Brahms would probably have related; a
sound reminiscent of the more intimate voicings of
Viennese pianos of the mid 19th century.
Great as Hewitt's Bach undoubtedly is, the real revelation
of this recital for me was the Handel Eighth Suite.
Handel's Italian counterpoint is even more closely matched
to Hewitt's style than Bach's more Gothic constructions.
In the Handel, each of the melodic lines always has a
light, melodic feel, and Hewitt is able to make each of
them sing, even with three or four voices going on at
once. This too is music that a pianist must mould in his
or her own style, and as with the Bach, Hewitt uses every
trick in the book: pedalling, gradual dynamic shifts,
lingering cadences. But it is done with such subtlety and
taste that it is difficult to find fault.
A wonderful concert and a life affirming experience.
Angela Hewitt is justly famous for her impressive
catalogue of recordings, but heard live she is even
better.
Gavin Dixon