Search - Angela Hewitt :: Well-Tempered Clavier

Simply wonderful. Period.

Bookley | Portland, OR | 07/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is the difference of opinion that makes horse-races. Thank you Mark Twain.



I own the first Hewitt WTC recording, which I considered the finest I had heard until tonight. This new 2009 one is even better. But let me confess, I am a rabid Hewitt fan, and heard her perform the WTC both in New York and in Portland. I consider these recitals to be a very great highlight of my long life as a music patron.



If you take your Bach dry and straight up, watching the metronome and distrustful of dynamics, you will hate this recording. Me, I think Bach was a genius who wrote beautiful music, not mathematical formulae. His music is about singing, not merely calculating. Hewitt understands this, as she understands that a piano is not a clavier. Her taste is superb, her technique breathtaking. And I would not have thought the choice of piano could make so much difference! Since very nearly all we ever hear is the Steinway, the Fazioli is almost startling at first. Then you realize that yes, this is the instrument on which to play Bach. Gorgeous. This recording is a gift to the world."

Angela hewitt's new wtc

Mr. Frederick B. L. Jones | South Gillies, Ontario, CA | 08/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Angela Hewitt's new recording of J. S. Bach's "Well Tempered Clavier" or, "The 48" is excellent. The fazioli piano upon which she recorded them is lighter in tone as is her performance lending to a clearer sound wherein I can hear all of the notes. While her first set done on a Steinway is still a "must" to have, There is a difference in the sound of this newest recording. On first hearing, I could not tell the difference; but I kept on listening and comparing and was able to detect subtle differences that, to Angela, probably seem huge. Even if I had not heard her perform the 48 before and this was my first recording of the WTC ever, I would not hesitate to highly recommend these performances. They are magnificent by anyone's standard."

Hewitt's new WTC is better than her old one! But somewhat a

B. Lee | Chicago, IL USA | 05/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hewitt's Bach has usually stricken me as somewhat bland and ho-hum. For instance, whenever I listen to her French Suites I find myself falling into sleep. It's indeed soothing but soporific. (For a really energetic and enthusiastic playing, try Rousset's new French Suites.) But this new WTC of Hewitt's has an effect of slapping you across the face if you have fallen into sleep. Her old WTC was certainly better than her other Bach Recordings. But this new WTC is bolder, sharper, more dramatic, and even more lyrical. It's overall tone is mellow and songful, but quite thrilling in some parts. True, her elastic phrasing and tempi and her frequent adoption of crescendo and decrescendo will certainly sound not so "baroque" to some inflexible traditionalists; but they sound damn good, and you cannot deny it! Her renditions are well thought out; some are truly imaginative and effective. And the sound quality is very good.

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(But that was the first impression. After a few repeated listening . . . )



Hewitt's playing gets old quick. You'll soon be getting tired of her little tricks and idiosyncrasies. By contrast, I'll never get tired of Glenn Gould's WTC, even though it contains the most willful and idiosyncratic interpretation. I'd rather listened to less affected playing, say, Schiff's or Ashkenazy's, than to Hewitt's.





(Now Perahia is reportedly planning to record WTC after completing the remaining half of Partitas. So we have a deluge of new recordings of Bach's 48: Ashkenazy, Hewitt, Koroliov, Sheppard... Perhaps it is now the time for Schiff to make a new second recording.)



(I also left a review for Sheppard's new "live" recording of WTC.)

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