Topic: What is it with Canada and world-class pianists? First Gould, then Hamelin, now Hewitt...
+Anonymous A — 12.2 years ago #36,124
I implore everyone here with even the most casual interest in Baroque keyboard music to check out Angela Hewitt's performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations.
After more than a decade of faithful adoration of both of Glenn Gould's recordings, I immediately decided to buy Hewitt's. Not only is her recording of amazing clarity, it is also played with impressive determination and force. Everything about this recording seems a conscious decision, a well-planned act. An amazing de-romanticization of Bach, cleaner and more natural than I have ever heard him before.
The background to this recording is a charming one: Hewitt spent three days recording tracks for the album in London. On the final evening she went out for a meal with some friends and then offered to give an impromptu private performance of the "Variations" back at the auditorium. They left the tape running and this was the take that Hyperion used.
One of the true delights of the Goldberg Variations is that it yields so many different interpretations. Everybody has their favorite: Gould for his dazzling idiosyncrasies, and because he produced two very contrasting versions; Schiff and Kempff for their more conventional but still wonderful renditions; Perahia for his amazing filigree touch.
Hewitt's performance on this recording is simply incredible. Just hearing the first few bars of the Aria made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Truly great artists can take a work to another level; it's what Argerich did with Liszt's "Sonata in B Minor"; it's what Perahia did with Chopin's Études (op. 10 & 25). Hewitt achieves the same milestone with her Goldbergs. Her perfectly suited dynamics and crystalline articulation are magical, as are the small, personal flourishes that she introduces into the piece with the sensitivity of a Zen calligrapher (pay particular attention to the seventh variation - sublime). Also worth noting is the quality of the recording itself; the sound engineers really outdid themselves.
Stupendous! How does Canada keep on producing pianists of this unparalleled magnitude, when they produce nothing else of any worth?
After more than a decade of faithful adoration of both of Glenn Gould's recordings, I immediately decided to buy Hewitt's. Not only is her recording of amazing clarity, it is also played with impressive determination and force. Everything about this recording seems a conscious decision, a well-planned act. An amazing de-romanticization of Bach, cleaner and more natural than I have ever heard him before.
The background to this recording is a charming one: Hewitt spent three days recording tracks for the album in London. On the final evening she went out for a meal with some friends and then offered to give an impromptu private performance of the "Variations" back at the auditorium. They left the tape running and this was the take that Hyperion used.
One of the true delights of the Goldberg Variations is that it yields so many different interpretations. Everybody has their favorite: Gould for his dazzling idiosyncrasies, and because he produced two very contrasting versions; Schiff and Kempff for their more conventional but still wonderful renditions; Perahia for his amazing filigree touch.
Hewitt's performance on this recording is simply incredible. Just hearing the first few bars of the Aria made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Truly great artists can take a work to another level; it's what Argerich did with Liszt's "Sonata in B Minor"; it's what Perahia did with Chopin's Études (op. 10 & 25). Hewitt achieves the same milestone with her Goldbergs. Her perfectly suited dynamics and crystalline articulation are magical, as are the small, personal flourishes that she introduces into the piece with the sensitivity of a Zen calligrapher (pay particular attention to the seventh variation - sublime). Also worth noting is the quality of the recording itself; the sound engineers really outdid themselves.
Stupendous! How does Canada keep on producing pianists of this unparalleled magnitude, when they produce nothing else of any worth?
+Anonymous B — 12.2 years ago, 5 minutes later[T] [B] #409,165
tl;dr+The Doctor !7MHPahvoGY — 12.2 years ago, 1 hour later, 1 hour after the original post[T] [B] #409,175
·Anonymous A (OP) — 12.2 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[T] [B] #409,176
·The Doctor !7MHPahvoGY — 12.2 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[T] [B] #409,178
+Anonymous D — 12.2 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[T] [B] #409,179
·Anonymous A (OP) — 12.2 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[T] [B] #409,182
@409,178 (The Doctor !7MHPahvoGY)
But I'm not TG. Why does he agitate you so much and make you so paranoid?
But I'm not TG. Why does he agitate you so much and make you so paranoid?
+Hugh Janus — 12.2 years ago, 4 hours later, 5 hours after the original post[T] [B] #409,292
I thought the title said "pissants". Lots of fuckin' jerk off assholes.
·The Doctor !7MHPahvoGY — 12.2 years ago, 8 hours later, 13 hours after the original post[T] [B] #409,329
Start a new topic to continue this conversation.
Or browse the latest topics.