ANGELA HEWITT's WONDERFUL TRIBUTES TO HANDEL AND HAYDN
RBSProds | Deep in the heart of Texas | 09/08/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Five IMPECCABLE Stars. BRILLIANT performances of classical piano masterworks from both the baroque and classical eras by Canadian-born, award-winning piano virtuoso Angela Hewitt. She presents us with her initial recording of the works of two of classical music's greatest composers in their anniversary years: George Frideric Handel (250th) and Franz Joseph Haydn (200th). Ms Hewitt, one of the world's leading Bach exponents, who has an appreciation of and fascination with Handel and Haydn that flows from deep into her childhood. On this CD, she records Handel's "Chaconne In G Major, HWV 435" and two suites: "No 2 in F Major, HWV 427" and "No 8 in F Minor, HWV 433", just an enticing sliver from his enormous output of operas, oratorios, orchestral works, concerti grossi, and so on. She then performs two works by the prodigious composer, Haydn: the "Sonata 'Un Piccolo Divertimento' 'Variations' in F Minor, Hob XVII: 6" and "Piano Sonata in E Flat Major, Hob XVI: 52"; the sonata being a musical form heavily influenced by Haydn, among many other forms. Throughout the performances, she demonstrates her impeccable technique, kinetic pianistic firepower, her ability to dynamically shade with nuances and inject emotion into her playing. In addition, Ms Hewitt shows three of the most important musical characteristics: flawless time management, articulation, and her keen ability to execute phrases, which lifts each performance to a level achieved by only the very best.
The 'best of the best' begins with the Handel's "Chaconne in G Major", one of Handel's voluminous harpsichord pieces, where Ms Hewitt infuses this baroque dance with the stately elegance and crystalline beauty it deserves. The Allegro movement of Suite No 2 in F Major, HWV 427 is imbued with all of the musical charm and grace that Handel probably sought. The dark, rich colors of the Prelude of Suite No 8 in F Minor and the sprightly velocity and complexities of the Fuge, the Allemande, and the mesmerizing Courante (now on my iPod) and the Gigue are wonderful presentations by Ms Hewitt. Haydn, on the other hand, was a composer who was "forced to be original" by being out of the musical mainstream and away from the prevailing influences, and he lives up to that phrase with the calm, beautiful 3 note thematic development of the spellbinding 16 minute "Sonata 'Un Piccolo Divertimento' 'Variations' in F Minor, Hob XVII: 6" by way of single-note lines flowing from hand to hand: certainly a brilliant piece that well-informs modern day pianists, even those outside of classical music. The quiet moments and 'Sturm & Drang' of the Allegro Moderato movement of Suite No 8 in F Minor, full of 'glisses' and grace notes, is an amazing feat of composing and execution by Ms Hewitt. The icing on the cake is the Finale. Presto movement to the E Flat Major piano sonata that clearly demonstrates what I mean about Hewitt's ability to 'get into a piece' through the 'phrases' not just the notes, and her time management in and out of the pauses. Totally impressive! Five decades into her celebrated globe-trotting career, Angela Hewitt demonstrates she is still at the top of her game with this wonderful recording that is a welcome addition to her extensive discography. My Highest Recommendation. Five AMAZING Stars!
(This review is based on an iTunes Plus download. Angela Hewitt plays a special Fazioli piano.)"
AAA for HHH
DAVID BRYSON | Glossop Derbyshire England | 11/01/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If a modern Fazioli grand piano had been available to Haydn I can't imagine him spurning it in favour of a fortepiano, particularly for the robust E flat sonata that concludes this recital. Still less can I envisage Handel, the leading virtuoso of his day, spending much more time with a harpsichord if he had an instrument like this at his disposal. Authenticity is all very well and I'm all in favour, but music does not exist for instruments, instruments exist for music, and advances in the design of instruments should be put to music's benefit.
Let me offer my enthusiastic endorsement to everything that Angela Hewitt does in this selection marking the anniversaries of both masters (Handel d 1759 Haydn d 1809). What she does is more than just play: she contributes her own liner note as usual, and as always it is a pleasure to read - informal and full of enthusiasm and charm. She takes us through some textual issues in the Handel chaconne, and lets us into her thinking in occasional matters of interpretation. I had already been struck by a dramatic stringendo that she applies to one part of the same piece, and the note tells us why she does it that way. In particular I like her sensible comments regarding double-bar repeats. Apparently there is another chaconne by Handel with no fewer than 62 variations, `...and if you repeated all of those you'd be there for a while.' However let me reassure anyone feeling anxiety on this score that the first movement repeat is rightly observed in the Haydn sonata.
The playing here is full of the effortless and natural beauty that has been the mark of everything I have heard Angela Hewitt do. Her style in 18th century music is not much like the style of her great compatriot and forerunner Gould. It is less `stylised', using more rhythmic inflexion and more sustaining pedal. She is not afraid of a full tone here and there, notably at the start of the Haydn sonata but also in the fugue from Handel's F minor suite, where Handel thickens his bass with chords. Ms Hewitt speaks admiringly about this fugue, but elsewhere remarks (reasonably enough) that `Handel's part-writing may not be as sophisticated and masterful as Bach's.' This is an interesting point. Tovey looked down his nose at Handel's fugues for not being full-dress Teutonic exercises like Bach's with countersubjects strettos and all the paraphernalia, but Handel's part-writing is effortless and accomplished as far as it goes. Handel had been to Italy, and in Italy there was a tradition of improvised fugues that served a different objective from the German style. It seems to me that the fugal idiom provided a certain kind of vigorous expression (I don't know of any slow fugues by Handel) instead of building up a pattern a la Bach. Anyway, there is one fugue each in these partitas, and very nicely played they are.
In Haydn's half of the recital we have the superb F minor variations as well as the big E flat sonata. Haydn and Mozart did not write many works in minor keys, and this set of variations takes nearly 17 minutes, which is as long as a number of Beethoven sonatas. I'm hearing it played here as I think it should be played, with proper solemnity. A lot of the comment I read highlighting some supposed jocularity in Haydn's style gets on my nerves for its patronising attitude. There is certainly elegant 18th century wit and point in many of his compositions, but his basic characteristics seem to me to be grace, proportion and humanity. Writing a major instrumental composition in a minor key at this late date, long after his supposed Sturm und Drang phase, indicates something special from this composer, and this performance does the piece justice.
I like it all from beginning to end. The Handel works were not greatly familiar to me, so I like them for that reason quite apart from being such fine music. The Haydn variations and sonata were on my home ground, I welcome them for that reason and it is going to be very easy to live with these performances. The recordings date from this year 2009 and last. Perhaps there is a little too much resonance, but nothing that worries me. Among them, Handel Haydn and Mme Hewitt have given me something to treasure as well as admire."
