Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Angela Hewitt :: Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op. 2/3, Op. 13 & Op. 28

Angela Hewitt Plays Beethoven Sonatas

Robin Friedman | Washington, D.C. United States | 10/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt (b. 1958), named as Gramophone's Artist of the Year in 2006, is best-known for her performances of Bach. But she has recently been recording the piano sonatas of Beethoven with splendid results. Her first CD featured the "Appassionata" sonata together with two earlier, lesser-known works, opus 10 no. 3 and opus 7. In this CD Hewitt offers a program of three early Beethoven sonatas including the Sonata Pathetique, opus 13, the Sonata in C major,opus 2 no. 3, and the sonata in D major, opus 28 ("Pastorale") which again combines in an appealing way familiar with less-known works.



Ms. Hewitt's performance is relaxed, introspective, and compelling. She plays Beethoven with a great deal of rubato and with changes of tempo among the different sections of a movement. Her performances are lyrical and carefully thought-out rather than brash and heaven-storming. Dynamics tend to be subdued but Hewitt captures the drive and the contrasts of Beethoven's scores. Hewitt has also written excellent program notes for this recording.



The best-known work on this CD is of course the Sonata Pathetique, composed in 1799, which virtually every great pianist has recorded and which countless amateurs, including myself, have attempted to play. Hewitt gives a dramatic rendition of the opening "grave" introduction followed by a cleanly-performed, and rapid, rendition of the following passionate allegro di molto e con brio. Hewitt takes the indicated repeat, including the opening slow introduction. The adagio cantabile is taken in a simple, lyrical manner while Hewitt takes the concluding rondo at a rapid tempo, with many shifts in speed and rhythm. The finale sounds light under her hands rather than as an attempt to continue the drama and tragedy of the opening movement. (Pianists have interpreted this finale in both ways.)



The other two sonatas on the CD are less frequently played but they are no less great Beethoven. On the whole, Hewitt gives them a more individual reading than she does with the Pathetique. The nickname "Pastorale" to the opus 28 sonata was not Beethoven's, but it fits the work. Although more conservatively written than the sonatas of opus 26 and opus 27 (including the "Moonlight") this lyrical expressive work was among Beethoven's favorites. It includes a long lyrical theme over a repeated drone in the opening movement and a finale in 6/8 that proceeds at a leisurely, walking pace until the fiery conclusion. The third movement is a short humorous scherzo, but the highlight of opus 28 is the beautiful mysterious theme of the slow movement which in the course of the work is expanded and embellished with lovely filigree. Hewitt brings out the best of this lovely sonata.



The sonata in C major, opus 2 no. 3 is a young man's work, written when Beethoven had just moved to Vienna and was trying to conquer the musical life of the city through his gifts at the piano as well as through his compositions. The work is dedicated to Haydn, from whom Beethoven, in spite of himself, learned a great deal. This is a large-scaled, virtuosic, and ambitious work in four movements featuring large stretches for the hand (including a notoriously difficult opening tenth at the outset), long passages of difficult arpeggios and skips, dramatic trills and tremolos, contrasting themes, and varing tempos. In its virtuosity, size, and ambition, this early work is a predecessor to Beethoven's "Waldstein" sonata, written some ten years later. Hewitt plays this excellent early piano sonata of Beethoven with enthusiasm and flair.



This is a wonderful CD of Beetoven sonatas by a first-rate pianist.



Robin Friedman"

Great if you Beethoven that sounds like Liszt

Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 12/01/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I've listened to Angela Hewitt since she received acclaim for her box of Bach Partitas in the latter 1990s. At that point in her career, she appeared to be a literalist with quite a sheen to her playing even though she lacked personality. You could see the upside that many, including the other reviewers of this CD, apparently think realized here.



My last go-round with Hewitt was a few years back when I heard one of her Bach piano concerto CDs with a scrawny-sounding Australian band backing her up. My verdict on those wasn't very good, for Hewitt, it seemed to me, so romanticized Bach that she made the master sound like Brahms. I'm afraid she's done so again here, to Beethoven, only this time adding romantic affects that would be more at home in Liszt and Schumann.



I purchased this CD on the basis of a hyperbolic critical review in Fanfare that said, on the basis of this and her other recordings, Hewitt's ongoing Beethoven piano sonata cycle had the potential to match the greats such as Kempff and Gilels. Anyone that thinks Angela Hewitt has advanced this far, I said to myself, must hear something I haven't, so I tried out the CD.



Turns out this critic didn't hear something I did -- an inappropriate approach to Beethoven. Right from the opening notes of the Op. 28 sonata in D, subtitled "Pastoral", Hewitt loads up on romantic affects. Her consistent use of rubato, ritard, near tenuto and heavyweight dynamic gradations -- not to mention overdoing the sustaining pedal so heavily to make it sound like this was recorded in a reverb chamber -- is so egregious I had to look at the CD cover again to be sure this was Beethoven she was playing. Later on, she so floridly italicizes the many singing phrases you'd think it was written in 1825 and not 1801, a full two years two years before "Eroica".



In this wonderful composition, one of Beethoven's most genial and friendly of his 32 sonatas, Hewitt totally fails to project the composer's temperament. She completely lacks Brendel's classical line and proportion, going overboard with added on romanctic antics. If she's making an argument that the headstrong Beethoven belonged to the typically overstated romantic element of the back half of the 19th century, and not to the classical imprint of the early section of that century that was the birthplace of this sonata, she has succeeded.



Hewitt continues these affects in her rendtion of the "Pathetique" sonata, where you might say they are more appropriate. However, right in the beginning, she dogs the thing, laying it out like licerice in lieu of fine pastry and playing at a pace that the Fanfare critic monumentally understated when he said she "eschews breakneck tempos." Yes, indeed! In fact, this sonata crawls out of the box in the exposition so slowly to mimic a cold-blooded creature on a winter morning. This is not changed an iota in the repeat. Here is more evidence that Hewitt endorses Beethoven sounding like Liszt.



In one of my favorite of all Beethoven sonatas, No. 3 in C from 1795, Hewitt is more classically oriented. She still uses too much pedal in the Adagio but her approach to the vital opening Allegro con brio is consistent with the young leonine composer spreading his wings and demonstrating that the high drama of the "Eroica" and Fifth Symphonies is not far off. Here is playing of transcendent stature that captures the young Beethoven in one of his most dynamic and extrovert moments at the keyboard. Kudos also to the performer for fine-tuning the delightful Scherzo and finale, where her interpretive skils are displayed with such cunning as to match her expert playing.



Unfortunately, I can't recommend this disk based on one out of three sonatas being up there with Richter, Brendel, Kempff and the other great Beethoven interpreters in history. To be frank, Hewitt's recording of the "Pastoral" sonata is, in my mind, an abomination. She is better in the "Pathetique" and comes nearly full circle in the Op. 2, No. 3 sonata, but that's not enough to save such an ill-tempered and overblown issue. For those interested in this approach, the notes are helpful and the sound is outstanding if boomy."

Highs & Lows

Alan Lekan | Boulder, CO | 09/16/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Coming off a pretty hot first Beethoven CD (Appassionata), Angela Hewitt continues her Beethoven exploration with two "name" sonatas and a very early (appx. 1794) sonata, Op. 2 no. 3. Hewitt brings great sparkle and character to the latter which is a real highlight of the disc and a favorite of both performers and audiences alike. The other two more popular sonatas have their highs and lows.



In the Allegro outer movements of the Pastoral, Ms. Hewitt brings her typical dance-rythym finesse and uplifting charms. The Rondo is the gem of the piece and innocently springs and bounds along without a care in the world in her hands (reminds me of Kovacevich's somewhat). However, I thought the Andante walked a bit too carefully for my taste while the Scherzo - taken at a fairly slow pace at first - was not as mischievous as it could have been at first but later seemed to better find its form when things sped up.



Gramophone and other reviews found Hewitt's approach to the Pathetique rather rather lacking. On the positive side, there are clarity of line and textures. What she brings to the Rondo is less sheer, romantic drama (like say Kovacavich or Goode) but a more classical sense and refined poise. Still, many would wish for a little more fire and spice in this piece as she demonstrates in the exciting closing prestissimo of the Rondo (and in her Appassionata).



The Sonata #3 (Op. 2 no. 3 in C-major) is the humble star of the set with its virtuostic vitality, pianistic brilliance and orchestral sonorities - which come out nicely on Hewitt's Fazioli such as the octave doubling in the scherzo. I think pianists will especialy value what Hewitt brings to this sunny sonata, which was reported to be frequently performed by Beethoven early in his career.



The sound quality here has the typical Hyperion slight resonance along with a low volume recording level that I cannot say I find brings out the best in this performance. I'm often disappointed with the sound from such a premium, reputable label as Hyperion. My Kovacevich Beethoven set from EMI sounds much better by any measure or playback system. This pianist deserves better sound engineering. Compositions - 5 stars; Performance - 4 stars; Sound quality - 3 stars.

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